The youngest defense in the MAC is also the best defense in the MAC. That much is clear after Temple squashed an undermanned Kent State squad on Saturday afternoon, earning a 24-14 victory at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Golden Flashes failed to cross midfield in the second half and couldn’t produce a single first down in the final 23 minutes of the contest.
Coach Al Golden stayed conservative on offense and his patience paid off as the Owls (4-7, 3-3 MAC East) dominated the latter part of the game by running the ball. Freshman Daryl Robinson totaled 17 carries for 105 yards and fellow tailback Jason Harper had 22 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore quarterback Vaughn Charlton played with poise, completing 18 of 27 passes for 191 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to Dy’Onne Crudup that gave the Owls an 18-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Charlton was sacked five times, but he was never pressured into a bad decision and didn’t throw an interception.
By comparison, Kent State quarterback Jon Brown threw four interceptions. He was picked off on each of his team’s last three possessions. Brown completed 11 of 27 passes for 76 yards.
Four weeks ago, Charlton was Temple’s backup and Brown was barely a blip on Kent State’s depth chart. Then both teams lost their starting quarterback – on the same day (October 20th). Kent State (3-8, 1-4 MAC East) had previously lost its top backup, and the number three guy was injured last week. That left the job to Brown.
Even though he was the fourth-team QB this preseason, Brown actually came in with as much game experience as Charlton. Two years ago, as a true freshman, Brown played in seven games and completed 60 of 97 passes for 474 yards.
But he wasn’t ready for the Cherry and White defense, which set the tone by shutting down Kent State tailback Eugene Jarvis. Entering the game, Jarvis (who was recruited by Temple coming out of high school, but went the grayshirt route at Kent State) led the MAC and ranked fifth in the NCAA averaging 142.9 yards rushing per contest. The Owls limited him to 26 yards in the first half.
Still, for all the trouble they had running and throwing the ball, the Golden Flashes had a 14-6 lead over the Owls after Coleman Lynn blocked and recovered a Jeff Wathne punt in the endzone midway through the third quarter.
Temple had advanced past the Kent State 30 on six of its first seven possessions, but only had six points on the scoreboard thanks to an early missed field goal by Jake Brownell, two big losses on broken plays, and Charlton getting sacked three times.
Oddly enough, everything turned around after the blocked punt.
How resilient were the Owls? When Travis Shelton went 90 yards on the ensuing kickoff, but the apparent touchdown was wiped out by an illegal block called against John Haley, they simply trotted onto the field and pushed their way towards the endzone.
On four straight running plays to the right side, Harper and Robinson got behind Andre Douglas and Derek Dennis and couldn’t be stopped. Harper went for 18 yards, then 22 yards. Robinson went wide right for 27 yards. Then Harper capped the forceful drive with a nine-yard TD run.
The only thing that went wrong was Robinson’s improvised flip to Mike Campbell on a two-point conversion attempt. Chased by multiple defenders, Robinson backhanded a pass to Campbell, who landed with his toes out-of-bounds. So the score was 14-12 entering the fourth quarter.
But at that point, the Owls weren’t going to be stopped.
Following an 18-yard punt return by freshman Delano Green (who had a 25-yard punt return to set up a field goal in the first half), the Owls took possession at the Kent State 38. Charlton rolled to his right (a play that worked on several occasions) and hit Crudup for a 17-yard gain. After two short runs, Charlton and Crudup hooked up once again, this time for a 21-yard score.
It was the same play (from the opposite side of the field) on which Crudup caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Adam DiMichele at Akron earlier this season. Crudup slanted in front of the cornerback and Charlton threw a strike that got there before the safety help.
Again, the Owls failed on a two-point conversion. But the defense didn’t need any more cushion. Brownell (who was challenged by Wathne in a two-day kicking competition during the week) eventually added two more field goals.
Brown went 0 for 7 in the fourth quarter. He was sacked by Temple defensive end Junior Galette, then he was leveled by Alex Joseph. He was intercepted by Dominique Harris, then by Joseph, then by safety Jaiquawn Jarrett. In between, he had a pass deflected by Terrance Knighton, who finished with three tackles for losses.
Kent State finished with 124 yards of total offense. With an undermanned squad, what else would you expect against the best defense in the MAC?
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