Temple routs Akron, 56-17, for eighth straight

POSTED: November 14, 2009

By Eric Hamilton

For The Inquirer

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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 42 consecutive points, including 14 in the span of 34 seconds, on its way to a 56-17 victory last night in front of 10,927 at InfoCision Stadium.

Temple´s Michael Campbell hauls in a 63-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chester Stewart in the first quarter, leaving Akron defender Manley Walker a spectator.
ED SUBA JR. / Akron Beacon Journal
Temple's Michael Campbell hauls in a 63-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chester Stewart in the first quarter, leaving Akron defender Manley Walker a spectator.

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 touchdowns 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.

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 56 points against Akron on Nov. 4, 1978, in a 56-21 win.

The Zips (3-8, 1-5) 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. The Owls' fortunes then took a dramatic turn for the better.

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 advantage 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 increase 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 in 1985.

Held in check for one quarter, Pierce finished with 97 yards in three quarters of work. He has 1,308 yards this season to move into third place for most yards in a single season.

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 MAC championship game.

 

26
Comments   
Posted 05:00 AM, 11/14/2009
duffers
Wow, great job Owls. Pierce is a legitimate player. Good to see Golden bringing some respectability to the program.
Posted 06:33 AM, 11/14/2009
George Hanna
Hell no plays small schools does not even have their on stadium low budget operation and lousy school, noothing but losers
Posted 06:58 AM, 11/14/2009
iamdante
Another great win for the Temple Owls. Eight in a row. Can't wait to see them play Saturday. The Owls are winners.
Posted 07:15 AM, 11/14/2009
L.A.Smith
Why not?!?
Posted 08:05 AM, 11/14/2009
FishtownFitz
George Hanna.....try not to post while in the middle of a stroke. You moron. Sit back and enjoy it and let us humans alone.
Posted 08:07 AM, 11/14/2009
bgraham
Incredible turnaround! All of Philadelphia--including George Hanna--should be psyched and proud of this achievement.
Posted 08:26 AM, 11/14/2009
Digifant
It's amazing what you can do after leaving the Big East Conference.
Posted 08:28 AM, 11/14/2009
northphillyboy
George nobody likes an hater
Posted 08:29 AM, 11/14/2009
hobie
This goes to show what hard work and good coaching can do to turn a program around. The talent level on this team is something else !
Posted 08:33 AM, 11/14/2009
Ruffian
Hoot Owls! Hoot Owls! Hoot, Hoot, Hoot, Hoot!
Posted 08:38 AM, 11/14/2009
vzev8aru
Happyy for Temple. It was a long time to wait for a winning season. They will never be on a level with the top 25 in the country.Top recruits will not consider Temple, unfortunitly. Great Coach and a hard working group of players.
Posted 08:48 AM, 11/14/2009
FishtownFitz
Where's my comment?
Posted 09:19 AM, 11/14/2009
The Pack Leader
Philly needs a competitive Division 1 football team it can rally behind, and it looks like Temple could provide that for us in the near future. Go Owls!
Posted 09:28 AM, 11/14/2009
franknbeans
looks like there going to either the International bowl, GMAC bowl, or motor city bowl.
Posted 09:36 AM, 11/14/2009
dankil13
Fun game to watch last night! Also as of last week, Temple has 7 AP votes (good for 34th) and 8 USA today coaches votes (good for 32nd). Who knows vzev8aru, if they run the table they may make it into the Top 25. The big showdown will be against Central Michigan. Temple has great skill position players, let's just hope that the QB Stewart can play well enough to win!
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