AKRON, Ohio - The first quarter took nearly an hour, but Temple needed just 34 seconds to turn a close football game into a rout.

Trailing Akron, 17-7, late in the second quarter, Temple rallied for 49 straight points, including 14 in the span of 34 seconds, en route to a 56-17 victory Friday night in front of 10,927 at InfoCision Stadium.

The win was the Owls' eighth straight and improved their Mid-American Conference East Division mark to 6-0, with games remaining against Kent State and Ohio. They are 8-2 overall.

Quarterback Chester Stewart threw for two scores and ran for two more and Bernard Pierce tied the school record with his 15th touchdown of the season to lead Temple's offense to a season-high 56 points and eight touchdowns.

"Chester is playing well right now and giving us a deep threat," Temple coach Al Golden said. "I think he really had a command of the offense tonight and ran things well. The one ball he threw was a mistake, but for the most part, he played well."

Seven players found the end zone for the Owls.

The last time Temple scored this many points was Oct. 30, 1999, in a 56-28 Big East Conference victory over Rutgers. The Owls also put up that number against Akron on Nov. 4, 1978, in a 56-21 win.

The Zips took a 17-7 lead after recovering an errant Temple snap in the end zone for a touchdown with 3 minutes, 6 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Then the Owls' fortunes took a dramatic turn for the better.

"We had some adversity early on tonight," Golden said. "I'm not sure if we were nervous, but we lost our poise a little bit with penalties and that bad snap.

"But all year it's been this team's style to kind of flip the switch and answer back, like we did tonight. We just need to stay humble and stay hungry and try to finish strong."

A James Nixon 22-yard TD run with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter cut the deficit to 17-14.

While the Temple defense held Akron scoreless in the final three quarters, the offense took advantage of several Zips penalties, a long punt return, and an interception to pull away.

Junior Delano Green scored his first touchdown of the season, returning an Akron punt 66 yards down the right sideline to give the Owls a 21-17 advantage with 6:15 left in the second quarter.

A 45-yard run by Pierce and an Akron personal foul propelled Temple to a 67-yard drive in 22 seconds to pad its lead.

Stewart scored on an 8-yard jaunt to give the Owls a 28-17 lead with 1:06 remaining before intermission.

On Akron's next possession, Wilbert Brinson intercepted Patrick Nicely on the first play to set Temple up at the Zips' 5.

Pierce scored from 2 yards out to extend the lead to 35-17 at the half.

Pierce's 15th rushing TD of the season tied the single-season school record by Paul Palmer (1985).

Held in check for one quarter, Pierce finished with 97 yards in three quarters of work. The freshman from Glen Mills has 1,308 yards and ranks third on Temple's single-season rushing list.

Pierce sat out the fourth quarter to ice an unspecified leg injury. The injury didn't appear to be anything more than bumps and bruises.

A victory next week at home against Kent State would assure Temple of at least a share of the MAC East title and an opportunity to play in the conference championship game.

"We just have to start preparing for Kent State next week," Golden said. "They have a quarterback who is playing well right now, and it should be quite a game."