Matakevich a big hit for Owls right off the bat

SO, HOW DOES it feel to be making a difference in history-making victories in the fall semester of your freshman year at Temple?

Welcome to Tyler Matakevich's new world.

A few weeks ago, the 6-1, 220-pound linebacker - who enrolled in January as a midyear transfer from Milford Academy in New Berlin, N.Y. - was just another freshman trying to make the transition to the next level. Then junior Olaniyi Adewole, the Owls' Most Improved Special Teams Player in spring practice, was injured. And it became someone else's turn, even though Matakevich didn't find out he'd be making his first start until just before the kickoff against South Florida on Oct. 6. Which just happened to be the program's first Big East game in eight seasons.

"Throughout the week, I'd been getting more and more reps," he recalled. "When we came out for pregame stuff, I thought [Adewole] was going to go. But the coaches came up to me and said, 'You're in.' That was pretty much it."

Matakevich, who also played fullback at St. Joseph's High School in Trumball, Conn. ("I'd rather hit than be hit," he smiled), responded with 15 tackles in a 37-28 win, which earned him one of the five mentions on the Big East weekly honor roll. What he did for an encore was even better. In an overtime win at Connecticut, where the defense didn't allow any points in the closing 45 minutes of regulation or the extra period, he was in on 19 stops (including 10 solos). And once again, he was recognized by the conference for the effort.

Heading into Saturday afternoon's suddenly important South Philly matchup with 19th-ranked Rutgers (6-0, 3-0), one of the Big East's three Top 25 unbeatens, Matakevich is still listed second on the depth chart on the weak side behind senior Ahkeem Smith. Adewole is No. 2 at the strong spot, in back of junior Blaze Caponegro. Probably doesn't matter. You'd have to figure at this point that Matakevich will play. And play a bunch. Not just the rest of this year, but the next 3.

"Whatever happens, happens," Matakevich said. "I really had no clue it would happen like this. I just came in with the mind-set that I'd work as hard as I could and try to be prepared if the opportunity came. I'm happy that I got to finally show what I can do."

He's already second on the team in tackles, with 36, seven behind fellow first-year player Nate D. Smith, who has been starting at middle linebacker since the opener. But they're hardly the only ones. Right now, four other freshmen are listed among the defensive two-deep. And there are five more on offense. Against UConn, Kyle Friend had to move from guard to center down the stretch, after Sean Boyle went down.

"That's football," said coach Steve Addazio. "That's the way it's going to be. You lose a guy, you gain a guy. It's been great, watching these guys emerge. You owe it to the team to put the next guy in. Nobody knew what they're going to do. All of a sudden, here comes Tyler. You just don't know. But you have to get the next guy ready to roll. Because the next play's going to happen . . .

"[Tyler] loves football, you know. He's competitive. That's really what he brings. I remember [former recruiting coordinator] Matt Rhule saying, 'We've got to take this guy.' No one was recruiting him, not really. He will come out of here a bona fide Big East linebacker. You don't recruit them for stars. You do it for their passion. He's a tough guy. It's funny how that goes sometimes. Believe what you see."

And what he does. It's hard not to notice an immediate impact. Not that those are the numbers Matakevich necessarily cares about.

"You want to be part of something," he said. "Whatever my role was, I wanted to help make the team better. That's what's important. Each day I'm learning things. It's going to be that way probably the whole time I'm here. Once I take care of all the other [college] stuff, I'm down here [at the football facility].

"I mean, you want to play. Who doesn't think about that? You're a football player. But now everything's faster. Football's football. There's just more to it than there was in high school. You have to take care of all the little stuff, stay on top of whatever needs to get done.

"Once you start having success, you want more. That's what I love about it. It's been tremendous. We're young. I'm just doing my job. If we all do that, good things are going to happen."

They already are.