Temple University Athletics
SHARPS PACES OWL GRIDDERS TO 38-24 WIN AT CONNECTICUT
10.19.02 | Football
Temple (3-4) won its second-straight game with the non-conference victory. Connecticut, a NCAA Division I-A independent that will join the Big East Conference in 2005, dropped to 2-5. As a team, the Owls rushed for a season-high 280 yards and finished with 359 total yards to the Huskies' 272.
Things started off in deja vu fashion for the Huskies, as junior Makonnen Fenton returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to give the Owls a 7-0 advantage. In Temple's 56-7 season-finale win last year, Fenton also returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a score.
UConn reduced Temple's lead to 7-3 on a 42-yard Mark Hickok field goal at the 10:15 mark of the first quarter. The field goal was a result of good field position provided to the Huskies via a fumble by Temple punter Garvin Ringwelski that was recovered and turned over on downs at the Owl 31-yard line.
On Temple's next possession, the Owls drove 34 yards before facing a fourth-and-three
at the Connecticut 46 yard line. Reserve signal-caller Mike Frost entered the game to punt as the TU offense remained on the field. Frost's punt was fumbled by UConn return man Cliff Hill and recovered in the end zone for a score by wide receiver Zamir Cobb. Cap Poklemba's point-after-attempt was blocked, however, and Temple led 13-3. The last time Temple recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown was in 2000, when current Indianapolis Colts DE Raheem Brock did the honors at Veterans Stadium against Miami.
Temple extended its lead to 20-3 on its first drive of the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Mike McGann hit true freshman wideout Sean Szarka with a scoring aerial from 10-yards out with 12:52 showing in the half to cap a nine play, 65-yard drive. The drive's biggest play was a 31-yard pass from McGann to Terrance Stubbs on third-and-five from the UConn 44.
After the Temple defense stopped consecutive UConn possessions, McGann was in the process of engineering another scoring drive, but a deflected pass was grabbed by Husky linebacker Jamal Lundy at the UConn 38-yard line. Lundy raced 62 yards to pay dirt to cut the lead to 20-10 with 5:04 remaining in the second stanza. Temple entered the locker room at halftime with a 20-10 lead.
Temple got on the scoreboard first after the midpoint. Senior wide receiver Sean Dillard made his first scoring reception of the season, grabbing a 25-yard spiral from McGann with 12:03 remaining in the third quarter to extend TU's lead to 27-10. Dillard, a 2001 All-Big East selection, missed three games this season with a strained knee ligament he sustained in the season-opening win over Richmond.
Temple's largest lead of the contest came with 1:52 remaining in the third stanza, when senior Cap Poklemba hit a 22-yard field goal to give the Owls a 30-10 lead. Poklemba scored six points in the game to surpass Nick Mike-Mayer (1970-72, 156 points) for fourth place on the Temple career scoring list with 160 points.
Then Huskies then decided to make things interesting, scoring 14 unanswered points. Quarterback Dan Orlavsky hit tight end Tommy Collins with an 11-yard scoring toss with 0:11 remaining in the third quarter to cap a five-play 78-yard drive. On its next possession, UConn traveled 64 yards in ten plays, culminating in a five-yard Terry Caulley scoring run with 9:06 remaining to reduce Temple's lead to 30-24.
The UConn defense forced a three-and-out on Temple's next offensive series and the Husky faithful were in high gear. Then came the Owl defense. After Orlovsky was sacked by Klecko on a first down play for a loss of six yards on the fifth play of the drive, junior cornerback Yazid Jackson intercepted Orlovsky in the end zone to silence the home crowd.
Temple then proceeded to drive the ball 80-yards on six Sharps rushes to put an exclamation point on the victory. The Annapolis, Md. native capped the drive with a 26-yard scoring run with 2:48 remaining on the clock to give Temple a 36-24 lead. Cobb caught the two-point conversion from McGann to close out the scoring, 38-24.
GAME NOTES:
Sharps' 223 rushing yards are the third most in Temple history, behind current Temple sideline reporter Paul Palmer and Zachary Dixon (241 yards) and the most since Palmer gained a school-record 281 yards on 28 carries against William & Mary in 1985 ... Tanardo Sharps now has 14 career 100-yard games ... The Owls are 10-4 in those contests ... Klecko's four sacks tied the single-game record set by linebacker Decara Burgess versus Pittsburgh in 1997 ... Klecko also had a career-high 12 tackles (seven solo) and a career-high five tackles for losses (for 39 yards) ... Klecko had 18 more yards in tackles-for losses than UConn had in total rushing yards (21 total net rushing yards)... Temple was without the services of senior strong safety Lafton Thompson, who missed the game with a sprained ankle sustained against Syracuse ... Thompson had played in 39 consecutive games and made 29 straight starts prior to Saturday ... Senior Gerard Bishop made his first career start in his absence and made nine tackles (six solo) plus a sack.
