The Cincinnati Bearcats kept the score in the first half close, as they trailed only by four points on the afternoon. After halftime, however, the Temple Owls dominated, and came away with a 34-13 victory.

With this win, the Owls remain tied with University of South Florida atop of the American East Conference standings with a 4-1 conference record and 6-3 overall. Cincinnati continues to struggle having lost their fourth league game of the season.

Temple quarterback, Phillip Walker, was the man of the day on the offensive side of the ball. Walker completed 12/19 passing attempts and threw for a whopping 199 yards and two touchdowns. His control of the ball was the difference on the day as he limited Cincinnati's scoring opportunities. The senior also did damage on the ground, finishing the game with 11 rushing yards on nine attempts.

Sloppy play from both sides early

Cincinnati felt misfortunes throughout the entire course of the game with their first coming on the opening drive. The Bearcats went three and out, but as they went to punt it away, Temple blocked Sam Geraci's punt. This allowed the Owls to begin their first drive in excellent field position. However, Temple did not take advantage and came away with only three points.

Walker and the Temple offense moved the ball well on their second drive of the game. A big penalty, though made it 3rd and 20, and on the next play, they only mustered eight yards, bringing up a long 4th and 12. Instead of taking three points and extending their lead to 6-0, Temple went for it. Needless to say, their fourth down play never got off the ground as Walker threw an incomplete pass giving the ball back to Cincinnati.

Teams exchange two touchdowns each

There was a stretch in the opening half of this game where the two teams scored nothing but touchdowns.

Temple started the sequence off late in the first quarter when Bryant hit Adonis Jennings for a 40-yard score to increase their advantage to double digits. Cincinnati answered right away with little time remaining in the first 15 minutes. Mike Boone set that drive up with a fantastic 60-yard return to give the Bearcats good field position. Unlike Temple earlier on in the game, the Bearcats converted on their opportunitiy with Gunnar Kiel finding Tion Green four plays later.

With 13:06 to go in the opening half, Walker threw for his second touchdown of the game, one that will be on all the highlight packages later. Walker found Ventell Bryant, who split two Cincinnati defenders while making the catch in stide. Cincinnati ate a big chunk of time off the clock the next time on the field, with their drive lasting 4:35. On the final play this time around, Kiel fired one from 10 yards away into the hands of Devin Gray to get within four of the Owls.

Temple dominates second half

Each one of Cincinnati's five drives ended in either a punt, or a fumble. This shows how dominate the Owls' defense became after the halftime intermission. The most yards they allowed on a single drive was five and a couple of them lost yards. 

In the second half, Temple managed to score two more touchdowns, both coming on the ground. Ryquell Armstead scored from three yards and six yards out to give the Owls an insurmountable advantage.

Ryquell Armstead scored twice in the second half from inside the ten. | Photo: Christina Hoy
Ryquell Armstead scored twice in the second half from inside the ten. | Photo: Christina Hoy

Coming up

The Temple Owls have three games remaining in their schedule with two of those coming on the road. They first hit the road to take on a struggling UCONN Huskies team.

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