Owls' Chandler has an impact in his return

Sean Chandler, who had missed four games with a bone bruise on his right knee, returned to the starting lineup for the Owls on Saturday and made his presence felt in the 34-13 win over Cincinnati at Lincoln Financial Field.

Earlier in the week Temple coach Matt Rhule had said that Chandler wouldn't play, but the junior free safety from Camden said he was ready to go.

Chandler injured the knee during practice in the week leading up to the Owls' 45-20 win over SMU on Oct. 1.

"It felt good to be out there with my brothers and get the win," Chandler said.

This was Chandler's 31st career game at Temple and his 30th start. He said he didn't feel rusty after a month off.

"I felt like I knocked the rust off during the week and today I felt pretty good," he said.

Chandler suffered the injury when a teammate landed on him during a practice. He said that initially he feared the worst.

"I thought I would have to redshirt because they weren't sure what [the injury] was at first, but then I got my MRI back and we went from there," he said.

With one tackle for loss, defensive end Haason Reddick passed linebacker Tyler Matakevich to become No. 2 on Temple's all-time list for that category.

Reddick now has 40 career tackles for loss, including 16.5 this season. Matakevich, the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie who attended the game, had 39.5 tackles for loss.

The all-time Temple leader is Dan Klecko, who had 65 from 1999 to 2002. Klecko, by the way, played in the NFL from 2003 to 2008, and won Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts.

Linebacker Zach Mesday saw the first action of his career. The redshirt sophomore, who attended New Jersey's Nottingham High, had been sidelined by knee injuries.

He actually got in on offense, and his teammates gave him a rousing ovation when he made his debut late in the game.

Running back Jahad Thomas was held scoreless for the first time this season. He entered the game having scored two touchdowns in each of his six appearances. (Thomas missed the first two games with a thumb injury).

He owned the longest active streak of two or more touchdowns among Football Bowl Subdivision schools. Thomas gained 151 yards in the game, and that marked the fourth time in his career he had rushed for at least 150 yards.