Temple's Studs And Duds Vs. Tulane
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Homecoming weekend at Lincoln Financial field and the Tulane Green Wave were in town. This is normally an article with three Studs and three Duds, but when you roll on an opponent the way that Temple rolled on Tulane, it's hard to find any Duds, let alone three. So I am going to throw an audible.
Six studs!
Studs
6. Jahad Thomas
Thomas continues to be the Owls' workhorse on the offensive side of the ball. The junior RB from North Jersey did not lead the Owls in carries because he was resting on the bench watching younger backs shoulder the workload, after he had already done his damage.
Thomas racked up 54 yards on 14 carries to go along with two scores. Temple trailed Tulane 10-7 five minutes into the second quarter, but Thomas capped off a seven-play 90 yard drive giving the Owls a lead they wouldn't look back from. Thomas took the zone read to the left and capped off the 10 yard run with a physical finish getting him in the end zone putting the owls up 14-10. From there the Owls would not trail again. On the very next drive, Thomas took a swing pass from PJ Walker 16 yards for his second TD of the day. Thomas now has eight TDs on the season.
5. Robbie Anderson
After sitting out a year for eligibility reasons, Robbie Anderson has come in and proved himself as the most dangerous threat in the air for the Owls. Following a two-touchdown performance at Charlotte, Anderson had another nice day on Saturday.
Anderson got the Owls on the board for the their first score of the day. Trailing the Green Wave 3-0 with time winding down in the first quarter, PJ Walker went up top to his number one receiver. The Senior from Fort Lauderdale used his 6 foot 3 frame to go up and shield the defender, making the catch for a 22 yard touchdown. Anderson finished the day with 4 catches for 73 yards and a score helping the Owls win their 7th straight homecoming game.
4. Tyler Matakevich
The leader of the team was back at it on Saturday. Matakevich once again lead the Owls in tackles with seven along with one tackle for a loss. Matakevich is now ranked third all time in Temple history in tackles. He has also now played in 40 consecutive games for the Owls. Tulane only managed 110 yards of total offense and were held scoreless for the final 43 minutes of the game. Temple is ranked as the 13th best scoring defense in the country, giving up just 14.4 points per game. They have also given up the 19th fewest yards in the nation, only 328 per game. Matakevich now has 44 tackles through just 5 games. He is well on his way to recording his 4th straight 100-tackle season.
3. Matt Ioannidis
Along with Matakevich, Matt Ioannidis has been a defensive standout. Ioannidis was second on the team in tackles behind Matakevich with six. He also had 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks of Tanner Lee. The Senior Defensive Tackle may not always have the big numbers in the stat column, but he is instrumental in the Owls having one of the nations top defenses.
2. Sean Chandler
Chandler made the defensive play of the day on Saturday. In the third quarter with the game still hanging in the balance Sean Chandler perfectly sniffed out a Tulane screen play. The ball deflected off Sherman Baddie's hands and Chandler made the adjustment picked off the pass and returned it 22 yards putting the game away. Temple went up 35-10 and it was basically all over from there. The Owls would bring in backups on both sides of the ball and move to 5-0.
1. Coach Matt Rhule
Following a 6-6 season in 2014 that resulted in Temple missing a bowl game. Despite being bowl eligible Matt Rhule had a lot of work to do. He started off the season with a win over in state rival Penn State for the first time in 74 years. From there he went on the road to beat a tough conference opponent under the lights at Cincinnati. He then continued to keep him team focused against opponents that the Owls should've beat, and did. Then returned to the Linc for homecoming and moved to 5-0 for the first time since 1974.
The Owls are tied for the AAC lead with Houston and Memphis, but they are two games ahead in their division. The Owls currently rank 26th in the AP Coaches poll.
If the Owls can manage to pull out another win at home next week against UCF, it seems they could be ranked for the first time since 1984.
Next week the Owls play the 0-6 UCF Knights at the Linc under the lights. The Owls have been on a roll and it would certainly be a surprise if they were tripped up by the 0-6 Knights.
