PHILADELPHIA, PA. – Ball State erased a 10-0 Temple halftime lead, but the Owls rebounded with a pair of their own scores to hold off the Cardinals 24-19 Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. Freshman Bernard Pierce again paced the Temple attack as he continued a record-breaking streak. His 125 yards rushing (on 26 attempts) against Ball State gave him three straight performances of over 100-yards. No Temple freshman had gone over the century mark in consecutive games prior to Pierce’s accomplishment last week.
“He’s starting to feel it. He’s starting to carry it, and he’s getting stronger as the game goes on,” Temple coach Al Golden said. “He’s giving us a glimpse of obviously what he can be.”
Temple (3-2, 3-0 MAC) scored first on a 27-yard Brandon McManus field goal at 7:12. The tough Temple defense then pushed Ball State (0-6, 0-2 MAC) back three yards before forcing a punt on the Cardinals next possession.
Not only did Temple return the kick 30 yards to the BSU 28, Vaughn Charlton hit James Nixon for a touchdown on the very next play. McManus’ PAT made it 10-0 in favor of the hosts, and it stayed that way through intermission.
McManus did try a field goal at the 9:54 mark of the second quarter, but it was blocked. “It was ugly at times, and we have to get the special teams squared away, but we kept battling and we won,” Golden said.
Ball State also had a chance to score before halftime as the Cardinals drove to the Temple 30. The Owls, however, ended that threat with an interception by Jaiquawn Jarrett. It was one of two on the day for the junior from Brooklyn, New York.
Regrouping at intermission, the Cardinals went to work in the third quarter and produced their first touchdown when Kelly Page hit Torieal Gibson on a 50-yard scoring pass at 10.59.
It wasn’t long until the Cardinals took the lead. After a quick Temple first down, the Owls bogged down. When they tried to punt, the snap went over the punter’s head. Eric Williams recovered in the end zone for a BSU score. The PAT kick failedand Ball State led 13-10.
Shaking off the turn of events, Temple came right back to retake the lead with a nine-play, 60 yard drive. Pierce, who carried the ball six times for 38 yards along the way, covered the last two yards for the TD. McManus added the PAT at 4:48 of the third quarter.
Plenty of time remained, but the Temple defense stiffened. Pierce finally added another TD at 3:29 to make it a 24-13 game (with McManus’ kick) and the Owls kept BSU out of the end zone until the game’s final play.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” Ball State coach Stan Parrish said when asked about Temple. “They’re a good football team. They’re a physical football team who knows what they are, and that is a tribute to their coaches.”
He continued, “If that’s not the best defense – especially physically – we’ve faced since I’ve been at Ball State, it’s one that’s right up there. (I) take my hat off to Al (Golden), because four years ago, they couldn’t walk and chew gum. And they know what they are. That’s why I think they have a good shot to win the (MAC) East.”
Golden, meanwhile, wasn’t dwelling on his team’s 3-0 MAC start. “I hate the word frontrunner, because you don’t win the league in October. You can lose the league in October, and we’ve found ways to do that. We’ve rewritten the book on that, so we’ll try it this way now…. We just got to keep working. League play is tough.”
NOTES:
- Ball State hurt its offensive game with five turnovers against the Owls. Temple had just one turnover (the fumble on a punt), and that resulted in a BSU touchdown.
-MiQuale Lewis, a first-team All-MAC player in 2008, had 54 yards on nine carries against Temple. The Cardinals had 53 net rushing yards as a team.
- BSU quarterback Kelly page completed 22-of-37 passes for 237 yards, with two TDs and two interceptions. Vaughn Charlton was good on 17-of-30 passes for 186 yards. He threw one TD and no interceptions.
- Still winless on the year, Ball State hosts Bowling Green Saturday.
- Temple will spend its last non-conference game day hosting Army.
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