College Football | 5 takeaways from Temple's 32-17 loss to Toledo

Temple junior QB P.J. Walker finds himself surrounded by Toledo defenders during Tuesday night's Boca Raton Bowl at FAU Stadium.

1. Reality really does bite sometimes
The fact is, there isn’t much to celebrate at this point. That 7-0 start that included the first win against Penn State in 74 years, the miraculous comebacks at both Massachusetts and East Carolina and the prime-time performance against Notre Dame in prime time have been washed away by an undressing at South Florida, a flat showing in the American Athletic Conference title tilt and, now, an absolute egg-laying in the Boca Raton Bowl against Toledo. It doesn’t matter that the Owls deserved a better fate with their postseason date. Screwed or not, you show up regardless ready to play if you have any pride and a desire to finish what you started, and they essentially skipped the event entirely aside from a few fleeting moments here and there, mostly due to guts of junior QB P.J. Walker. In this one, program architect Matt Rhule and his players were out-prepared, outhustled, outcoached, outperformed, out-everything'd … Frankly, the effort was embarrassing to witness, considering how far removed it was from what got these Owls to the cusp of setting a program-record 11 wins in the first place. Thing is, they were let down with how things shook out after the regular season, they took the Rockets lightly and they paid a price for it in front of a national-TV audience. In short, they deserved to lose this game … and did. Oh, and say goodbye to any ranking among the top 25 now after recording a fourth loss in the last seven games., including two straight to close this campaign.

2. Oh, where to begin ...
It’s a tough call as to which was worse, the Rhule-Marcus Satterfield braintrust being so hellbent on maintaining the play-it-safe status quo even when that essentially put the Owls’ own offense to sleep or defensive coordinator Phil Snow’s “genius” decision to play soft against Toledo QB Phillip Ely, a former hired gun for Alabama, and his receivers, opting to apply next to no pressure when the Rockets were passing. Both the offensive and defensive staffs for Temple were completely overmatched in this one. When asked at intermission as to what his team could do in the second half to rally from a 12-3 deficit, Rhule pretty much could only shrug his shoulders and say, “Play better.” How about play with some urgency, coach? Even after the Owls dominated the third quarter, they still only cut the margin to 12-9 entering the fourth, and once that frame began they kinda dilly-dallied around on offense, acting like, “Oh, we got plenty of time, no problem.” When you’re that lifeless and lackluster, nah, you really don’t, and Toledo then made Temple pay, connecting on an 80-yard TD bomb in which Owls CB Sean Chandler got totally burned by solid, but hardly speedy Rockets WR Cody Thompson, and followed that up with a 12-play, 74-yard, clock-eating (5:31), scoring drive to effectively end the Owls’ hopes.

3. Just drop the excuses
Yeah, yeah, Temple placekicker Taylor Mayes may have pounced on that onsides kick following the Owls’ lone TD and two-point conversion made it 25-17 with 2:50 remaining. But, really, was this the kind of closing performance you felt worthy of a win? Temple had no business even being within striking distance at that point, and shortly proved it thereafter with the defense parting like a Cherry & White sea for Kareem Hunt to run 41 yards for another Toledo score. As if there weren’t enough what-if pontificating about that recovery attempt that, indeed, perhaps the officials did get wrong, it was such a nice touch to hear ESPN play-by-play guy Allen Bestwick constantly point out in the final futile minutes that the Owls had been without RB Jahad Thomas the entire second half. Can we be frank here? The Jahad Thomas everyone has embedded in their mind hasn’t been around since putting the finishing touches on a 31-carry, 199-yard outing against Central Florida … in Game 6 of the Owls’ season back on October 17. If anything, the cling-fest to him by Rhule and Satterfield has been an absolute albatross to the offense’s evolution in any shape or form the remainder of the season. That, more than anything else, is why Temple went 3-4 down the stretch after that program-first 7-0 start. Oh, and when Thomas went out in the waning moments of the first half against Toledo, he had exactly 5 yards rushing on 8 carries.

​4. Out with a whimper ...
Being one of his biggest proponents since the moment he took the field in 2012 and starting racking up tackles for the Owls, yours truly feels a bit of pain in stating this, but there is no denying that LB Tyler Matakevich was a non-factor in this game. With a team-high 12 tackles, that seems almost impossible. But it’s true. Yeah, he set a new school mark for career stops, topping former LB Steve Conjar (1978-81) by a grand total of 1 after that effort. However, there was nothing impactful about what he did against Toledo. He did have a shot at an interception, which would have been his sixth of the season, but officials ruled after watching the replay that the ball hit the ground before he controlled it. Debatable, really … Still, he didn’t stand out at all. In fact, most of his credited tackles were of the pile-on variety. He only had 2 solos. Which, when you’re the 2015 National Defensive Player of the Year is just NOT good enough. Matakevich, more than any other Owls player, sparked the team’s emergence from the time Rhule took the reins following the 2012 season. The coach challenged him every year to improve in any number of ways, and Matakevich responded, earning respect not just within the program or even the AAC but ultimately around the entire country. What he did against Toledo, though, will not rank among his best memories. Nor should it.

​5. OK, what now?
Well, the Owls are going to be hit hard by the 26 seniors departing the program, Matakevich, DT Matt Ioannidis, DE Nate D. Smith, DB Tavon Young, WR Robby Anderson and C Kyle Friend being the biggest “name” losses, but they do return an awful lot of talent and are expecting to reap the benefits of all the positive pub they’ve received this season, not to mention Rhule’s obvious recruiting skills in the first place, when it comes to signing day in February. That being said, changes still need to be made. This team, let’s be honest, was often brutal to watch this season and benefited from an incredible string of good luck, especially against the likes of Cincinnati, Massachusetts, Central Florida, East Carolina and Southern Methodist, en route to reaching 10-4. The offense, in theory and practice, is not a top 25-worthy one, and if Rhule grasps the reality that Thomas is not a feature back to be used in a power-running attack, and comes to the conclusion that, hey, we’d be better served with him as a wideout … well, hallelujah. All three freshman RBs that received time – Ryquell Armstead, David Hood and Jager Gardner – are far better suited to be RBs in Rhule’s offense than Thomas is. They’re all more powerful and explosive at the point of attack. Walker-to-Thomas aerial strikes sounds like a winner here. So, too, would more consistent aggressive play on defense, and even better, more speed across the board, whereby a guy, say, like Chandler, who really isn’t blessed with the blistering speed or swivel hips to play CB at really high level, could switch to safety and be an even better asset to the Owls. Ultimately, you wonder, can they respond? The Owls came up small in this one, wasting an opportunity to make more history for the program. You hope they do better with taking advantage in the future.

- Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]
​​

---

SAY WHAT?

In this one, program architect Matt Rhule and his players were out-prepared, outhustled, outcoached, outperformed, out-everything'd ... Frankly, the effort was embarrassing to witness, considering how far removed it was from what got these Owls to the cusp of setting a program-record 11 wins in the first place. Thing is, they were let down with how things shook out after the regular season, they took the Rockets lightly and they paid a price for it in front of a national-TV audience. In short, they deserved to lose this game ... and did.

---

NOTHING NEW

Warning signs have been there for weeks, if not months, with the Owls not exactly playing that well:

What to watch: Toledo​
Takeaways from Houston
What to watch: Houston
Time to let it rip
Takeaways from S. Florida
Takeaways from SMU
Worried about Rhule 
Takeaways from E. Carolina
Leave no doubt ... when?
Takeaways from C. Florida
Takeaways from UMass
​​​

---

2015 BY THE NUMBERS

10-4
Final record
​
2,973
Yards passing for
QB ​P.J. Walker

1,262
Yards rushing for
RB ​Jahad Thomas

939
Yards receiving for
WR Robby Anderson​​​

417
Points for Temple

271
Points against Temple​​​​

138
Total tackles for
LB ​Tyler Matakevich

22
Field goals made by
PK Austin Jones
*-a school record​​​​​​​​​​​