In arguably the third most crucial game of the football season, the Temple Owls 2009 MAC Championship dreams were crushed after their first loss in exactly two months.
Temple faced the second place Ohio Bobcats to decide the East division champ, but came up short with a 35-17 loss. The Owls went into Athens with hopes of achieving the four year dream, but came up short.
It was a matchup of one of the Mid-American Conference's best passing games, against one of the worst pass defenses-- that was the story of the game. The Ohio Bobcats had no problem getting their air game going, causing plenty of trouble for Temple in the air.
It was the Theo Scott show-- the senior quarterback went 17/21 for 324 yards and 3 touchdowns. It was a near-perfect game, despite suffering what seemed to be a minor ankle injury late in the game.
Temple's secondary could not find any answer nor make any adjustment to adapt to the successful Ohio air attack. The Bobcats were banged up early, losing star wideout LaVon Brazill. That didn't stop Scott and his variety of offensive weapons from getting the job done and returning to the MAC Championship game against Central Michigan.
Here's the scoring breakdown of yesterday morning's game:
1ST QUARTER
OHIO: (WR) Steven Goulet 9 yard touchdown catch. [7-0]
2ND QUARTER
TEM: (K) Brandon McManus 24 yard field goal [7-3]
OHIO: (WR) LaVon Brazill 65 yard touchdown catch. [13-3]
TEM: (RB) Kee-ayre Griffin 17 yard touchdown run [13-10]
3RD QUARTER
OHIO: (QB) Theo Scott 17 yard touchdown run [20-10]
OHIO: (WR) Terrence McCrae 4 yard touchdown catch [26-10]
TEM: (RB) Matt Brown 9 yard touchdown run [26-17]
4TH QUARTER
OHIO: (QB) Theo Scott 43 yard touchdown run [32-17]
OHIO: (K) Matt Weller 38 yard field goal [35-17]
FINAL SCORE: Ohio Bobcats 35, Temple Owls 17.
Temple saw success from backup runningback Matt Brown, who picked up where he left off against Kent State. CB/RB Kee-ayre Griffin chipped in also, scoring a touchdown of his own.
Defensively, the running game was not at its best, giving up several huge rushes to quarterback Theo Scott which resulted in scores. Words cannot describe how disappointing the secondary played, but all the credit in the world goes to Ohio.
Special teams played well for the Owls, as Ohio had a lot of trouble with field goals and extra points. Temple managed to block two extra point attempts, as well as force a missed XP and a missed FG.
Ohio is set, moving onto the MAC Championship game to take on Central Michigan. They'll be slated for a bowl game no matter win or loss. Temple, on the other hand, will have the play the waiting game. We'll lay out the bowl game scenarios for the Owls later on this week.
Temple's regular season finishes with a record of (9-3)(7-1). The 9 game winning streak and undefeated conference record come to an end.
Ohio's regular season record improves to (9-3)(7-1). They'll get an extra game when they take on Central Michigan and represent the MAC East.
Stay updated with The Owl's Nest and follow us on twitter for the latest post season possibilities for the Temple football team.
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