Temple University Athletics
OWLS HOST NO.21-RANKED PANTHERS SATURDAY AT LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD
11.17.03 | Football
Saturday's game will also mark the Owls' annual senior day. 17 student-athletes, who have combined to play in 450 games and make 179 starts, will dress in Cherry & White for the final time on the home turf.
The Owls and Panthers are meeting for the 34th time in a series that dates back to 1938, with Pittsburgh holding a 24-8-1 advantage. Six of the last eight meetings have been decided by seven points or less, including four that were four points or fewer.
Temple leads the Big East in opponent fourth down conversions (21.4 pct.) and kickoff coverage (13.3 avg.). Pittsburgh leads the league in pass offense (314.7 yds./g), net punting (37.4 avg.), total offense (425.0 yds./g), pass efficiency (159.9) and penalties (45.2 avg./g).
Temple is coming off a 24-23 overtime loss to No.12 Virginia Tech last Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. It was the third overtime game of the season for the Owls, who entered the season as one of only eight Div. I-A teams never to play an overtime contest. Sophomore QB Walter Washington, making his third career start and first at home, became the first Temple signal caller to rush for over 100 yards, carrying 26 times for 151 yards, one more than Hokies' Heisman Trophy candidate Kevin Jones. It was the second highest rushing effort ever for a Big East quarterback behind Michael Vick's 210 yards against Boston College in 2000. Washington also completed 15 of 30 passes for 156 yards and two scores to finish with 307 total yards. Junior WR Phil Goodman, the other half of Temple's First Team Junior College All-American tandem, had eight catches for 89 yards, his third game with eight receptions this season. Sophomore Mike McLaughlin also had a productive day, punting five times for a 43.8 average, including three inside the 15-yard line. Tech, which entered the game averaging 14.3 yards per return, did not have a punt return in the contest.
The Owls did not have a turnover. It marked the first time in 28 games that the Hokies did not force an opponent miscue.
Zamir Cobb, Temple's all-time reception leader with 153 career grabs, has 62 catches this year, one shy of the single-season mark (63) set by Clint Graves in 1972.
Pittsburgh boasts the nation's leading receiver in Larry Fitzgerald. The sophomore averages 146.70 yards per game and has caught a touchdown pass in an NCAA record 16 straight contests.
