#24 Owls Fall to Toledo in Marmot Boca Raton Bowl

Tuesday, December 22

Boca Raton, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

10-4 , 7-1

Toledo

10-2 , 6-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Temple

Toledo

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

#24 Owls Fall to Toledo in Marmot Boca Raton Bowl

12.22.15 | Football

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – #24 Temple couldn't complete a fourth-quarter comeback, as the Owls fell to Toledo, 32-17, in a steady downpour at the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl. Temple sees its record-setting 2015 campaign end at 10-4, while Toledo finishes its season at 10-2.

The Owls, who tied a school record with 10 wins this season, move to 2-3 all time in Bowl games.

Temple LB Tyler Matakevich, the Bednarik and Nagurski Award winner for College Defensive Player of the Year, finished his career with a game-high 12 tackles, setting a new Temple record with 493 total stops. He passed Steve Conjar (1978-81) for the honor.

Temple's offense was sluggish in the first half, as the Owls were held to just 67 net yards. Toledo racked up 199 yards of offense, 168 in the air, using a safety, two field goals and a touchdown to lead 12-3 at the break.

The Owls came alive in the third quarter, holding Toledo scoreless, but settled for two field goals on offense, in closing the gap to 12-9.

In an action-packed fourth quarter, Temple finally found the end zone, avoiding being held without a touchdown for the first time all season. The Owls made things interesting, converting an improbable two-point conversion to make it an eight-point game, but an on-side kick attempt was recovered by Toledo. The Rockets tacked on one more score and the Owls final drive stalled, ending the game.

Senior WR Brandon Shippen set a career-high with 70 yards receiving on four catches to lead the Owls, while classmate Robby Anderson finished with six catches for 66 yards. QB P.J. Walker went 23-42 for 236 yards and one interception.

The Owls were without the services of leading rusher Jahad Thomas, CB Tavon Young and LB Avery Williams, who exited the game at the half. They entered the game without Alex Wells as the first team all-conference safety suffered a hamstring injury earlier in the week..

After the teams traded punts to open up the game, Temple pinned Toledo to their own 1-yard line, giving the Owls good field position after forcing yet another Rockets' punt. Starting at their own 48-yard line, Temple used a 13-play 40-yard drive, ending with a 29-yard Austin Jones field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 1:13 left in the quarter.

Temple forced a three-and-out on Toledo's next possession, but the Rockets got on the board after a fumble from RB Jahad Thomas squirted out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

Leading 3-2, Toledo took the free kick out to their own 45, and took the lead after a five-play 55-yard drive. The score came on a 26-yard touchdown from Phillip Ely to Corey Jones, giving Toledo a 9-3 lead with 12:16 remaining in the second quarter.

Toledo tacked on a field goal as time expired to take a 12-3 lead into halftime. The Rockets forced a three-and-out from Temple, taking over at their own 42-yard line. Two big plays, including a 26-yard pass from Ely to Michael Roberts put Toledo in field goal range, where Jameson Vest made it a nine-point Rockets lead with a 38-yard field goal.

Temple opened the second half with an eight-play 67-yard drive, capped by an Austin Jones field goal, cutting the lead to 12-6. A 40-yard pass from QB P.J. Walker to WR Ventell Bryant and a 13-yard rush from Brandon Shippen, set up Jones for a 25-yard FG, his 22nd of the season, setting a new single-season school record. Jones passed Don Bitterlich's 1975 total to take over first on the all-time Temple list.

The Owls forced a three-and-out on Toledo's next possession, and then set up yet another Jones field goal. Sean Chandler started the Owls at midfield with a 12-yard punt return and Walker added a 14-yard rush to set up Jones' score, which put Temple within a field goal (12-9) with 6:11 remaining in the third.

Toledo marched down the field on their next possession, getting to Temple's 44-yard line. On a 3rd and 12, Temple SS Nate L. Smith broke up a pass in the end zone, keeping Toledo off the board.

The teams traded punts to open the fourth quarter, with Alex Starzyk booting a career-best 71-yarder for Temple. However, the kick was out of the reach of the Temple defense, trickling into the end zone for a touchback. On the next play, Toledo's Ely found Cody Thompson for an 80-yard touchdown, making it 19-9 Rockets with 12:41 to play.

Temple got down to the Toledo 34 on its next possession, but Walker was intercepted by the Rockets' Juwan Haynes at the 26-yard line. From there, Toledo put together a 74-yard drive that took 5:31 off the clock, ending with a 1-yard TD run from Kareem Hunt. The Owls blocked the extra point, setting the score to 25-9 with 5:46 to play.

After the Toledo score, Temple recorded its first touchdown of the game, capping an 11-play, 68-yard drive with a two-yard run from TE Kip Patton. Shippen had two big catches on the drive, and was thrown to as Toledo was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, setting up the touchdown. Temple elected to go for two, and Walker scrambled out of pressure and somehow found Anderson in the end zone, making it an eight-point game, 25-17, with 2:50 on the clock.

Temple went for the onside kick, but the referees signaled that Toledo came up with the ball under a pile of players at midfield. Hunt then tacked on an insurance score for the Rockets, scoring from 41-yards out to put the game out of reach at 32-17 with just 2:29 on the clock.

The Owls had one more possession before the clock ran out, but the drive stalled at the Toledo 27-yard line, ending the game 32-17 in Toledo's favor.

Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery 1 (Game) | Photo Gallery 2 (Fan Events)