Thomas Leads Temple To Another Big Win, 34-26 Over Cincy

Temple followed its big in-state victory with an impressive road win on Saturday, beating Cincinnati 34-26 behind its swarming defense and more big plays from Jahad Thomas in the American Athletic Conference opener.

The Owls (2-0, 1-0) opened the season with their first win over Penn State since 1941, then visited a neighboring state and proved they were much more than a one-week wonder. Their top running back led the way to their first 2-0 start since 2011.

Thomas returned the second-half kickoff 100 yards, and then ran 56 yards for a touchdown on Temple's next possession to put the Owls in control. Thomas ran for 135 yards in Temple's long-awaited 27-10 win over Penn State and had 197 against Cincinnati.

The combination of Thomas and a stifling defense worked again.

Cincinnati (1-1, 0-1) unraveled against a defense that had a league-record 10 sacks against Penn State. The Owls prevented the Bearcats from getting into the end zone in the first half, and then picked off Gunner Kiel four times in the second half.

With the Bearcats threatening to tie it, linebacker Tyler Matakevich made a diving interception of Kiel's tipped pass in the end zone to finish it with 13 seconds to go.

Kiel was 30 of 52 for 427 yards, including an 88-yard touchdown that was the longest pass of his career. Last year, he had his worst game against Temple, a 14-6 win set up by a recovered fumble.

Cincinnati piled up 557 yards but was undone by the four interceptions, a fumble and poor play by special teams.

The Bearcats were the overwhelming favorite to win the conference with their dangerous offense intact, but they were wary of the Owls after their close game last season. Coach Tommy Tuberville called them the nation's darling team after the upset of Penn State, and said the Owls deserved the acclaim.

Even more now.

The Bearcats moved the ball patiently during the first half, but wasted chances to take control. They had a 139-34 edge in yards by the second quarter, but it was tied 3-all because of a fumble and a missed field goal.

P.J. Walker's 1-yard touchdown pass to Michael Felton made it 10-6 at halftime. Thomas' kickoff return opened the second half and got the Owls moving. Walker finished 13 of 20 for 81 yards with two touchdowns.

A tipped interception set up Walker's 13-yard touchdown pass that made it 31-12 in the third quarter.

Temple's Brodrick Yancy was injured while blocking on a kickoff return and was taken off the field on a backboard as a precaution. He had full movement in his arms and legs, and raised his right arm as he was taken off the field.