For Temple, it was worth the wait. A year after falling in the American Athletic Conference championship game to Houston, the Owls made the most of their second chance, dominating Navy 34-10 to win their first conference crown since 1967. "If it means one thing, it means a promise has been fulfilled," said Rhule, who vowed to build a winner at Temple despite going 2-10 in 2013, his first season. "The true thing for me about this is just to have these players to be able to call themselves champions. When you win this conference, you've done something special."
Temple defense sets the tone early, dominates powerful Navy offense
In a game that was to feature two of the finest rushing attacks in the country, it was the Temple defense that gained the early upper hand. The Owls held the Midshipmen to 168 yards on the ground, well below their season average of 323 yards per game. To further complicate matters, Navy lost starting quarterback Will Worth to a second quarter ankle injury and running backs Toneo Gulley and Darryl Bonner to first half injuries.
While the Temple defense was stifling Navy, the Owls offense established an early lead, taking the opening drive of the game 75 yards in 12 plays, featuring a Jahad Thomas 15-yard touchdown run one play after the Owls converted on 4th & 7.
After stopping Navy on downs on their opening drive, Temple wasted little time increasing their lead, taking over on their own 41 and needing just six plays to find the end zone as quarterback Philip Walker threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ventell Bryant to give Temple a 14-0 lead.
If things couldn't get worse for Navy, they did as Sean Chandler forced a Bonner fumble, recovered by Avery Williams. To remove any doubt as to the outcome of the game, Temple cashed in on the turnover, Walker finding Keith Kirkwood for a 56-yard score, giving the Owls a 21-0 second quarter lead.
Navy would finally get on the board as Bennett Moehring would connect on a 23-yard field goal. Temple would close the first half scoring on a 48-yard field goal by kicker Aaron Boumerhi, set up by a Nate Hairston intercepion of Navy backup quarterback Zach Abey for a 24-3 lead.
Temple cruises in second half, ends Navy's Cotton Bowl hopes
Navy's finest drive came late in the third quarter, seven plays spanning 64 yards, capped by a 1-yard TD run by Abey after he had gone 47 yards on the opening play. With the lead trimmed to 24-10, slight hope of a comeback arose, but that ended when Boumerhi connected on a 42-yard field goal to extend Temple's lead to 27-10.
The Owls finished the scoring in the fourth quarter when backup running back Ryquell Armstead scored on a 30-yard touchdown run, set up by Hasson Reddick's interception of Abey, the Midshipmen's third turnover of the afternoon. The loss also ended any chance Navy had of overtaking Western Michigan for the top spot in the Group of Five and an automatic berth in the Cotton Bowl.
Temple postgame reaction
Head coach Matt Rhule was hired by Temple in 2012 and the win is a culmination of four years of hard work: “For me, it means the promise has been fulfilled,” Temple’s victorious head coach said after the game. “[Athletics officials] were sitting there with me there in the locker after we lost to Fordham our first year. And to bring it full circle, so that to me, is almost a relief of a job well done.
“But the true thing for me about this is just to have these players to be able to call themselves champions. That’s the way they live their lives. When you win this conference, you’ve done something special. This a fantastic conference with great teams from top to bottom.
“For us to say we did it, that’s the accomplishment. … The competitors we have on our team, the men we have on our team – they were ready to take one more step. And that’s what they did. ”
Walker, who was 16 of 25 for 199 yards and two touchdown passes, felt the Owls' domination proved a point: “This means a lot to the program,” Walker, the namesake of numerous Temple quarterback records, including touchdown passes (72), completions (802) and passing yards (10, 272) said of Temple’s win on Saturday afternoon. “I told Coach Rhule before I got here that this was going to happen. That was the process of me just trusting and keep doing what I’ve been doing. I go out there every day and bring my effort and my energy every day. And hopefully everyone else around me will follow.
“Going in there every day and playing and competing at a high level, it shows that we had a really good team that was capable of doing a lot of good things.”
Navy postgame reaction
Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo was understandably upset after the loss, which snapped the Midshipmen's 15-game home winning streak: "They just played better. It wasn't a magic wand," Niumatalolo said. "They just hit us in the mouth and we hadn't been hit in the mouth for a long time. Normally, we hit other people in the mouth. To Temple's credit, they hit us in the mouth. We were dazed the whole game. It's like they hit us with an overhand right."
Abey was 7 of 13 for 104 yards and two interceptons filling in for Worth and felt he left some plays on the field: "I missed some reads, wish I had some plays back," he said.