Temple University Athletics
Turnovers Prove Costly As Football Falls 24-14 At Central Michigan
10.11.08 | Football
Oct. 11, 2008
MOUNT PLEASANT, MI - Turnovers proved costly for Temple in its upset bid against two-time defending MAC champion Central Michigan as the Chippewas, despite losing the league's top offensive weapon Dan LeFevour, held off the Owls, 24-14 Saturday afternoon in front of a homecoming crowd of 22,114 fans at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. CMU, winners of 13 straight games against MAC East Division foes, is now 4-2 and 3-0 in conference play while TU falls to 2-5, 1-3.
The Owls offense mustered 301 total yards to the Chippewas 297, but four turnovers, including three in the second half, proved to be the downfall for the Cherry and White.
Redshirt freshman QB Chester Stewart, making his third start of the season, was picked three times, including twice in the second half. It was his final interception, by Bobby Seay at the start of the fourth quarter that proved costly. Senior QB Brian Brunner, who replaced LeFevour, made the Owls pay, hitting Bryan Anderson on the next play for a 37-yard touchdown. That made the score 24-14 with 14:07 to play and would be the last points scored in the contest.
Stewart completed 15 passes on a career-high 32 attempts for 163 yards. He also rushed for 31 yards on nine carries. Besides his three interceptions, he was also sacked four times.
Senior wide receiver Bruce Francis made six receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown while freshman running back Kee-ayre Griffin scored for the second straight game since moving over to offense. He had 76 yards in 12 carries, including a 29-yard run that preceded his 17-yard touchdown.
Brunner, who had not thrown a touchdown pass in two years before his fourth quarter hook-up with Anderson, completed seven of 13 passes for 136 yards. Anderson had his best game this season, with eight receptions for 149 yards. It was his 10th career 100-yard receiving game, but the first of this season.
The Chippewas took an early 14-0 lead by winning the battle for field position early on. Following a strong opening drive for the Owls that ended with an Eric Fraser interception of Stewart on the CMU 22, the Cherry and White defense stopped the explosive Chippewa offense on three plays.
Punter Brett Hartman then booted a 62-yarder that was downed on the Owl one. The Owls went three and out with Jeff Wathne lifting a 51-yard punt, aided by a 10-yard illegal block penalty that gave CMU the ball at its own 35. Again the Owl defense shut down the league's most productive offensive player, LeFevour. The junior signal-caller, who entered play averaging 318 yards in total offense, was not effective with his arm, but he did put the Owls in a hole with a quick kick on a fourth-and-one from the Temple 43, connecting on a 42-yard punt to the Owl one.
Again CMU's defense held TU, forcing a Wathne punt at the back of the end zone that traveled just 32 yards. It took LeFevour just three plays to put the Chippewas on the scoreboard as he hit Antonio Brown in the back of the end zone for a 15 yard touchdown, the first points allowed by Temple in the opening quarter, to make it 7-0.
The Chippewas made it 14-0 on their next possession, when LeFevour again connected with Brown, this time on a 14-yard strike in the middle of the field, scoring on the first play of the second quarter.
The Owls quickly responded as Griffin opened the next drive with a 29 yard run to the CMU 26. Three plays later, Griffin went off left tackle for a 17-yard TD run, his second in as many games. Jake Brownell, however, hit the right upright, making the score just 14-6.
Temple's defense, as it has done all season, came up big with just under six minutes to play. Junior DT Andre Neblett recovered a lateral by LeFevour at the CMU 24 and returned six yards to the CMU 18.
Stewart first used both his legs, with a 15-yard run, his longest scrimmage, to the CMU three. He then hit his favorite target, Bruce Francis, on a three-yard touchdown. It marked Francis' sixth TD reception, tops in the league, and he also extended his school-record streak to 33 consecutive games with at least one reception.
On the ensuing two-point conversion, Stewart faked a run and then tossed a jump pass to junior TE Steve Maneri in the back of the end zone to tie the score.
Brunner replaced LeFevour on the next series as the Chippewa quarterback suffered a leg injury. Levour, who came in briefly during the drive before sitting out the remainder of the contest, assisted his backup with taking his team down the field to set up a 22-yard field goal by Andrew Aguilar. That capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive and made the score 17-14 with just under a minute to play in the half.
Statistically, the Owls defense was led by junior DE Junior Galette, who matched his career high with three sacks to go a long with a team-high nine tackles. Dominique Harris added seven tackles with Jamal Schulters and Jaiquan Jarrett adding six stops each.
The Owls are off this coming Saturday and return to the gridiron on Tuesday, October 21 against Ohio at Lincoln Financial Field. The nationally-televised game on ESPN2 (8:00 p.m.) will also be the Owls' Breast Cancer Awareness game. Temple will donate a minimum of 10 percent of its single-game ticket sales to the Philadelphia affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
