Temple takeaways roust Red Hawks, 24-21

Philadelphia - The Temple Owls (6-4,4-3)  turned three takeaways into scores as they held off the Miami (O.) Red Hawks

(4-6,3-3) in a hard-fought 24-21 win on Wednesday night at Lincoln Financial Field.  QB Chris Coyer and Matt Brown put together a ball-control running game for the Owls, but the Owl defense brought the pressure to Miami QB Zach Dysert sacking him seven times while two interceptions and a fumble resulted in 17 points for the Owls.  TB Matt Brown filled in more than adequately for injured Bernard Pierce as he rushed for 123 yards on 24 carries including effective runs on the Owls' last possession to run out the clock and preserve the three-point victory.  QB Chris Coyer started his first game for Temple to effectively control the ball and the clock rushing for 97 yards  and a TD on 16 carries while passing for 92 yards and a TD completing 10 of 19.  A win for the Owls here was needed to keep them in contention for the MAC East title as they trail only Ohio U. whom they lost to the week before, 35-31.

     FS Kevin Kroboth recovered a Red Hawk fumble in the first quarter at his own 40.  Coyer and company took over and drove to the Miami 15 where Brandon McManus, who kicked and punted tremendously this evening , booted a 32-yard FG to give the Owls a 3-0 lead.   The Red Hawks responded right away with a 90-yard scoring drive when Dysert tossed a 29-yard pass to WR Nick Harwell (15 receptions, 229 yards, 2 TDs) who showed good speed and great hands throughout the evening.

    Temple's next possession continued into the second period with Coyer and Brown combining for 56 yards on the ground until Coyer connected with WR Deon Miller who made a twisting, turning catch at knee level for six points. With McManus's extra point, TU led, 10-7.  After several exchanges on punts, Temple DE Adrian Robinson snagged a Dysert pass directly over his head and returned the interception 14 yards to the Miami nine.  On the very next play, Coyer ran right up the middle for a  touchdown and a 17-7 Temple lead that held through halftime.  The Temple defense continued to pressure Dysert  (28 for 37, 364 passing yards, 2 TDs) whenever the Red Hawks had the ball, but he still came up with big numbers to keep his team in the game.  Temple DEs Robinson and Morkeith Brown each recorded two of their teams seven sacks to keep the Hawk passing game under pressure.

     I had purchased a good seat for the evening right behind the Owl bench 18 rows up. I learned that those Lincoln Financial lights are low and bright!  The game got off to a comical start as I watched the lead saxophone player in the Temple Owl Marching band high-step on to the field and slip on the playing surface in front of his cohorts to get off to a stumbling start to the pre-game festivities.  It was caught on camera and replayed on the video board. It was shown among the highlights at halftime and the proud musician was introduced live on the big board where he was cheered for his ill-fated hustle on the field that will not be forgotten in Temple Marching band history.  From my great seat on the 40, the TU band performed, gyrated, sang, and danced for the best halftime performance since Hampton University's visit to Princeton Stadium in 2007.

     In the third, Miami scored to tighten Temple's lead to 17-14 when Dysert completed four of five passes and Justin Semmes carried the ball to the 25 where Dysert connected with WR Chris Givens for a 25-yard TD pass.  The Red Hawks held the Owls to a three and out before taking over on a punt from their own 37.  Temple diverted this drive when DB Zamel Johnson picked off Dysert at his own 17 and returned it to Miami's 30.  A key pass from Coyer to Evan Rodriguez on third and seven put TU at the Red hawk five.  At the two, Matt Brown carried home the bacon for a score and Temple's 24-14 lead at the beginning of the final period.

     Both teams' subsequent drives resulted in punts.  Dysert got his offense clicking on the next possession completing seven passes including the final one to Harwell for a  fourteen-yard TD pass.  With 3:35 remaining, Miami kicked off.  Starting from the 31, Brown ran the ball effectively picking up timely first downs and forcing Miami to use time-outs before running out the clock for a 24-21 TU win to improve their record to 6-4,4-3.  They will finish off their regular season schedule with two games at the Linc with  Army visiting on Nov. 19 followed by Kent in their MAC season finale.  Miami hosts Western Michigan next Wednesday followed by  a game at Ohio U. on the following Tuesday, November 22.  The Hawks will have some influence on the final standings in the MAC East as the Bobcats lead the East with a 4-2 conference record.  Next Wednesday, the Hawks will visit the Falcons of Bowling Green. OU has the tie-breaker intact over Temple.  Winner of the East faces the winner of the West on Friday December 2 at Detroit's Ford Field.

Extra points: Dysert, a junior, is second in Miami history now with 7,745 passing yards trailing only former Red hawk Ben Roethlsiberger.

Head Coach Don Treadwell of Miami coached Michigan State last season in Mark Dantonio's absence due to his heart problems.  Along with Ara Parseghian, John Pont, Bo Schembechler, Bill Mallory, Tom Reed and Randy Walker, he joins them as Miami grads who also served as Head Coaches in Oxford, Ohio.

Word spread after 10 pm about the firing of Joe Paterno from Penn State.  Several fans exchanged football stories about him both pro and con.  Radio talk shows stayed on late on the drive home to weigh in.  I just found it all disturbing, unbelievable, and depressing.  I have  lot of great memories about seeing the Lions play up at Penn State over the years. It leaves a mixed feeling of seeing so much history pertaining to his great career, but it's just a shame the it had to be scarred by one big over sight on his part.  I hated to see it come to an end this way, not only for what allegedly happened, but eh for the way Penn State handled the firing and the way a few thousand student erupted on campus.  I hope the class and integrity that Penn State demonstrated with Paterno as HC.  I just hope that the admin and students did not forget those lessons now that he's gone.

Temple will host Army on November 19 and the Red Hawks return to roost next Wednesday in Miami to take on Western Michigan.  CollegeFootballFan.com will travel to Syracuse for a Friday night game to see South Florida visit Syracuse.  More in depth analysis to come later...