Temple University Athletics
Travis Shelton Named Owlsports.com Athlete Of The Month For October
11.7.06 | Football
Nov. 7, 2006
PHILADELPHIA - Temple redshirt sophomore wide receiver Travis Shelton has been named the Owlsports.com Player of the Month for October. Shelton, who played his first game with the Temple football team on October 12 at Clemson, was instrumental in helping the Owls snap a 20-game losing streak with a 28-14 win over Bowling Green on October 28.
Named the Wrangler College Football Player of the Week by The Sporting News for his performance in the Bowling Green win, Shelton was a human highlight reel in his three October games. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native posted a school-record 205 return yards on five kickoffs versus Clemson in his first action since the 2004 campaign. He broke the record held by Lew Lawhorn, who had 178 return yards in a 35-0 win over Boston College in 1992.
At Northern Illinois on Oct. 21, Shelton caught seven passes for 204 yards while generating 311 all-purpose yards. It marked the second most receiving yards in a game in school history after Van Johnson's 214 yards at Pittsburgh in 1996 and just the second 200-plus yard performance for an Owl receiver. Shelton grabbed two scoring aerials, was on the receiving end of a successful two-point conversion and had 113 yards on four kickoff returns. He became the first Temple player to catch two TDs in a game since Phil Goodman versus Boston College in 2003.
His 96-yard kickoff return versus the Bowling Green tied for the longest in the modern era of Owl football (since 1971) with Paul Loughran's return against Boston University in 1971 and was Temple's first kick returned to pay dirt since Makonnen's Fenton's 94-yarder against UConn in 2002. He also had a 43-yard touchdown grab to open the scoring for Temple.
Entering November, Shelton led the team in scoring (26 points) and all-purpose yards (780), while averaging 260.30 all-purpose yards per contest. He also was averaging a staggering 39.60 yards on 12 kickoff returns. In order to be included in the NCAA rankings, a player must compete in 75 percent of his team's games. If Shelton were eligible, he would lead the nation in both all-purpose running, ahead of Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson (204.00) and kickoff returns, ahead of SMU's Jessie Henderson (36.90).
