Temple Wins an Overtime Thriller in Tulsa for Fifth Win of the Season

Saturday, October 25

Tulsa, OK

3:30 PM

Temple University

5-3 , 3-1

Tulsa

2-6 , 0-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Temple

Tulsa

Temple Wins an Overtime Thriller in Tulsa for Fifth Win of the Season

10.25.25 | Football

Box Score K.C. Keeler Press Conference Student-Athletes Press Conferences Photo Gallery

TULSA, Okla. -- The Temple Owls (5-3, 3-1 American) defeated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-6, 0-5 AMER) 38-37 in front of a Homecoming crowd of xx,xxx at Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

How It Happened

The Owls won the opening coin toss for the seventh time this season and elected to start the game on defense. Tulsa's offense had early success on the opening drive on broken-down plays where quarterback Baylor Hayes rolled outside the pocket and found his receivers open down field. Despite the 52 yards through the air on the opening drive, the Golden Hurricane couldn't find the end zone and settled for a 36-yard field goal to put Tulsa up 3-0 early. An early third-and-long allowed Evan Simon to get Peter Clarke involved early. On a third-and-13, Simon connected with Clarke to gain the first down, but the drive would not last much longer, and the Owls would be forced to punt. After a Tulsa three-and-out, an 18-yard punt return by JoJo Bermudez set up the Temple offense inside Tulsa territory on its next drive. Two plays later, the Owls struck pay dirt. Simon hit wide receiver Kajiya Hollawayne on a perfect pass thrown to the front pylon of the end zone. This was Simon's 17th passing score of the season and put Temple in front 7-3 with 3:02 remaining in the first. The Temple defense continued to settle in on the ensuing Tulsa drive. The defensive line continued to put Hayes off the mark and force unbalanced passes. Temple got the ball back on offense but would not have much success and punted the ball back to the Golden Hurricane.
The second quarter began with Tulsa just past midfield into Temple territory. The first play of the second was the first turnover of the game. Katin Suprenant forced Hayes to put the ball on the turf which was recovered by Russell Sykes to get the ball back to the offense. This forced fumble marked the third of the season by Surprenant which ties him for third in the FBS in that category and first in the American Conference. The Temple offense would capitalize on this turnover and cash in for six more points. The 10-play drive that featured a fourth-and-one conversion by Jay Ducker, ended promptly with a Ducker touchdown. Simon threw his second passing score of the day to give the Owls a 14-3 lead with 8:12 left in the half. The Golden Hurricane did not waste time responding to the Temple scoring drive. Tulsa marched down the field with the aid of a Temple defensive pass interference, to get into the red zone where they would get into the end zone on the ground. A wildcat formation by Tulsa's Brody Foley would be enough to power in for the score from five yards out. The Owls led 14-10 with 5:20 left in the second quarter. The next drive for Temple's offense started with a bang. Running back Hunter Smith burst through the offensive line to gain 72 yards and set up the Owls at the Tulsa three. The Tulsa defense, however, would stand tall and did not allow Temple to get into the end zone. Ray Coney and Devin Robinson stopped Simon on fourth-and-goal to keep it 14-10 Temple with 1:58 left in the half. Big plays hurt the Owls again on the next Tulsa offensive drive. On third-and-three, Hayes found Grayson Tempest for a 38-yard gain to give the Golden Hurricane a shot at points before the end of the half. Another big chunk play of 22-yards set Tulsa up at the Temple eight-yard line. With eight seconds left, Tulsa cashed in and took the lead back. Hayes found Foley in the back of the end zone for the score that put Tulsa up 17-14 at halftime.
Temple started the second half with the ball on offense. A 50-yard catch-and-run from Simon to Clarke set the Temple offense up at the Tulsa 19 early in the drive. Two plays later, Simon threw his third score of the day and second to Ducker from 13 yards out. Temple now sat back on top 21-17 with 12:28 left in the third. The Tulsa offense had continued success throwing the ball down field on the ensuing possession. On third-and-seven, the Golden Hurricane threw for 31-yards to set itself up deep into Temple's side of the field. After a tough fourth down conversion within the ten-yard line, Tulsa would put the ball into the end zone thanks to a diving grab by Tempest. The Golden Hurricane retook the lead on the play 24-21. Temple got the ball back with 7:28 left in the third quarter. The offensive showdown would continue on the Temple offensive drive. The second 50-yard passing play of the day set the Owls up deep in Tulsa territory. Simon found Bermudez streaking down the middle of the field for the connection. Two plays later, Simon found Hollawayne for the second time today for the score. The Owls now sat back on top, 28-24. Temple's defense bent but didn't break on the following drive. The Owl rush defense stood strong and kept the Golden Hurricane behind the sticks and forced a punt, the first for either team since the first quarter.
After both teams found it hard to stay out of the end zone, the start of the fourth proved the complete opposite. Both teams exchanged punts to start the final quarter of the day. Temple was forced to punt the ball with 9:19 left in the game, and punter Dante Atton did what he does best and pin opponents deep in their own territory. Atton hit a 46-yard punt that trickled out at the Tulsa two-yard line. The Golden Hurricane went three-and-out on that drive, setting the Owl offense up on the plus 47-yard line on the next drive. Temple's offense did just enough to tack on three more points. Carl Hardin knocked in a 52-yard field goal to put the Owls up by a touchdown with 6:05 remaining in the game. Tulsa utilized big pass interference calls against the Temple defense to march down the field in looks to equalize the score. A 43-yard connection from Hayes to Josh Smith, however, needed no pass interference call to help Tulsa move the ball. Three plays later, Tulsa punched it into the end zone for the score. The game sat tied at 31 points apiece with 3:44 remaining in the fourth quarter. Temple's offense would have a chance to walk away with the win if it put together one more drive. The drive started at the Temple 20-yard line. With 1:12 remaining, the Owls faced a fourth down and less than a yard at their own 39-yard line, and Ducker gained just enough to keep the drive going. Tulsa's defense came up with its first sack of the day on second down to force the Owls into a third-and-16 from the Tulsa 49-yard line. Simon's incomplete pass on the play forced a punt that pinned the Golden Hurricane down at their own 20-yard line with 27 seconds remaining, each team having one timeout left. Tulsa took a knee and send the game to overtime.
Temple got the ball first and scored in two plays. Simon found Colin Chase for a 24-yard gain and then found Hollawayne for a one-yard passing score. Temple led 38-31 with Tulsa to get the ball next. Tulsa would gain some yardage before facing a third-and-five from the Temple eight. Eric Stuart and London Hall would sack Hayes on the third down play, setting up the defense to win the game on the next play. Hayes did what he did best all day on the next play and scrambled for the touchdown to Foley. The Golden Hurricane wanted to end the game one way or another on the next play by going for two points. Foley would yet again take the wild cat snap, but attempt to pass it this time, and it would fall incomplete thanks to pressure from Demerick Morris to end the game and send the Owls home with the win.

Statistically Speaking

This win is the longest win for the Owls (1,282 miles), distance wise, since Temple topped the Houston Cougars 59-49 back in 2018. The home of the Cougars sits 1,544 miles away from Lincoln Financial Field.
Sultan Badmus and Tyler Stewart each missed the game due to injury breaking two of the longer consecutive games played streaks, 19 and 15, respectively, on the Owls' active roster.
Katin Surprenant notched his third forced fumble of the season in today's contest. That puts him in a tie for third in the FBS and first overall in the American Conference.
Evan Simon had his second-best performance this season in terms of passing touchdowns. Simon notched 5 touchdown passes, second to the six he threw against UMass in week one.
Running back Hunter Smith hit his fourth rush this season for 50-yards or more in today's game. Today he broke his longest of the season for 72-yards.
Carl Hardin's 52-yard field goal marked a season and career long for the redshirt sophomore kicker.
Today marked a career-high day in receiving touchdowns with three; the last one ultimately being the game-winner.
This is Temple's first overtime win since the 2024 season when the Owls topped Florida Atlantic at home 18-15.
The last time Temple won an overtime game on the road was over a decade ago. The Owls beat UConn in 2012 in Connecticut 17-14.

Up Next

Temple will return to the City of Brotherly Love for a big-time matchup with the East Carolina Pirates (4-3, 2-1 AMER) to open the month of November. The game will be at Lincoln Financial Field and will kickoff at 2:00 pm on ESPN+. The game can also be listened to at OwlSports.com/Listen.