Robbed Again!

For the second straight year, Temple got a raw deal from Big East officials in a frustrating loss to UConn. After taking a 6-0 halftime lead, the Owls had their three biggest plays of the second half and overtime erased by questionable penalties, and the Huskies eventually squeezed out a 12-9 victory on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.

PHILADELPHIA -- Another year, another controversial loss to UConn for the Temple football team.

The Huskies defeated the Owls, 12-9, in overtime on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field when Donald Brown scored on a seven-yard run. Brown, who carried 36 times for 214 yards, gashed the Temple defense for 10 yards on UConn’s first play in overtime and eight yards on the second before ending the game with a run up the middle.

Temple, which had the ball first in the extra period, concluded its overtime possession with a 21-yard field goal by Jake Brownell, his third field goal of the game.

The Owls started overtime at the UConn 25-yard line, with Adam DiMichele completing a swing pass to Travis Shelton, who avoided several defenders before being tackled at the 3-yard line. But wide receiver Dy’Onne Crudup was called for a hold downfield, which brought the ball back to the 19.

It should have been 1st-and-4 for the Owls, however, the chains were mistakenly moved to the 19, so Temple was looking at 1st-and-10. DiMichele threw an incomplete pass before the officials realized the mistake and reset the chains so it was 2nd-and-4. Referee Randy Smith said afterward that the chain gang mistakenly moved the sticks.

The Owls eventually made the first down on a personal foul penalty against UConn, but the drive stalled at the 4, where Brownell ripped his kick on 4th-and-1.

The officials’ mistake wasn’t as glaring as the blown call on an apparent touchdown that would have given Temple the lead with 40 seconds to play when the teams met last year in Storrs. Still, Coach Al Golden was seething afterwards.

“It should have been 1st-and-4, and it was 1st-and-10,” Golden said. “When you’re 1st-and-4, you guys that go to A.C. know that you’re playing with house money. They said it wrong. They ruled it wrong on the field, and they apologized. First-and-4, you’re taking shots at the endzone. First-and-4 is a lot different. You’re ahead of schedule on second down.

“There is no conspiracy,” Golden continued, responding to a question about the fact that the Big East officials called far more penalties against the Owls than the Huskies. “All I’m saying is that was a bad deal. Not only do we get a flag that takes a play away, but they set the ball wrong. That’s bad, OK? Bad. And I’ve got 112 guys that I’ve got to explain that to.”

The Owls used a 46-yard completion from DiMichele to James Nixon down to the UConn 9-yard line to set up Brownell’s 22-yard field goal on the first series of the game.

Brownell added a 41-yard field goal in the second quarter, kicking in conditions that ranged from dry to monsoon-like throughout the day.

“I didn’t let the weather affect me,” said Brownell, who has been in a battle with freshman Patrick Campbell for his job since the start of preseason camp. “You just have to focus on what you have to do, and you can’t worry about the surroundings. Coach has done a good job in practice of putting me in situations where I can’t worry about anything (but making the kick).

“We knew it would be a game of field position, and we tried to focus on the process. It just didn’t work out.”

Both teams stopped themselves on numerous occasions. UConn quarterback Tyler Lorenzen threw an interception in Temple territory on the first drive and fumbled the ball into the endzone as he was about to score on the second drive. Placekicker Tony Ciaravino missed field goals attempts of 34 and 44 yards in the first half and a 47-yarder in the closing minutes.

Lorenzen was 10 for 22 for 86 yards and also ran for 75, but Brown did most of the damage, including all 25 yards in overtime.

“I give credit to UConn, they just kept pushing and kept running the ball,” Temple defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “They stuck to their plan, got us out of our game and finished better than us. We didn’t get worn down. They just executed better at the end.”

Temple committed eight penalties for 85 yards, many wiping out long gains, including Shelton’s catch-and-run in overtime. The Owls also committed several drops at key times, with Shelton failing to haul in what could have been a 60-yard gain after slipping behind the defense late in the third quarter. A catch would have given Temple the ball deep in UConn territory, holding a 6-0 lead entering the final 15 minutes.

“There’s no excuses, I dropped the ball,” Shelton said. “When we practice that play, Adam usually bombed it. When I came out of my break, I lost sight of it for a second and it just died on me at the last second.”

After Shelton’s drop and a punt, UConn took over at the Owls’ 48-yard-line. Lorenzen connected on two big passes to set up Ciaravino’s 36-yarder. Two drives later, Ciaravino tied the game with a 37-yard kick with 6:35 left in the contest.

Golden took a huge gamble when he decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 from his own 34-yard-line with under five minutes to play. Fullback Lamar McPherson was stopped for no gain and the Huskies took over on downs. But the Owls’ defense held and Ciaravino missed wide left from 47 yards out.

“It speaks to everything we’re trying to do here,” Golden said. “What I mean by that is, it’s easy to punt the ball. Anybody can punt the ball. It’s conventional wisdom.

“But you know what, we’re trying to change 30 years of this crap, and I want to show them we are going to go for it and we’re going to make it. There is going to be a day, I pray it is sooner rather than later, we are going to make that yard.”

The coach was confident the bitter loss wouldn’t linger.

“You’re talking about the reigning Big East champs and a team with the 13th-ranked defense in the country,” Golden said. “We knew what kind of game it was going to be. They have a better ground game than we do right now. We did enough to lose this game, we should have won this game. We didn’t make enough plays, but we’ll get it corrected.

“The foundation’s there. We’re not going to get down. What are we going to get down about? We’re improving. They’re in Year 10 of this. We’re in Year 3. I’m not getting discouraged.”

Golden Postgame Press Conference: Listen to Audio

Travis Shelton Postgame: Listen to Audio

Dy'Onne Crudup Postgame: Listen to Audio

Andre Neblett Postgame: Listen to Audio

Terrance Knighton Postgame: Listen to Audio

John Haley Postgame: Listen to Audio