Ohio football advances with 35-17 win over Temple

ATHENS, Ohio - The quest for a berth in the Mid-American Conference championship game ended today for the Temple football team on a cold afternoon at Ohio University's Peden Stadium.

Facing the Bobcats for the conference's East Division title, the Owls fell victim to quarterback Theo Scott, who had an outstanding day in Ohio's 35-17 win in front of a crowd of 14,135.

Scott, a 6-foot-2, 209-pound redshirt senior who ran the option offense almost to perfection, finished with 393 yards of total offense and tied a school record by scoring his 19th touchdown of the season.

He reached the end zone twice, on runs of 17 and 43 yards, and also threw for three scores and 324 yards while completing 17 of 21 passes.

"He's a tremendous athlete," Temple defensive tackle Andre Neblett said. "He stayed in the pocket and he made great throws and great decisions, and ran it when he could."

It was the last regular-season game for both teams. Temple's single-season winning streak of nine games - a school record - ended as the Owls fell to 9-3 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

Ohio (9-3, 7-1) will meet the West Division champion, Central Michigan, for the conference title next Friday in Detroit.

Though Temple and Ohio finished with identical records, the Bobcats claimed the berth by virtue of their win over the Owls. Temple still will go down as an East Division cochampion.

"We didn't play well enough to win today," Owls coach Al Golden said. "They made some big plays. But nothing is going to diminish what these seniors have done for the program.

"They have the longest winning streak in the history of the program and won nine games for the first time in forever."

Temple played without star running back Bernard Pierce, who suffered a shoulder injury last week against Kent State.

The Owls trailed by three points at halftime. After a 9-yard touchdown run by Temple's Matt Brown with 3 minutes, 16 seconds to go in the third quarter, the Owls went into the fourth period down by 26-17.

Brown finished with 172 yards on 25 carries.

With its option offense running smoothly, Ohio had the Owls back on their heels on defense from the outset.

With multiple players touching the ball on the Bobcats' first possession, they went 89 yards on eight plays and took a 7-0 lead on a 9-yard pass from Scott to wide-open wide receiver Steven Goulet.

Temple, which had scored 49 and 41 consecutive points in its previous two games, was slow to get moving offensively. The Owls kicked into gear briefly, however, after Kee-ayre Griffin carried the ball for the first time in five games and ripped off a 29-yard run to the Ohio 34.

Griffin, who had been moved to defensive back and scored with an interception last week, helped pave the way for a 24-yard field goal by Brandon McManus that cut Temple's deficit to 7-3 with 14:52 remaining in the second quarter.

Ohio regained the momentum in a big way, however, when Scott and wide receiver LaVon Brazill teamed up for a 65-yard scoring pass on the Bobcats' ensuing possession. After missing the extra point, Ohio was up by 13-3.

Griffin, who also saw time on defense, pulled Temple to within 13-10 and accounted for the last points of the half when he broke off a 17-yard touchdown run with 3:03 remaining.

A 17-yard run by Scott with 12:15 left in the third quarter boosted Ohio's advantage to 20-10, and when Scott hit wide receiver Terrence McCrae with a 4-yard score about five minutes later, Temple's deficit was 26-10.

"We were right where we had been a bunch of times this year," Golden said of the halftime score. "We were in good shape, and then they came out and scored right away."

Notes. Bowl pairings will be announced Dec. 6. Despite the loss, Temple is likely to receive a berth. The conference is affiliated with the Little Caesars Bowl in Detroit, the International Bowl in Toronto, and the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. There is also a chance a team from the conference could land in the EagleBank Bowl in Washington. . . . Pierce, the injured running back, made the trip to Ohio so he could continue to be treated by the team trainers. He has not been ruled out for Temple's next game. . . . Temple's 27 touchdowns on the ground this season were a school single-season record.