PHILADELPHIA, PA. 9/8/2018 – It was a bounce back chance for the Temple Owls. After losing opening week they looked to get that first win of the season. Within the game the Cherry and White had chances, but in the end the Buffalo Bulls got the big plays and escaped with a 36 – 29 win at the Linc.
“There were a couple of unfortunate things that caused us not to win that game,” said Temple Coach Geoff Collins.
Strange plays indeed, some you do not usually see in a game. And the Owls got the big breaks. However, the issue was decided by third down conversions where the home team was 3 of 14, interceptions, and allowing two Bulls touchdowns after tying the score.
After the hosts came back to tie the game at 22, they did not stop the visitors who crossed the goal line twice on touchdown passes by quarterback Tyree Jackson, who passed for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Buffalo corner back Cameron Lewis intercepted two passes, one that prevented Temple from scoring. Each of his picks resulted in a Bulls touchdown. In the second quarter Lewis started the drive that ended with a 22-yard run by Kevin Marks that gave his team a 12 – 0 advantage. Later, Lewis snared a pass deep in Owls territory that resulted in a 1-yard score by Marks, who ran for 138 yards, and a 19 – 14 lead.
During the contest the Temple was the recipient of momentum changers. At the end of the first half on 4th down quarterback Frank Nutile launched one toward the endzone. Wide Receiver Branden Mack went up over four Buffalo defenders and caught the ball for a touchdown cutting the deficit to 12 – 7. It looked like Temple got the spark they needed.
“We came out in the second half a little fired up hitting a Hail Mary, a one in a million shot,” said Temple quarterback Frank Nutile, who had 3 scoring tosses and 2 picks. “We got it and gave us the shot in the arm we needed in the second half.”
“I believe that every jump ball should be mine,” Mack said.
The Cherry and White took the lead at 14 – 12 in the third when Nutile found wide receiver Randle Jones with a 44-yard strike, his first career touchdown.
In the fourth quarter with Buffalo holding a 22 – 14 lead it appeared Temple got a big turnover when it appeared that Rock Ya-Sin intercepted a pass deep in the opponents territory. The call was reversed. Later, the Bulls attempted to punt, but the kick was blocked by Mack and recovered by Ty Mason in the endzone and a Temple score. The two-point conversion saw a reverse to Ventell Bryant who was stopped, but flipped a pass to Kenny Yeboah. The conversion was good that tied the contest. Call it a Temple-Special.
But Mack was flagged for a penalty and Buffalo had a short field for the drive that re-took the lead.
Afterward, Mack hauled in a 3-yard pass from Nutile to tie it again with 4:53 to play.
Jackson untied it with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Jackson.
Ya-Sin was involved in an odd play in the second stanza. When the Bulls scored their second touchdown, they went for a two-point conversion. Ya-Sin picked off the pass and appeared to return it for a safety, but a flag negated the score. Another one of those couple of things Collins talked about.
Temple falls to 0 – 2 for the season, and will take the field at Maryland looking for win number one.
“Little things hurt us,” said Collins. “We have to keep working and stay together. We laid it all on the line, but in the end we lost to a good college football team.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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