Temple University Athletics
Temple University
*BOWLING GREEN
Temple Holds Off Bowling Green for 28-27 Homecoming Win
10.16.10 | Football
Marquise Liverpool breaks up two-point conversion to preserve the victory
PHILADELPHIA - Senior CB Marquise Liverpool broke up a two-point conversion attempt in the end zone with no time on the clock to preserve a 28-27 Temple win over visiting Bowling Green Saturday afternoon in front of a Homecoming crowd of 23,045 fans at Lincoln Financial Field. It was the ninth straight Mid-American Conference home win for the Owls who improve to 5-2, 2-1 in league. Bowling Green drops its fourth straight to fall to 1-6. 0-3.
The dramatic ending was set up when junior WR Kamer Jorden hauled in a hail-mary pass from redshirt freshman QB Matt Schliz at the four yard-line on a fourth-and-16 play from the Temple 33 with 11 seconds remaining. Two plays later Schliz found Calvin Wiley in the back of the end zone for the touchdown that brought the Falcons to within one as time expired.
Second-year Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson then elected to go for the win on the road instead of kicking the extra point to send the game into overtime. Liverpool, who leads the team with five breakups, then made the play of the day, breaking up the pass intended for Wiley in the end zone to salvage the win for Temple.
Temple head coach Al Golden was not surprised by his counterpart's decision to go for the win.
“No it didn't (surprise him)," Golden said. "He knows his team better than anybody. I think they were probably a little banged up and I think he thought it was his best chance to have a shot from the three yard line. Certainly they completed some passes down there inside the ten and he thought that was his best chance. I thought that was the right decision if I was him.”
The Owls looked to have the game under control midway after scoring two touchdowns in the final six minutes o the third quarter to take a 28-14 lead.
After Bowling Green had tied the game at 14 on its opening drive of the third quarter on a Willie Jeter 12-yard run, Temple caught a break on a bad snap on a punt attempt by Bryan White. White recovered the snap near his goal line, but junior James Nixon forced a fumble and junior LB Quinten White, Jr. fell on it in the end zone to put the Cherry and White ahead 21-14.
On the Owls' next possession it was all Bernard Pierce. The Heisman hopeful looked back to his old form, carrying the ball six times for 62 yards on the drive, the last going for six yards and a touchdown. Pierce, who was limited due to three carries last week against Northern Illinois after missing the entire Army game due to injury, rushed 15 times for 106 yards on the day.
The Falcons did not go away quietly, however. BGSU scored on its opening drive of the fourth quarter, marching 80 yards on 16 plays with Jordan Hopgood going in from one-yard out to cut the deficit to seven. The drive, however, ate up over nine minutes on the clock, leaving just 5:57 to play.
Temple turned the ball over on their next possession. Redshirt junior QB Mike Gerardi, who took over for Chester Stewart after a costly first quarter interception, hit senior WR Michael Campbell on a 19-yard first down play at the 50. Campbell, however, fumbled the ball with Calvin Marshall picking it off in mid-air and returning it to the Owl 40.
The Owl defense held with junior CB Kee-Ayre Griffin, making a key break-up on a fourth-down pass to Jorden. Griffin led the TU defense with a career-high 12 tackles, including 10 solo stops - the most by a Temple defender this season.
Temple failed to move the ball on its next drive, going three-and-out, to set up the Falcons final possession.
Schliz, who completed 30 of 51 passes for 287 yards, hit Jorden (12 catches, 143 yards) four times, the last one being the miraculous catch at the Temple four.
Bowling Green took an early first quarter lead when Jovan Leacock picked off an errant pass by Stewart and ran 49 yards to paydirt. Junior defensive end Adrian Robinson partially blocked the extra point attempt by White, making it 6-0.
Gerardi, seeing his first action behind center of his Temple career, connected with junior WR Rod Streater on an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of his second possession. The Parsippany, N.J. native, who completed nine-of-15 passes for 163 yards and two TDs, followed that with a 49-yard touchdown pass to junior TE Evan Rodriguez on the Owls' next possession.
That would be the last score of the first half as Temple would take a 14-6 lead into the locker room.
“I thought Gerardi came in and did a nice job, and that was his first time," Golden said. "We left a couple plays out there and have to convert on third down a little better. I thought we protected him better, but we have to make a couple plays there.”
Golden, however, downplayed the quarterback switch after the game.
“We were going to play him (Gerardi) anyway," he said. "We were going to play him going into it. It was going to be the next series.”
The Owls now travel to Buffalo next Saturday to take on the Bulls (Noon/6ABC/1210 AM WPHT.)
