Owls Soar Past Charlotte for First Road Win in Conference Play

Saturday, October 18

Charlotte, NC

3:30 pm

Temple University

4-3 , 2-1

Charlotte

1-6 , 0-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Temple

Charlotte

Owls Soar Past Charlotte for First Road Win in Conference Play

10.18.25 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Temple Owls (4-3, 2-1 American) defeated the Charlotte 49ers (1-6, 0-4 AMER) 49-14 in front of a Homecoming crowd of 13,618 at Jerry Richardson Stadium.

How It Happened

For the sixth time this season, the Owls won the coin toss, electing to receive. The opening drive started on the ground with three consecutive running plays between Evan Simon and Keveun Mason, which resulted in a punt with the 49ers starting their opening drive on offense from their own 14th yard line. The ground game would continue on the other side of the ball with two strong runs from 49ers' running back Cameren Smith and quarterback Grayson Loftis propelling Charlotte to plus territory. The Owls' defense would then stand strong with a fourth-down stop on the Temple 36, setting up the offense with solid field position. The Temple offense would hit the ground running, with three consecutive plays combining for 53 yards to set up Temple for its first red zone opportunity of the afternoon. This would set up Simon for a play-action pass to Colin Chase, swinging to his right, who would jump across the plane to put Temple on the board. Charlotte would find an immediate response with a deep throw from Loftis, finding wide receiver Sean Brown for a 36-yard reception. The Niners would continue this push into the depths of the red zone, setting up a pivotal fourth and two where Loftis would find his tight end Gus McGee to even the game at 7-7.
The second quarter would start with a punt on each side, with JoJo Bermudez returning a 49er punt 31 yards to set up shop for the Owls at the Charlotte 42. Simon would then use the short field to his advantage, finding Bermudez for a 29-yard throw to advance the Temple attack into the red zone at the five-yard line. Showing off his versatility, Simon followed this with a run through the teeth of the defense to provide Temple with a 14-7 lead. The 49ers answered with a 32-yard completion, but the Owls' defense quickly struck back. Cornerback Adrian Laing jumped in front of the receiver, intercepted the pass, and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown to give Temple a 21–7 lead. Looking for a spark offensively, the Niners nearly found one on a deep pass down the left sideline, but the play was overturned, forcing a fourth-down punt for Charlotte. The Owls would proceed to take over on the other side of the ball with a 10-play drive, capped off by a 46-yard deep ball caught by Kajiya Hollawayne to boost the Temple lead to 28-7. The ensuing Charlotte drive sparked momentum for the home side, highlighted by a fake punt that advanced the offense 34 yards to the Temple 35-yard line. However, the Owls' defense responded with vengeance, forcing a fumble to regain possession at their own 40. The Owls then ran a quick four-play drive before Dante Atton punted, and the Niners took a knee to close out the first half with Temple holding a 28–7 lead.
Charlotte would start the second half on offense with three quick plays, setting up Bermudez for a fair catch at Temple's 32-yard line. Temple's first drive of the second half would start with two dominant runs from Jay Ducker, first bouncing off multiple tackles for a 16-yard boost, then running up the gut of the defense for a 44-yard gain. This would set up Simon to deliver an 8-yard pass to Peter Clarke to put six more on the board, with the extra point giving the Owls a 42-7 advantage. The Temple defense would continue to apply pressure on the next Charlotte drive, with Tyrese Whitaker sacking the quarterback on third down to force a Charlotte punt. On the succeeding Temple drive, the Niner defense would make a third-down stop, giving the hometown team the ball back. A quick three-and-out on the Charlotte side deep in their territory would force a Niner punt while providing great field position for Temple, roughly at midfield. On a critical fourth down, Simon would throw a pass to his left to Peter Clarke to advance the offense to the 28-yard line. This would create an opportunity for Jay Ducker for three quick plays – a 22-yard run up the middle and then a pass caught and run to the Charlotte two, then Ducker closed the drive with another Temple touchdown, increasing the lead to 42-7. The 49ers' offense found a much-needed spark as quarterback Zach Wilcke connected with Javen Nicholas for a 17-yard gain to open the drive. However, it would once again end in Temple's favor, as Louis Frye scooped up a loose fumble and returned it 74 yards to the end zone, extending the lead to 49–7. The clock would expire following a four-yard Charlotte run, ending the third quarter.
Starting with possession in the fourth quarter, the 49ers sustained a seven-play drive, gaining 33 yards before punting the ball back to the Owls to start the first fourth-quarter drive. With quarterback Gevani McCoy taking the wheel, the Niners would get a needed defensive stop, forcing fourth down to end a six-play drive for Temple. On the subsequent drive, Charlotte focused on the run game, keeping every play on the ground. The drive was highlighted by an 18-yard run up the middle by Wilcke, the longest play from scrimmage for the Niners. The 15-play drive resulted in a touchdown run by Wilcke to double Charlotte's total, making it a 49-14 ballgame. Temple would run out the remaining time with a kneel to secure the victory.

Statistically Speaking

With the victory, K.C. Keeler now has 275 career wins. Keeler now ranks 20th in all-time wins for a college football head coach.
Eric King had a streak of 13 straight starts snapped due to injury. He was replaced at left guard by Mausa Palu. That snapped a streak of six consecutive starts by the same five offensive linemen (LT Giakoby Hills, C Grayson Mains, RG Jackson Pruitt, and RT Diego Barajas). That was the longest streak for a Temple o-line since a seven-game streak at the start of the 2019 season by LT Isaac Moore, LG Jovahn Fair, C Matt Hennessy, RG Vincent Picozzi, and RT Adam Klein.
Simon's passing and running touchdown in the first half marks the second straight week that he has scored both on the ground and through the air. He is the first Temple quarterback to accomplish that feat in consecutive games since P.J. Walker in 2014.
Adrian Laing's pick-six in the second quarter is Temple's first since the 2022 season in a game against Tulsa.
Temple scored a touchdown on both offense and defense for the first time since October 29, 2022, at Navy.
This marks the first time since 2018 that Temple has scored at least 28 points in the first half three times in a single season.
This is the second time this season that Temple has scored seven touchdowns in a single game, last doing so in 2019.
Temple's in-conference road win against Charlotte marks the program's first since 2019.
Up Next
Temple will continue a road swing next Saturday, October 25, when the Owls travel to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane at H.A Chapman Stadium. The American Conference bout will kickoff at 3:30 pm ET and will be broadcast on ESPN+. The game can be heard at OwlSports.com/Listen.