On a perfect day for a football game (70 degrees and sunny) the 2-0 Temple Owls of the Mid-American Conference took on the Connecticut Huskies (1-1) from the Big East Conference at Lincoln Financial Field. Saturday’s game was the 12th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1963. The teams last met in 2008 with UCONN winning 12-9 in overtime.
The game was exciting from start to finish with UCONN scoring first on a 36 yard field goal.
Temple then took the lead 7-3 in the second half on a 27 yard screen pass from Chester Stewart to Bernard Pierce but Connecticut connected on a second Dave Teggart field-goal to draw with in a point of Temple at the half.
As the second half began UCONN quickly recaptured the lead 13-7 on a 59 yard touchdown run by Jordan Todman. At the 5:21 mark in the same quarter, Bernard Pierce scored his second touchdown for the Owls and Temple regained the lead 14-13.
The third quarter ended with UCONN up 16-14 on the strength of a 47 yard field-goal by Teggart with under a minute to play.
In the final quarter of play Jordan Todman who had gained 192 yards on 26 carries fumbled the ball and Temple’s Adrian Robinson recovered the ball and returned it 24 yards for a defensive touchdown.
Temple’s Bernard Pierce again found the endzone for his third touchdown to give Temple a 27-16 lead. Pierce finished the day with 169 yards on 26 carries.
With less than a minute to play, the Owl’s kicker Brandon McManus added a field-goal to give Temple a 30-16 win over the Huskies.
After wins over 2009 FCS Champions Villanova, 2009 MAC Champions Central Michigan, and now UCONN, Temple is sitting pretty at 3-0. The Owl’s next game is in Happy Valley on Saturday as coach Al Golden leads Temple as they take on Joe Paterno and the Penn State Nitany Lions.
To view the complete photo gallery from this game please follow this link:
http://www.independentphilly.com/photo-gallery/temple-vs-uconn/
