Temple was playing for pride on senior day Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, and North Texas was playing for bowl eligibility.
The Owls hung around like a younger cousin on Thanksgiving, looking to mount a 21-point comeback with a chance at a potential game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter. All Temple quarterback Evan Simon had to do was drive the ball 70 yards and punch the ball into the end zone for the Owls.
They nearly did it.
Simon orchestrated a 10-play drive, marching 52 yards and making it to the Mean Green side of the field with a chance to potentially knot the game at 24. But Simon’s last throw of the game, a pass intended for wide receiver John Adams, instead found the hands of North Texas safety Brian Nelson II on fourth down with less than 20 seconds to go and sealed the Owls’ 24-17 loss at Lincoln Financial Field that closed out a fourth-consecutive 3-9 season for a Temple program that is looking for its next head coach.
As Simon walked to the dais at the postgame press conference, he looked as if he was carrying the weight of the loss on his shoulders.
“Pretty disappointed in that ending,” said Simon, who went 27 of 44 passing for 268 yards and that late interception. “Looking back at it right now, it seems like that would have been a great way with a two-minute drill to send those seniors out, who had been here through a lot for four years. Pretty disappointed.”
Before Temple mounted its late comeback, it of course put itself in that situation.
The Owls entered Saturday’s game looking to stifle North Texas quarterback Chandler Morris, who came into the game as the American Athletic Conference’s best passer. Instead, he diced up Temple’s defense in three short minutes, connecting on his first six passes and capping off the opening drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to get things started.
But beyond that, Temple’s defense held Morris in check. He completed 21 of his 40 passes for 188 yards, and that 14-yard throw was his only touchdown of the day.
Cornerback Jamel Johnson also played a role in holding the Mean Green passing attack down. The Charleston Southern transfer had three first-half deflections and forced a North Texas fumble. The Owls held Morris to just 84 first-half passing yards, including 16 in the second quarter.
“Jamel Johnson’s a really good football player,” said interim head coach Everett Withers. “He may be the best player on our team. So I've seen that every day since he got here from Charleston Southern.”
Temple’s rushing defense was another story. UNT running back Mackenzie McGill came into the game averaging just 26 rushing yards per game, but he had his way against the worst rushing defense in the AAC. After the Owls held the Mean Green (6-6) to a field goal on their second series, McGill had 63 yards on the ground and capped it with a 39-yard touchdown run.
McGill followed that up with a 51-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter to give the Mean Green a 24-3 lead.
Temple then found life later in the second quarter when Joquez Smith and Simon scored on 1-yard runs a little more than three minutes apart.
Then came the scoreless second half and the comeback drive that almost was.
A lot will change from here for Temple, beyond the head coaching position. The next head coach will be looking for his quarterback. His late interception notwithstanding, Simon has shown he can make some plays when he has a relatively clean pocket from which to throw.
The redshirt junior has one more season of eligibility remaining and was asked after the game about his future.
“Someone just asked me, ‘Are you staying? Are you going?’” Simon said. “I said, ‘People have asked me before. I try and push that away, like not even worry about it. So that's something that's a family conversation, but that's for another day.”