Temple Celebrates Homecoming with 49-10 Win over Tulane

Saturday, October 10

Lincoln Financial Field

12:00 p.m.

Temple University

5-0 , 2-0

Tulane (Homecoming)

2-3 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Tulane

Temple

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Temple Celebrates Homecoming with 49-10 Win over Tulane

10.10.15 | Football

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Junior quarterback P.J. Walker threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns while freshman running back Ryquell Armstead rushed for two more, as Temple defeated Tulane, 49-10, on Homecoming at Lincoln Financial Field. The Owls move to 5-0 for the first time since 1974, also improving to 2-0 in The American.

Junior running back Jahad Thomas rushed for a touchdown and caught another, while the defense pitched their second consecutive shutout in the second half. After falling behind, 10-7, Temple allowed Tulane just 30 yards of offense the rest of the way, as the Owls won their seventh-consecutive homecoming game with 35,179 on hand. The 39-point margin of victory was the largest Homecoming win for Temple in over 25 years (record only kept back to 1989).

Coach Rhule was very pleased with the performance but was more excited to get so many players into the game. ""I'm very pleased to get a win at homecoming and improve to 5-0. I'm proud of our team and I though they showed resiliency and made plays when they had to in all three areas; offense, defense and special teams. That was a great win for us in that every kid that could get into the game that was not injured or redshirted. That's really important to our team to get all those kids [a chance to to play in front of our home crowd]."

The Green Wave scored first, converting a fumble on the opening possession into a 27-yard field goal by Andrew DiRocco. After trading punts, Walker led the Owls down the field, capping an 80-yard, six-play drive with a touchdown pass to Robby Anderson. Anderson had earlier extended the Temple drive with a spectacular sideline catch in double coverage on 3rd-and-12.

Tulane answered after the Owls had a punt hit a player downfield and retook the lead, 10-7, on a seven-yard pass by Tanner Lee to Teddy Veal.

A miscue on the subsequent kickoff started Temple on their 10 yard line. After a sack and a fumble made it second and 29, Jahad Thomas picked up 28 yards up the middle, and added a three-yard run to give the Owls the first down in Tulane territory. Walker followed with a 43-yard strike to redshirt freshman tight end Kip Patton, setting up a 10-yard touchdown run from Thomas that made it 14-10. The score kept Thomas' touchdown streak alive, as the junior has recorded a rushing touchdown in every game this season.

On the next possession, the Green Wave botched a punt attempt to put the Owls on the Tulane 12. After a loss by Thomas, Walker picked out his high school teammate for a 16-yard catch-and-run to push the Temple lead to 21-10. The pass tied Walker with Adam DiMichele for 2nd all-time in Owls' history.

Up 21-10 at the half, the Owls' defense took over. They forced four three-and-outs and limited Tulane to two first downs in the final two quarters. The Temple defensive unit also forced two turnovers, including a 22-yard interception return by sophomore defensive back Sean Chandler in the third quarter. The score marked the third consecutive game a defensive back has put up points for Temple, which included Will Hayes' defensive PAT at UMass and Nate L. Smith's blocked punt return at Charlotte.

While the defense subdued the Green Wave, the offense continued to rack up points. Armstead scored his first career touchdown on a 16-yard run to cap a six-play, 70-yard drive. After Chandler's touchdown, junior linebacker Avery Williams' first interception of the year set the Owls up on the Tulane 15. Armstead then tallied his second of the game from 16 yards out to make it 42-10.

Walker came out for redshirt freshman Frank Nutile after the 3rd quarter ended, finishing the game 11-for-15 with 183 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Nutile capped the scoring with his first-career passing touchdown, hitting David Hood from 10-yards out. Sophomore kicker Austin Jones converted all seven extra-point attempts during the game.

Temple will continue American play as they welcome division-rival UCF to Philadelphia for a night game on Saturday, October 17th. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery #1 | Photo Gallery #2 | Video Highlights | Coach Rhule Press Conference | Player Interviews | Temple-Tulane Quotes