As they faced Boston College on Saturday afternoon, the only points Temple University football recorded against the Eagles’ defense was a field goal in the third quarter after an 11-play drive.
The Owls’ (1-2, 0-0 The American Athletic Conference) inability to execute offensively resulted in a 28-3 loss against Boston College (3-0, 0-0 The Atlantic Coast Conference), despite possessing the ball three minutes longer and matching the Eagles in first downs.
The Eagles scored their first two touchdowns early on in the first quarter, and their third touchdown late in the second quarter, resulting in a 21-point halftime lead the Owls never recovered from.
“No one was playing well offensively in the first half, and that [Eagles’] touchdown right before the end of the half made 21 really hurt,” said head coach Rod Carey.
Despite Temple’s offense only recording 84 rushing yards, the Owls remain optimistic, Carey said.
“We’re always gonna stay positive no matter what cause, you know, at the end of the day we’re still a team,” said redshirt-freshman safety M.J. Griffin. “We have to play a different team next week, and the week after that together, so everything we do, we do together. We win together, we lose together.”
True freshman quarterback Justin Lynch appeared in his second-ever collegiate start this weekend against the Eagles after redshirt-freshman quarterback D’Wan Mathis was injured in the season opener against Rutgers University on Sept. 4.
Lynch, who totaled two touchdowns and 255 passing yards against the University of Akron, had trouble getting the ball off, which led to him recording 161 passing yards and no touchdowns against Boston College’s defense.
This is not the performance expected after last week’s victory.
Lynch led the team in rushing yards, with 27 yards while redshirt-freshman running back Edward Saydee trailed close behind with 25 yards.
So far this season, the Owls have consistently failed at driving the ball down the field and finishing possessions with points, which has led to them falling behind in games.
A crucial fourth and one for the team ended with a false start penalty on graduate student running back Tayvon Ruley at the Eagles’ 19-yard line, which resulted in a loss of five yards, bringing up fourth-down and six, which the Owls did not convert.
Temple’s 11 penalties played a key role in their lack of points this time around.
“Self-inflicted wounds are what we call them, you know, pre-snap controllable penalties,” Carey said. “We gotta get back and clean those pre-snap penalties up ourselves.”
Despite Mathis potentially returning for their game against Wagner University (0-3, 0-2 The Northeast Conference) on Sept. 25, the Owls will need to work on strengthening their offense to keep from making the same sloppy mistakes.
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