Junior quarterback Adam DiMichele threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Dy’Onne Crudup with 27 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to lift the Temple Owls to a 24-20 victory over Akron on Saturday night at the Rubber Bowl.
DiMichele’s winning toss capped a furious rally as the Owls erased a 20-3 deficit in the final period. It was Temple’s biggest comeback since digging out of a 20-0 hole in a 1998 victory at Pittsburgh.
Have the Owls ever before won a game in which they trailed by 17 points in the final period? That’s going to take some serious investigation of the history books.
The victory also kept the Owls (2-5, 1-2 MAC East) in contention for the MAC East title, though realistically they’ll have to win the rest of their division games in order to make that happen. After a second consecutive last-gasp win, anything seems possible.
Victory seemed impossible for the Owls after Akron quarterback Chris Jacquemain threw a 15-yard TD pass to wideout Alphonso Owen with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter. The Zips had a 20-3 lead and nearly got the ball back when Temple tailback Jason Harper fumbled the ball at the Akron 22. But the Owls recovered.
Harper’s fumble (his seventh this season) was one of many Temple miscues in the first three quarters. DiMichele threw a pair of interceptions and sophomore placekicker Jake Brownell missed two field goal attempts. (Actually, he missed three, but got a second chance after one of his misses because Akron was called for running into the kicker. Brownell then missed again.)
The Owls played well enough on defense, making just one big mistake when All-MAC candidate Jabari Arthur burned freshman cornerback Jamal Schulters for a 49-yard TD catch. The Zips’ second touchdown came after they took possession at the Temple 28, following DiMichele’s second interception.
But everything changed in the fourth quarter.
It started with DiMichele’s two-yard scoring pass to junior tight end Kevin Armstrong with 13:22 to go. Brownell’s extra point cut the deficit to 20-10.
The Owls didn’t move the ball on their next possession, but the defense made a stop and DiMichele got another chance starting on the Temple 34. After picking up a first down, DiMichele hit freshman wideout Marquise Liverpool on a short route that Liverpool turned into a 22-yard gain. Akron hit Liverpool late and the penalty added 15 yards to the play.
On the next play, DiMichele connected with junior wideout Bruce Francis on a corner route for a 19-yard touchdown. Brownell’s extra point made it 20-17 with 5:15 remaining.
And the Temple defense made another stop.
The winning drive started at the Temple 19 with 1:56 to go. DiMichele got the drive started with a 14-yard scramble and a 10-yard scramble. He was nearly intercepted on his next pass attempt.
On 3rd-and-7 at the Akron 48, DiMichele rolled to his left and hit Francis for a 12-yard gain. Then he hit Francis along the sideline for a 17-yard gain.
With the Zips on their heels, and 30 seconds to go, DiMichele stepped to the line of scrimmage and didn’t like what he saw from the Akron defense. So he looked to the sideline and called an audible, and proceeded to throw a 19-yard strike to Crudup, who had faked a move to the corner and darted towards middle.
The rally capped a terrific game for Crudup and Francis, who had both dropped key passes in the previous two games against Army and Northern Illinois. Coach Al Golden even gave the two a day off from practice during the week because, he said, he thought they were getting weary.
Crudup and Francis combined for 15 catches for 168 yards and two touchdowns, with no dropped passes against the Zips.
DiMichele went 23 for 34 for 242 yards with three TD passes and two interceptions. He also carried the ball 12 times for 62 yards. DiMichele had a 34-yard gain on an option keeper and picked up most of the other yardage on scrambles.
With true freshman Colin Madison splitting time with sophomore Darius Morris at left guard, marking another big change on the offensive line, the Owls surrendered three sacks. But DiMichele was rarely pressured on the last couple drives, and when he was he always had a planned escape route.
For all of their fourth quarter offensive heroics, the Owls were able to win the game because their defense did the job against Akron’s no-huddle, spread offense.
Besides his long TD catch, Arthur was limited to five receptions for 35 yards. Jacquemain threw few vertical passes, and playing it safe didn’t pay off as the Zips converted just 5 of 13 times on third down. (Temple was 8 for 15.)
Tailback Bryan Williams (22 carries, 114 yards) was effective running the ball out of the spread formation, but Akron’s ground game was unsuccessful in the red zone.
After letting the Zips drive for a field goal in the opening minutes of the contest, the Owls settled into the no-huddle tempo and put the brakes on Akron’s offense. The linebackers contained Jacquemain whenever he tried to scramble for positive yardage and the front four got enough pressure on him to force some throwaways. Notably, the Owls didn’t get any sacks.
But they did get a diving interception from freshman defensive end Morris Blueford on a pass that was deflected by freshman safety Jaiquawn Jarrett. Jarrett played most of the game at free safety and finished with a team-high nine tackles.
Akron finished with 297 yards of total offense. The Zips were also plagued by poor punting from sophomore John Stec, which counterbalanced Temple’s mediocre kickoff coverage. So neither team gained any great advantage on special teams, except for the fact that Akron kicker Igor Iveljic drilled two field goals and Brownell missed a pair.
Also of note for the Owls, freshman Daryl Robinson got the bulk of work at tailback, totaling 20 carries for 58 yards. He only had one big gainer, an 18-yard run in the first quarter, but he also didn’t fumble the ball one time. Harper got four carries and fumbled once.
Coming off their first MAC road win, the Owls will host new MAC East favorite Miami next Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. The RedHawks have won three straight games, beating Syracuse, Kent State, and Bowling Green.
If the Owls lose, they will be eliminated from the MAC East race.
But the Owls haven’t lost many games lately.
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