Temple University Athletics
Temple Suffers Tough Loss to West Virginia, 29-24
9.28.00 | Football
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Brad Lewis threw for a career-high 242 yards and two touchdowns and directed a late scoring drive as West Virginia beat Temple
29-24 on Thursday night.
Cooper Rego, who entered the fourth quarter with minus-5 yards rushing, gained 86 on 16 carries.
After Temple (3-2, 0-1) took a 24-23 lead with 9:01 left, West Virginia came back with a nine-play, 88-yard drive, capped by Rego's second 1-yard TD run,
that made it 29-24 with 5:22 left.
Rego gained the last 49 yards of the drive on the ground.
Lewis, coming off a woeful performance against Miami last week, threw touchdown passes of 11 yards to Khori Ivy and 1 yard to Tim Frost as the Mountaineers
beat Temple for the 10th straight time.
The Owls were seeking their first 4-1 start since 1979 when they made their last bowl appearance.
Backup Mike Frost threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter as the Owls rallied after blowing a 10-0 lead and allowing 23 straight points.
Frost threw a 9-yard scoring pass to Greg Muckerson on the quarterback's first play of the game to make it 23-17 with 13:28 left. The touchdown pass came a
play after Donnie Coleman's recovered a fumble on a punt return.
After Temple held the Mountaineers on the next drive, Frost came back with a 14-yard TD pass to Charles Cobb to give Temple a 23-17 lead with 9:01 left.
But Rego and West Virginia took control of the game on the ensuing drive.
Temple tailback Tanardo Sharps ran for 113 yards, including a 66-yard TD run that gave Temple a 10-0 lead just 33 seconds into the second quarter. It was his
fourth touchdown of more than 60 yards this season.
Sharps, who entered the game averaging 123 yards and 6.6 yards per carry, has touchdown runs of 64, 65, 65 and 66 yards in five games.
Lewis, who was 11-of-31 for 113 yards in a 47-10 loss to Miami last Saturday, gave West Virginia its first lead on an 11-yard TD pass to Ivy that made it 14-10
with 8:36 left in the third quarter.
Lewis scrambled around, eluded a couple tacklers and found Ivy in the back of the end zone to cap an 11-play, 70-yard drive.
Ivy had seven catches for 155 yards.
On Temple's ensuing possession, Phil Braxton blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety to give West Virginia a 16-10 lead.
West Virginia cut it to 10-7 on a 1-yard run by Rego with 12:05 left in the second quarter.
A 63-yard pass from Lewis to Ivy set up the touchdown. Lewis was shaken up on the pass and was replaced by Scott McBrien for one play before returning for
the next series.
