2015 Temple Owls football team

2015 American Athletic Conference football standings
	East Division
	West Division
	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

Temple Owls football
2015 Temple Owls football
The American East Division champion
American Athletic Championship Game, L 13–24 vs. Houston
Boca Raton Bowl, L 17–32 vs. Toledo
Conference	American Athletic Conference
	Eastern Division
2015 record	10–4 (7–1 The American)
Head coach	Matt Rhule (3rd year)
Offensive coordinator	Marcus Satterfield (3rd year)
Defensive coordinator	Phil Snow (3rd year)
Home stadium	Lincoln Financial Field; (Capacity: 68,532)
	Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

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.

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 was considered a breakout season for the program.

Schedule[edit]

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	3:30 p.m.	Penn State*		Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN	W 27–10	69,176
September 12	8:00 p.m.	at Cincinnati		Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPNews	W 34–26	38,112
September 19	3:00 p.m.	at Massachusetts*		Gillette Stadium • Foxborough, MA	ESPN3	W 25–23	10,141
October 2	7:00 p.m.	at Charlotte*		Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, NC	CBSSN	W 37–3	13,105
October 10	12:00 p.m.	Tulane		Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	W 49–10	35,179
October 17	7:30 p.m.	UCF		Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	CBSSN	W 30–16	31,372
October 22	7:00 p.m.	at East Carolina	No. 22	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN2	W 24–14	39,417
October 31	8:00 p.m.	No. 9 Notre Dame*	No. 21	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ABC	L 20–24	69,280
November 6	8:00 p.m.	at SMU	No. 23	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	ESPN2	W 60–40	17,232
November 14	7:00 p.m.	at South Florida	No. 21	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	CBSSN	L 23–44	28,393
November 21	12:00 p.m.	Memphis		Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	W 31–12	31,708
November 28	7:00 p.m.	Connecticut	No. 25	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	W 27–3	28,236
December 5	12:00 p.m.	at No. 17 Houston	No. 20	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX (The American Championship)	ABC	L 13–24	35,721
December 22	7:00 p.m.	vs. Toledo*	No. 24	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL (Boca Raton Bowl)	ESPN	L 17–32	25,908
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Schedule Source:^[1]

Game summaries[edit]

Penn State[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Nittany Lions	10	0	0	0	10
Owls	0	7	10	10	27

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–39–1	2014	PSU, 30–13

This was the Owls' first victory over Penn State since 1941.^[2] The announced crowd at Lincoln Financial Field was 69,176 Saturday, a record for a Temple home game.^[3] 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.^[4] This game was Temple's first victory over a Big Ten team since a 1990 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers.^[5]

at Cincinnati[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	3	7	21	3	34
Bearcats	0	6	6	14	26

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–7–1	2014	CIN, 14–6

This was the Owls' first victory over Cincinnati since 1985.^[6]

at Massachusetts[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	7	10	3	5	25
Minutemen	0	17	0	6	23

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Charlotte[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	3	7	20	7	37
49ers	0	3	0	0	3

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Tulane[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Green Wave	3	7	0	0	10
Owls	7	14	21	7	49

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–1	2014	TEM, 10–3

UCF[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	3	10	3	0	16
Owls	7	7	0	16	30

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	2014	UCF, 34–14

at East Carolina[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Owls	3	7	0	14	24
Pirates	0	14	0	0	14

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–8	2014	TEM, 20–10

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

Notre Dame[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Fighting Irish	7	7	3	7	24
#21 Owls	7	3	0	10	20

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	2013	ND, 28–6

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[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#23 Owls	14	7	17	22	60
Mustangs	0	17	7	16	40

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1–2	2013	SMU, 59–49

at South Florida[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#21 Owls	7	3	10	3	23
Bulls	7	24	3	10	44

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2012	TEM, 37–28

Memphis[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	3	6	3	0	12
Owls	0	14	0	17	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–1	2014	MEM, 16–13

Connecticut[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	0	0	0	3	3
#25 Owls	7	3	10	7	27

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–5	2014	TEM, 36–10

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

The American Championship vs. Houston[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Owls	0	3	7	3	13
#17 Cougars	7	10	7	0	24

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–4	2014	HOU, 31–10

Boca Raton Bowl vs. Toledo[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#24 Owls	3	0	6	8	17
Rockets	0	12	0	20	32

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–7	2011	TOL, 36–13

Awards and honors[edit]

National Awards[edit]

Defense

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior ^[7]

All Americans[edit]

Consensus All-American

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior

Phil Steele All American Team

Dion Dawkins - OL - Junior - 4th Team

Conference Awards[edit]

Defense

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior

American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year - Winner

American Athletic Conference All-Conference Team[edit]

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

Honorable Mention

Haason Reddick, DL
^[8]

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	21	23	21	RV	25	20	24	RV
Coaches	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	22	23	21	RV	24	21	24	RV
CFP	Not released									22	22	NR	25	22	24	Not released

NFL Players[edit]

NFL Draft Combine[edit]

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

#	Name	POS	HT	WT	Arms	Hands	40	Bench Press	Vert Jump	Broad Jump	3 Cone Drill	20-yd Shuttle	Ref
#1	Tavon Young	CB	5-9	183 lbs	30 5/8	9 1/8	4.46	9	34.5 in	118 in	6.80	3.93	^[9]
#8	Tyler Matakevich	LB	6-0	238 lbs	31 1/4	9 1/2	4.81	22	31.0 in	112 in	7.19	4.50	^[10]
#9	Matt Ioannidis	DL	6-3	299 lbs			5.03	32	28.0 in	108.0 in	7.78	4.71	^[11]

† Top performer

2016 NFL Draft[edit]

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

#	Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
#1	Tavon Young	4	104	CB	Baltimore Ravens
#9	Matt Ioannidis	5	152	DL	Washington Redskins
#8	Tyler Matakevich	7	246	LB	Pittsburgh Steelers

^[12]

Undrafted Free Agents[edit]

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

#	Name	POS	HT	WT	NFL Club	Ref
#17	Brandon Shippen	WR	5-11	191 lbs	Dolphins	^[13]
#19	Robby Anderson	WR	6-3	190 lbs	Jets	^[14]
#75	Shahbaz Ahmed	OL	6-3	285 lbs	Falcons	^[15]
#79	Kyle Friend	OL	6-2	305 lbs	Jets	^[16]

References[edit]

^ "2015 Temple Owls Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
^ Snyder, Audrey (September 5, 2015). "Temple Beats Penn State for First Time Since 1941". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
^ http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2015/09/rapid_reaction_temple_xx_penn.html
^ http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/09/05/temple-makes-history-beats-penn-state-for-first-time-since-1941/
^ http://espn.go.com/college-football/recap?gameId=400763497
^ Goheen, Kevin (September 13, 2015). "Temple Beats Cincinnati for First Time Since 1985". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
^ http://owlsports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7799
^ http://owlsports.com/news/2015/12/2/FB_1202154605.aspx
^ http://nflcombineresults.com/nflcombinedata.php?year=2016&pos=&college=Temple
^ http://nflcombineresults.com/nflcombinedata.php?year=2016&pos=&college=Temple
^ http://nflcombineresults.com/nflcombinedata.php?year=2016&pos=&college=Temple
^ "2016 NFL Draft". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
^ http://dailydolphin.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/05/01/dolphins-undrafted-rookies-include-canes-wr-scott-and-temple-wr-shippen//
^ http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/roster/robby-anderson/24392ff9-fbd4-4591-9d49-fede1f73e8ee/
^ http://www.atlantafalcons.com/team/roster/shahbaz-ahmed/da48f94c-98fd-4630-b233-83c3efd72ceb/
^ http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/roster/Kyle-Friend/58c9315f-826a-4fc7-81a9-e64d06ea9e9b

[1] "2015 Temple Owls Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 2, 2015.

[2] Snyder, Audrey (September 5, 2015). "Temple Beats Penn State for First Time Since 1941". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 7, 2015.

[3] ttp://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2015/09/rapid_reaction_temple_xx_penn.html

[4] ttp://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/09/05/temple-makes-history-beats-penn-state-for-first-time-since-1941/

[5] ttp://espn.go.com/college-football/recap?gameId=400763497

[6] Goheen, Kevin (September 13, 2015). "Temple Beats Cincinnati for First Time Since 1985". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 17, 2015.

[7] ttp://owlsports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7799

[8] ttp://owlsports.com/news/2015/12/2/FB_1202154605.aspx

[9] ttp://nflcombineresults.com/nflcombinedata.php?year=2016&pos=&college=Temple

[10] ttp://nflcombineresults.com/nflcombinedata.php?year=2016&pos=&college=Temple

[11] ttp://nflcombineresults.com/nflcombinedata.php?year=2016&pos=&college=Temple

[12] "2016 NFL Draft". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 28, 2016.

[13] ttp://dailydolphin.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/05/01/dolphins-undrafted-rookies-include-canes-wr-scott-and-temple-wr-shippen//

[14] ttp://www.newyorkjets.com/team/roster/robby-anderson/24392ff9-fbd4-4591-9d49-fede1f73e8ee/

[15] ttp://www.atlantafalcons.com/team/roster/shahbaz-ahmed/da48f94c-98fd-4630-b233-83c3efd72ceb/

[16] ttp://www.newyorkjets.com/team/roster/Kyle-Friend/58c9315f-826a-4fc7-81a9-e64d06ea9e9b

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v t e Temple Owls football

Venues	Vernon Park (?–1927) Temple Stadium (1928–1977) Veterans Stadium (1978–2002) Lincoln Financial Field (2003–present) Franklin Field (alternate, 1978–2002)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Villanova (Mayor's Cup)

Culture & lore	Hooter T. Owl "T For Temple U"

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

2015 American Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
East Division
Temple x		7	–	1		10	–	4
South Florida		6	–	2		8	–	5
Cincinnati		4	–	4		7	–	6
Connecticut		4	–	4		6	–	7
East Carolina		3	–	5		5	–	7
UCF		0	–	8		0	–	12
West Division
#8 Houston xy$		7	–	1		13	–	1
#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