Temple University Athletics
BATTLE OF BIRDS ENDS IN BOWLING GREEN'S FAVOR
9.23.01 | Football
Temple (1-2) produced 356 yards of total offense and 18 first downs behind freshman quarterback Mike McGann in his first career start. Bowling Green (3-0), which managed 248 total yards and 14 first downs, avenged a 31-14 loss to the Owls a year ago in Philadelphia. Temple will have a bye next week before opening Big East Conference play at Boston College on Oct. 6.
Bowling Green opened the game on a high note, as Joe Alls returned the opening kickoff 75 yards to the Temple 15. The Falcons were unable to cash in on the play, as Raheem Brock recovered a fumbled exchange by quarterback Josh Harris on first down. The Falcons still managed to score first, however, when Temple's Tanardo Sharps fumbled at the Owl 30 and the ball was scooped up by Falcon defensive back Chad Long, who ran it in for a touchdown at the 12:03 mark of the first quarter.
Temple leveled the score with a defensive score of its own, when Brock intercepted an Andy Sahm pass at the line of scrimmage and raced 59 yards for a touchdown at the 4:32 mark of the first period.
Bowling Green took the lead for good with 7:48 to play in the second quarter, as Sahm directed a five-play, 55-yard drive that he finished with a one-yard sneak for the touchdown. The key play was a 30-yard pass to James Hawkins that set the Falcons up with a first-and-goal at the Temple one. The Owls cut the lead to 1410 with 25 seconds left in the first half, as Cap Poklemba booted a 40-yard field goal to conclude an 11-play, 39 yard drive. Temple began the march from its own 38, where the Owls gained possession at the 4:45 mark after stopping the Falcons just short of the first-down marker on a fourth-down fake punt.
The Owls missed a golden opportunity to either take the lead or narrow the margin in the final 20 seconds of the first half, recovering a "pop-up" kickoff at the Falcon 26 following Poklemba's field goal. But McGann's intended pass to Chonn Lacy in the end zone was intercepted by Bowling Green's Janssen Patton in the final seconds.
The second half scoring began as it did in the first, with Bowling Green capitalizing on a Temple miscue. On its first possession of the half, the Owls faced a third-and-four at their own 32-yard line, when McGann's short pass was intercepted by Falcon tackle Brandon Hicks, who lumbered 31 yards for a touchdown and a 21-10 BGSU lead. Bowling Green increased the margin to 28-10 on its first offensive play of the second half, when Sahm hit Kurt Gerling with a 45-yard bomb at the 6:48 mark.
The Owls answered with their best offensive possession of the game, driving 82 yards in 15 plays to a six-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Mac DeVito to freshman Eric Carpenter with 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Temple drive was aided by a 15-yard personal foul facemask on a fourth and five at the Falcon 26. Another key play came on fourth-and-one at the Bowling Green 14, as fullback Jason McKie bulled for a first down to keep the drive alive.
Bowling Green ran the lead to 35-17 and sealed the win as Sahm hit David Bautista with a 28-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-four with 11:31 to play. Temple managed to score again on a fake punt with 3:06 to play, as freshman quarterback Collin Hannigan passed 60 yards down the left sideline to Lacy, who broke two tackles to go the distance. A missed two-point conversion attempt left the Owls with a 35-23 deficit. It was the first snap of Hannigan's career. On the ensuing on-side kickoff attempt, Patton fielded Jason Davis's squib kick clean and raced 42 yards to close out the scoring.
For the game, McGann completed 23-of-46 passes for 256 yards but threw three interceptions. Zamir Cobb finished with nine receptions for 75 yards, while McKie was the Owls' leading rusher with 28 yards on eight carries.
