Temple University Athletics
Temple Upends Eastern Michigan 49-40
9.23.00 | Football
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Bobby Wallace got one of his wishes Saturday night.
The three-year Temple coach wanted his club to finish with a winning non-conference record this season. With a 49-40 victory over Eastern
Michigan, Wallace took another step closer to bringing Temple's program toward respectability.
The Owls moved to 3-1 for the first time since 1987 and are looking for their first winning season since 1990.
``It was just another day at work and now we have to get ready for our conference games,'' Wallace said. The Owls will host West Virginia Thursday
night.
``We wanted to get to this point, and we finally did it,'' Wallace said. ``Our overall goal was to have a winning record and get to a bowl game. We
just have to take one game at a time.''
Many of Temple's 461 total yards were due to running back Tanardo Sharps, who rushed for a career-high 203 yards on 18 carries.
Sharps came up with two 65-yard touchdown runs, the second coming with 1:50 left in the third quarter to put Temple ahead 42-19. Sharps cut left,
then to the middle as he outraced the Eastern Michigan secondary to the goal line.
The sophomore running back didn't want to take any credit.
``The offensive line did all the work for me,'' Sharps said. ``They gave me the seems and made it easy. I just kept on plugging away.''
Eastern Michigan coach Jeff Woodruff agreed.
``They made holes that you could drive a marching band through,'' he said. ``We dug ourselves too deep of a hole to get out of.''
Devin Scott completed 10 of 16 passes for 163 yards and threw three TD passes.
Scott hit Greg Muckerson on a 36-yard scoring strike early in the first quarter. He later connected with tight end Tyrone Ditzel on a 6-yard pass with
13 seconds left that gave Temple a 28-12 halftime lead.
Scott, who left the game at the start of the fourth quarter, also scored on a 1-yard run that gave Temple a 21-3 lead.
``We came out and wanted to show people something,'' Scott said. ``I think we are starting to prove something.''
Eastern Michigan (1-3) running back John White, who finished the game with 111 yards on 25 carries, brought the Eagles to within 28-19 on a
2-yard touchdown run with 9:10 left in the third quarter.
But Scott connected with Ikey Chuku on a 39-yard touchdown pass and Sharps later scored his second 65-yard run of the night that increased the
lead to 42-19 at the end of the third quarter.
Walter Church completed 34 of 50 passes for 364 yards and three touchdowns for Eastern Michigan and helped lead a 21-point fourth quarter. His
second TD pass, an 11-yarder to Kevin Walter, narrowed the gap to 49-33 with 1:09 left in the game.
Temple turned the ball over on it own 20 with 52 seconds left, and Church hit Walter again, this time for a 21-yard touchdown with four seconds left
in the game.
Eastern Michigan wide receiver Ken Christian set a new school record with 20 catches for 198 yards.
Temple's 49 points were the most scored by the Owls since they routed Rutgers 56-28 last season
