Philadelphia, Pa. (The Phanatic Magazine) - An early injury to running back Bernard Pierce hampered Temple as the Owls lost out on a chance to seize control of the Mid-American Conference East Division during a 31-23 loss to Ohio at a rainy Lincoln Financial Field.
Vince Davidson ran for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Bobcats, (8-3, 6-1 MAC), who won their seventh straight game and moved one-half game ahead of Miami-Ohio for the Mac East lead. Boo Jackson, playing despite suffering a concussion in an altercation at a bar earlier in the week, passed for 78 yards and another touchdown for the Bobcats.
The oft-injured Pierce went down on the first offensive play of the game for the Owls (8-3, 5-2 MAC), who failed in an attempt to win their school record 11th straight home game during Senior Day. Temple, which also lost veteran linebacker Peanut Joseph in the game, was officially eliminated from the MAC East championship picture for a second straight year by Ohio. The Bobcats, who are coached by former Nebraska mentor Frank Solich, also claimed a 35-17 win over the Owls last season in Peden Stadium to win the MAC East championship outright.
"I don't the know the severity of the injuries but it was obviously enough to keep them out of a big game," Temple coach Al Golden said. I wished that we coached better, played better and executed better [for the seniors]. I can't make excuses. Those guys (Ohio) played hard and played well. You can't worry about that (the injury) stuff."
The Owls looked like they would start things with a bang when Pierce busted through the left side of the line for a 67-yard gain one the team's first offensive play. An illegal procedure penalty wiped out the electrifying run, however, and Pierce came up lame during the run.
The dynamic Pierce was unable to return and the diminutive Matt Brown was ineffective in his stead rushing for just 72 yards on 20 carries, while failing on a key 4th-and-1 attempt and picking up a costly personal foul
penalty, both in the fourth quarter.
Temple quarterback Mike Gerardi also struggled without the threat of Pierce behind him. The left-hander, who came in 3-0 as a starter after replacing Chester Stewart earlier in the season and threw for 368 yards last week against Ken State, finished 28-of-48 for 311 yards with two TDs and two interceptions, although most of that damage was done late in garbage time.
Ohio took the early lead when the Temple defense allowed its first TD in 13 quarters, a 5-yard Davidson TD run with 5:38 remaining in the first quarter. Owls receiver Michael Campbell set the stage by coughing up what would have been a first down near midfield. The Bobcats cashed in their fortuitous field possession thanks in large part to a 33-yard back shoulder fade from Jackson to Terrence McCrae that put ball inside the five.
Temple responded and evened things early in the second quarter. A pair of Gerardi passes to Rod Streater, one on a bubble screen and another on a waggle, set up a 1-yard Brown TD plunge.
The back-and-forth action continued as Ohio quickly regained the lead thanks to a 10-play, 71-yard march, culminating with a 16-yard TD pass as Jackson used his athleticism to keep things alive and the Owls dropped coverage on Riley Dunlop, who snared the scoring pass.
A 45-yard Brandon McManus field goal made it a 14-10 contest with 3:10 left until intermission but Matt Weller was able to answer with a 40-yearded of his own in the waning seconds as the Bobcats took a seven-point cushion, 17-10, into the locker room.
Things slowed considerably in the second half until Ohio defensive lineman Carl Jones sniffed out a bubble screen and picked off Gerardi with under 12 minutes to go, The defensive lineman rumbled to the Temple 24 and Brown exacerbated things by getting called for a personal foul that tacked on another 12 yards. Four plays later, Donte Harden bounced outside for a 2-yard TD and the Bobcats had a comfortable 24-10 edge with 9 1/2 minutes later.
After Brown failed to convert a 4th-and-1 with just over six minutes left, Davidson put things away with a 41-yard TD run.
A pair of late Gerardi TD passes, both to Campbell, made things seem closer than they actually were but any hope for a miraculous comeback was thwarted by a bad onsides kick attempt by McManus with 1:13 remaining.
OWL DROPPINGS:
*If you are wondering where the Owls may go "Bowl"-ing, the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl receives the first choice of MAC teams, though it is not required to take the MAC champion. The GoDaddy.com Bowl receives the second choice of MAC teams and the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl receives the third choice of MAC teams. Meanwhile, The Military Bowl normally has the eighth choice from the ACC, however in years where there are not eight eligible ACC teams, they may select a MAC team and did so in 2009. Murray Cape, the selection committee chair of The GoDaddy.com Bowl was in attendance tonight, as was Larry
Geracioti from the Little Caesar's Bowl.
*Scouts from the Eagles, New York Giants, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, New Orleans Saints, Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears and Optimum Scouting were on hand.
*Former Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders DE Lance Johnstone ('92-95), a solid pass rusher in his NFL prime, was one of the guest coaches for Temple.
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