Temple football struggled to find a rhythm offensively, and Army’s 329 rushing yards ran the Owl’s defense into the ground in a 28-13 upset at Lincoln Financial Field.
In a slow-starting evening at Lincoln Financial Field, no one player rushed or received for more than 50 yards in the first half of action. After a scoreless first quarter- Temple’s Ryquell Amstead, who started at halfback in place of an injured Jahad Thomas, struck first with a 6-yard carry into the end zone. Amstead ended with 77 rushing yards on 16 carries.
Phillip Walker, the new all-time passing leader in Temple history, looked sharp out of the gates. Displaying his experience under center, Walker went 8/13 for 109 yards, including an interception on a beautiful pass that went off Broderick Nancy’s hands to halt the Owl’s first drive. Walker was unable to orchestrate any consistency down the stretch, as he threw 2 interceptions to go along with 4/13 passing in the second half.
With the score tied at 7, Temple’s Shariff Finch ran towards Army punter Nick Schrage nearly untouched and came up with a block to set up the Owl’s offense just outside the 20 yard line. After a 3 and out, Austin Jones hit his first field goal attempt of the season to put the Owl’s up 10-7.
Courtesy: lehighvalleylive.com
Army completed just 2 passes for 15 yards in the in the entire game- and as expected, relied heavily on the rushing attack of their triple option offense. Andy Davidson had the best game of his career against the Owls rushing for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns. To start the second-half, the Black Knights kept it on the ground for an 12 play, 77 yard drive that put them up 14-10.
The 3rd quarter was taken up almost entirely by both Army’s 6:42 scoring drive, and a 65-yard, 6:49 Temple drive in which Walker and Amstead combined for all but 2 yards. The offense once again couldn’t come up with a score, and Austin Jones came in to attempt his second field goal of the night. Walker was looking for a familiar target in the red zone, Romond Deloatch, when Army came up with a deflection.
The Black Knights rushing attack gave the Owls fits all night to say the least. Coming off of a season in which Temple allowed an average of 128 yards on the ground per game, Army’s run game managed 125 yards in the first half alone. A total of 7 Army ball carriers combined for the unprecedented 329 rush yards in the game.
Not one of Army’s four scoring drives included a single pass completion.
A 14-play, 81 yard Army 4th quarter drive on the ground served as a serious threat for the Owls, who went down 21-13 with 9:38 to play in the game. Temple’s David Hood then had trouble hauling in the ensuing kickoff, forcing the Owl’s to start their drive inside their own 10-yard line.
The Owls were unable to convert, and any momentum Temple once had was now on the Army sideline.
After Temple was able to finally stop the Black Knights with 3:41 to go, Temple’s offense took the field from their own 30 yard line, still trailing by one possession. Walker was sacked on first down, then delivered a 2nd down pass into the arms of Army LB Kenneth Brinson for his second INT of the night.
It took Army halfback Andy Davidson 2 rushes of 17 and 19 yards to extend Army’s lead to 28-13 to ultimately seal the upset for the Black Knights.
The Owls are back in action Saturday, Sept. 12 against the Stoney Brook Seawolves. The Owls will come into that matchup as heavy favorites.
Very well written. Informative and easy to read. Had a good feel for the flow of the game. Cobwebs are dusted and look for the Owls to bounce back STRONG for week 2. GO OWLS!!!!!