Temple Travels To Toledo For Mac
TOLEDO - Bernard Pierce rushed for 212 yards and Temple took advantage of three Rocket turnovers as the Owls defeated Toledo in the Glass Bowl, 40-24, in Mid-American Conference action Saturday night. Toledo played without its top two quarterbacks, senior and freshman, both of who were sidelined with injuries. Junior stepped in and completed 29-of-47 passes for 265 yards but it wasn't enough to keep pace with Temple's running game.
Temple Travels To Toledo For Mac
The loss moves Toledo (4-4, 2-2 MAC) to a full two games in the loss column behind MAC West Division leader Central Michigan. Temple (5-2, 4-0 MAC) moved into sole possession of first place in the MAC East ahead of Ohio, which suffered its first conference loss of the season. Toledo trailed by just six points at halftime, 23-17, but Pierce scored on a two-yard run following a Temple interception by Alex Joseph that was returned to the Rocket six-yard line. Brandon McManus kicked a 29-yard field goal to put Temple up 33-17 with 4:16 to play. Toledo had a chance to get back in the game but failed to convert on fourth-and-six from the Owl 18-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter. Temple came back and scored on a seven-play, 87-yard drive, making the score 40-17 and effectively putting the game away. Temple controlled the action early, scoring on its first two possessions.
The Owls went up 13-0 with 6:49 to play in the first quarter on a one-yard run by Pierce. Toledo immediately struck back after Pierce's score with a touchdown off an 85-yard kickoff return by sophomore. Temple scored twice in the second quarter, first on a 39-yard run by Pierce and then on a 30-yard field goal by McManus to move its lead to 23-7. But the Rockets hung tough, cutting the lead to 23-17 at the half. Senior drilled a 48-yard field goal with 6:16 remaining.
Senior capped a nine-play, 61-yard drive with six-yard TD run with just 38 seconds left in the half. The loss overshadowed a tremendous performance by Rocket senior safety. Church had nine tackles, including one tackle for loss, a fumble recovery and a blocked extra-point attempt on Temple's first TD. It was Church's third blocked kick in the past two games. Senior wide receiver also hit a milestone, passing Lance Moore as the Rockets' all-time leader in receiving yardage. Williams caught eight passes for 76 yards, giving him 2,784 career yards, eight more than Moore's mark of 2,776 set from 2001-04. The Rockets hit the road next Saturday for a 3:30 matchup with Miami.