Temple Shifts Focus To UCF After Houston Loss
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Temple Owls are looking to regroup after a rough trip to Texas. But it doesn't get any easier on Saturday as they visit the University of Central Florida in a key American Athletic Conference match-up.
The Owls fell to 4-2 on the season on Friday night as they lost to the University of Houston, 31-10. Temple was done in by four turnovers and a big game by Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. Ward Jr. completed 29 of 33 passes for 268 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 44 yards.
"We knew to have a chance to win that game we were going to have to play really well and we just didn't," Temple head coach Matt Rhule tells KYW Newsradio. "And even still we had a chance to tie that game up late in the third quarter and a turnover at the goal line really hurt us. For our team, I think now they have to rebound and prove they can bounce back from a tough loss and go see a really good UCF team."
One real bright spot in Friday's loss was the play of sophomore running back Jahad Thomas. He rushed for 49 yards on just 7 carries. He also caught 3 passes for 150 yards, one of his catches on a screen pass went for 74 yards, another went for 72.
"Jahad's a dynamic player, great change of direction," Rhule says. "He was about a yard away, twice, from scoring long touchdowns. I think he's really added another element to our offense. And it's an offense right now that's kind of sputtering. We haven't really hit on all cylinders. But he gives us another piece, another look at what's going to happen here, eventually, once we kind of all come together and get in a rhythm and get into sync."
The Owls will face a Central Florida team on Saturday that has won four straight games since opening the season 0-2. The Knights beat Tulane this past weekend, 20-13, to improve to 2-0 in the AAC.
"They have a potent group of wide receivers," Rhule says. "Even going way back to the Penn State game at the beginning of the year (26-24 UCF loss), they've been able to get behind people, make big plays. We saw them last year, they made big plays against us then. And a really tough, physical ground game. They're going to come out and pound you and try to run the ball and then take shots over your head."
Last season, the Owls lost to UCF, 39-36, as the Knights scored 10 points in the game's final 70 seconds to win. UCF finished last season 13-1, beating Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl.
Saturday's game in Orlando will kickoff at 5:00pm.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
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