Owls’ defense shines with two touchdowns and a second-half shutout in a 38-14 victory

Midway through the first half, the game had the looks of a shootout. Rams quarterback Tyler Budge- who was in for the injured Devin Farrell- dropped back, and his pass was tipped and landed in the hands of sophomore defensive back Jamarcus Pierre. He broke a few tackles, found his way to the end zone, and gave Temple all the momentum needed to go on to win 38-14 and complete a second-half shutout.  

The defense came to play Saturday, but so did Keveun Mason, as he had 192 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in Saturday’s win. Colin Chase and Jojo Bermudez had 43 and 40 receiving yards, respectively. 

The biggest question heading into the game was answered, as Jaxon Smolik got the start today. If any play was emblematic of the day for the quarterbacks, it would be the first play from scrimmage, as Smolik handed it off to Ajani Shepard, as he rifled it to Chase for a first down. The quarterbacks had a near  50/50 split of playing time in today’s game, and both quarterbacks- considering they split reps in camp- looked good. 

“The quarterbacks, you know, no one took charge,” Head Coach K.C. Keeler said “We’ll watch the tape, we’ll see how they each played. When you watch the tape, you can just take a deep breath and be a lot more critical, and maybe pinpoint some things.” 

The game started very fast-paced as the Owls only needed five plays to find the end zone and score their first touchdown of the season. The touchdown came on a play-action pass from Smolik as he layered a beautiful pass to Jayce Freeman along the back line of the end zone.

The Rams would answer back, however, with a quick drive of their own, thanks to receiver Marquis Buchanan, who had 59 total yards and a touchdown on the opening drive for the Rams. The Owls would answer on the next drive with a field goal from Carl Hardin to make the score 10-7 at the end of the first quarter. 

Ajani Shepard did see snaps on the third drive for the Owls, as he would find Bermudez for a 26-yard bomb down the field. That drive did stall out, however, and the Owls were forced to punt. 

In the second, the Owls’ defense silenced all thoughts of a possible shootout thanks to Jamarcus Pierre’s timely pick-six to give the Owls a 17-7 lead. On the next drive, Rams quarterback Tyler Budge would find his footing as he would scramble for 37 total yards and a touchdown on the drive, to make the score 14-17. 

The Owls would extend their lead on their next drive with Smolik at the helm, Mason, however, was the star of the drive, getting things started with a 35-yard run up the middle. He would eventually punch it in, running through a Rams defender to score his first touchdown of the day on a one-yard run to give the Owls a 24-14 lead going into halftime.  

In the third, Smolik would cough up the ball on the Owls’ first drive of the half, the defense would put the fire out, however, forcing a punt on the next drive. With Shepard in, the Owls would right their wrong from the last drive as they scored on a methodical 17-play drive that ended with another one-yard Mason Touchdown run, his second of the day, as he would give the Owls a 31-14 lead. 

“I would say I’ve been working for this, and I finally got an opportunity to show it,” Mason said about his performance and what he is capable of for the rest of the season. 

Going into the fourth quarter, with the game all but over, the Temple defense put the cherry on top of the game thanks to a 63-yard pick-six from Alualu, after he dropped an interception earlier in the drive. Speaking on his sequence, Alualu said, “When I got the opportunity to finally make a play, you know, God gave me a second opportunity to make another one, and I kind of just never looked back again.”

The Owls’ next game is back at Lincoln Financial Field this time, with a 12:00 pm kickoff as they will face #18 ranked Penn State.