2015 Temple Owls football team

Last updated

2015 Temple Owls football
Temple T logo.svg
The American East Division champion
Boca Raton Bowl, L 17–32 vs. Toledo
Conference American Athletic Conference
DivisionEast Division
Record10–4 (7–1 AAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield (3rd season)
Offensive scheme Spread
Defensive coordinator Phil Snow (3rd season)
Base defense 4–3 [1]
Home stadium Lincoln Financial Field
Seasons
  2014
2016  
2015 American Athletic Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
East Division
Temple x  7 1   10 4  
South Florida  6 2   8 5  
Cincinnati  4 4   7 6  
UConn  4 4   6 7  
East Carolina  3 5   5 7  
UCF  0 8   0 12  
West Division
No. 8 Houston xy$  7 1   13 1  
No. 18 Navy x  7 1   11 2  
Memphis  5 3   9 4  
Tulsa  3 5   6 7  
Tulane  1 7   3 9  
SMU  1 7   2 10  
Championship: Houston 24, Temple 13
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
As of December 31, 2015
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2015 Temple Owls football team represented Temple University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Owls were led by third-year head coach Matt Rhule and played their home games at Lincoln Financial Field. They were members of the East Division of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 10–4, 7–1 in American Athletic play to finish as champions of the East Division. They represented the East Division in the American Athletic Championship Game where they lost to Houston. They were invited to the Boca Raton Bowl where they lost to Toledo.

Contents

The season was highlighted by the first win against Penn State since 1941, their first ever 7–0 start, and their first AP Poll and Coaches Poll ranking since 1979, and is widely considered the greatest season in program history.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 53:30 p.m. Penn State * ESPN W 27–1069,176
September 128:00 p.m.at Cincinnati ESPNews W 34–2638,112
September 193:00 p.m.at UMass * ESPN3 W 25–2310,141
October 27:00 p.m.at Charlotte * CBSSN W 37–313,105
October 1012:00 p.m. Tulane Dagger-14-plain.png
  • Lincoln Financial Field
  • Philadelphia, PA
ESPNUW 49–1035,179
October 177:30 p.m. UCF
  • Lincoln Financial Field
  • Philadelphia, PA
CBSSNW 30–1631,372
October 227:00 p.m.at East Carolina No. 22 ESPN2 W 24–1439,417
October 318:00 p.m.No. 9 Notre Dame *No. 21
ABC L 20–2469,280
November 68:00 p.m.at SMU No. 22ESPN2W 60–4017,232
November 147:00 p.m.at South Florida No. 22CBSSNL 23–4428,393
November 2112:00 p.m.No. 21 Memphis
  • Lincoln Financial Field
  • Philadelphia, PA
ESPNUW 31–1231,708
November 287:00 p.m. UConn No. 25
  • Lincoln Financial Field
  • Philadelphia, PA
ESPNUW 27–328,236
December 512:00 p.m.at No. 19 Houston No. 22 ABC L 13–2435,721
December 227:00 p.m.vs. Toledo *No. 24ESPNL 17–3225,908

[2]

Game summaries

Penn State

1234Total
Nittany Lions1000010
Owls07101027

This was the Owls' first victory over Penn State since 1941. [3] The announced crowd at Lincoln Financial Field was 69,176 Saturday, a record for a Temple home game. [4] After the Nittany Lions scored 10 points in the first quarter, Temple responded with 27 unanswered points. Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg was sacked 10 times, with Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich recording three sacks. [5] This game was Temple's first victory over a Big Ten team since a 1990 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers, as the Owls snapped a 31-game losing streak in the series to the Nittany Lions. [6]

At Cincinnati

1234Total
Owls3721334
Bearcats0661426

This was the Owls' first victory over Cincinnati since 1985. [7]

At UMass

1234Total
Owls7103525
Minutemen0170623

At Charlotte

1234Total
Owls3720737
49ers03003

Tulane

1234Total
Green Wave370010
Owls71421749

UCF

1234Total
Knights3103016
Owls7701630

At East Carolina

1234Total
#22 Owls3701424
Pirates0140014

This was the first game, and win, for a nationally ranked Owls team since 1979.

Notre Dame

1234Total
#9 Fighting Irish773724
#21 Owls7301020

This was the first time ESPN's College GameDay visited a Temple home game. Set up at Independence Mall, the broadcast attracted more than 10,000 fans.

At SMU

1234Total
#23 Owls147172260
Mustangs01771640

At South Florida

1234Total
#21 Owls7310323
Bulls72431044

Memphis

1234Total
Tigers363012
Owls01401731

UConn

1234Total
Huskies00033
#25 Owls7310727

This win sealed the Owl's berth in the inaugural AAC Championship, their second division title in team history.

The American Championship vs. Houston

1234Total
#20 Owls037313
#17 Cougars7107024

Boca Raton Bowl vs. Toledo

1234Total
#24 Owls306817
Rockets01202032

Awards and honors

National awards

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior [8]

All Americans

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior

Dion Dawkins - OL - Junior - 4th Team

Conference awards

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior

American Athletic Conference All-Conference Team

  • First Team

Kyle Friend, C
Matt Ioannidis, DL
Eric Lofton, OL
Tyler Matakevich, LB
Nate D. Smith, DL
Jahad Thomas, RB
Alex Wells, FS

  • Second Team

Dion Dawkins, OL
Sean Chandler, DB

[9]

  • Other notable NFL players

Haason Reddick, DL
P. J. Walker, QB

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP RVRVRVRVRVRV22212321RV252024RV
Coaches RVRVRVRVRVRV24222321RV242124RV
CFP Not released2222252224Not released

NFL Players

NFL Draft Combine

Three Temple players were invited to participate in the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine.

#NamePOSHTWTArmsHands40Bench PressVert JumpBroad Jump3 Cone Drill20-yd ShuttleRef
#1 Tavon Young CB 5-9183 lbs30 5/89 1/84.46934.5 in118 in6.803.93 [10]
#8 Tyler Matakevich LB 6-0238 lbs31 1/49 1/24.812231.0 in112 in7.194.50 [10]
#9 Matt Ioannidis DL 6-3299 lbs5.033228.0 in108.0 in7.784.71 [10]

† Top performer

2016 NFL Draft

Following the season, the following members of the Temple football team were selected in the 2016 NFL draft.

#PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL Club
#1 Tavon Young 4104 CB Baltimore Ravens
#9 Matt Ioannidis 5152 DL Washington Redskins
#8 Tyler Matakevich 7246 LB Pittsburgh Steelers

[11]

Undrafted Free Agents

In addition to the draft selections above, the following Temple players signed NFL contracts after the draft.

#NamePOSHTWTNFL ClubRef
#17Brandon Shippen WR 5-11191 lbsDolphins [12]
#19 Robby Anderson WR 6-3190 lbsJets [13]
#75Shahbaz Ahmed OL 6-3285 lbsFalcons [14]
#79 Kyle Friend OL 6-2305 lbsJets [15]

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References

  1. Newton, David (September 29, 2021). "Carolina Panthers' top-ranked defense reflects 'old-man' strength of Phil Snow". ESPN . Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  2. "2015 Temple Owls Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  3. Snyder, Audrey (September 5, 2015). "Temple Beats Penn State for First Time Since 1941". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  4. "Rapid Reaction: Temple 27, Penn State 10 (No, seriously, the score is correct)".
  5. "Temple Makes History: Beats Penn State For First Time Since 1941".
  6. "Penn State vs. Temple - Game Recap - September 5, 2015 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  7. Goheen, Kevin (September 13, 2015). "Temple Beats Cincinnati for First Time Since 1985". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  8. "Temple University Athletics". owlsports.com.
  9. "Ten Football Players Selected in Football's All-Conference Honors".
  10. 1 2 3 "2016 NFL Combine Results - Historical NFL Scouting Combine Data". nflcombineresults.com.
  11. "2016 NFL Draft". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  12. "Dolphins undrafted rookies include Canes WR Scott, Temple WR Shippen - The Daily Dolphin".
  13. "New York Jets: Robby Anderson".
  14. "Atlanta Falcons: Shahbaz Ahmed". Archived from the original on May 18, 2016.
  15. "New York Jets: Kyle Friend". Archived from the original on May 18, 2016.