Thomas leads Temple to another big win, 34-26 over Cincy

In the beginning of the second quarter, Gantz made up for the miss when he was able to send his 27-yard field goal attempt through the uprights to knot the game up at 3, as well as give the Bearcats the momentum, which they took advantage of. After their win over Penn State, Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville called them “the nation’s darling team”. Thomas ran for 135 yards in Temple’s long-awaited 27-10 win over Penn State and had 197 against Cincinnati.

Thomas, who set a new American Athletic Conference record with 342 all-purpose yards Saturday, had a career-high 193 rushing yards and one touchdown against the Bearcats.

“We all have the right mind-set and nobody is getting big-headed or cocky or taking wins for granted”, star running back Jahad Thomas said.

Temple led at halftime 10-6 and Jahad Thomas took the opening kickoff of the third quarter for a touchdown and a 17-6 lead.

After UMass, the Owls are at FBS newcomer Charlotte (2-0 against Georgia State and Presbyterian) on a Friday, then host Tulane (1-1) and Central Florida (0-2) before going to East Carolina (1-1) for a Thursday nighter before hosting the Irish on Halloween. “He didn’t pass his conditioning test, so I suspended him for the first game”, coach Matt Rhule said. “They bait you into throwing some”. Matakevich accounted for two of the five turnovers Temple forced with a pair of second-half interceptions, the second of which sealed the game after Cincinnati threatened to tie it up late in the fourth quarter. “We have a lot of work to do”. Kiel completed 30 of 52 passes for 427 yards and one two touchdowns to go with his four interceptions.

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

Two weeks ago, Temple pulled off one of its biggest wins in decades when it beat Penn State for the first time in 74 years.

“You just can’t give up that many opportunities”, Tuberville said. Kiel answered with a big 88 yard bomb to Mekale McKay to cut the lead down to 5.

Owls notes. Fullback Michael Felton saw his first action of the season and caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from P.J. Walker against Cincinnati. Thomas’ kickoff return opened the second half and got the Owls moving. Receiver Brodrick Yancy, who was taken off the field on a stretcher with a neck injury on Saturday, continues to progress well, Rhule said.