Temple failed again in its bid to become bowl eligible with Saturday afternoon’s 14-6 loss to Cincinnati in its home finale at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Owls (5-6, 3-4 American Athletic Conference) have now lost three straight since upsetting then-No. 21 East Carolina.
Cincinnati (8-3, 6-1 AAC) won for the sixth straight time.
Turning point
Temple got a 31-yard field goal from Austin Jones midway through the third quarter to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 14-6.
Things started looking even better for the Owls when safety Boye Aromire forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff at the Cincy 18.
However, with prime field position and the momentum building, Temple couldn’t get out of its own way.
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Quarterback P.J. Walker broke free on a second-down scramble only to get tripped up by the grass at the Bearcats’ 9-yard line. Walker followed that up by having a pass trickle off the fingertips of a wide-open Colin Thompson in the back of the end zone.
To make matters even worse, Jones missed a chip-shot field goal attempt to have the Owls come up completely empty on the possession.
Big man on campus
There was a dominant performance by Temple on the field Saturday, but it didn’t come from anyone wearing cherry and white.
Cincinnati weakside linebacker Nick Temple was all over the field. He racked up 13 tackles (nine solo) and two sacks.
Temple spearheaded a Bearcats defense that held the Owls to just 267 total yards on the day.
Numbers game
• Cincinnati scored its first touchdown on a back-shoulder fade from three yards out by wide receiver Mekale McKay. That touchdown came after Walker lost the ball on a sack.
• The only other TD in the game came from Cincy running back Mike Boone on a one-yard plunge with 28 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
• Temple lost despite controlling time of possession 33:06 to 26:54.
• It was a mostly clean game with the two teams combining for six penalties for 46 yards.
• The two most active players were the punters for both clubs. Temple’s Alex Starzyk punted eight times for 288 total yards (36.0-yard average). On the other side, Cincinnati’s Sam Geraci punted eight times for 337 yards (42.1-yard average).
History
Temple still holds a 9-7-1 advantage in the all-time series with Cincinnati. However, the Owls have now lost five straight to the Bearcats.
Senior moment
Temple honored 11 players on Senior Day: DB Ikeem Boyd, RB Hassan Dixon, WR Jalen Fitzpatrick, RB Kenny Harper, TE Wanemi Omuso, DL Obi Onejeme, K/P Colby Perry, WR/DB Brett Pierce, QB Connor Reilly, DB Anthony Robey and FB Marc Tyson.
Of those 11, eight remain on the roster to give the Owls the fewest number of seniors in the entire FBS. Plus, only five of those eight are on the team’s two-deep depth chart, which is also the lowest in the nation.
What’s next?
Temple travels to Tulane to close out its season at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday.
Cincinnati returns home for a noon matchup against Houston in its regular-season finale.