In the closing minutes of the first half of Temple’s 45-29 win Saturday, Utah State drove down the field in less than a minute, and Aggies running back Rahsul Faison scored a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining.
It signaled a likely seven-point lead for Utah State heading into halftime, but Terrez Worthy’s 34-yard kickoff return gave the Owls a sliver of hope to do something before intermission.
After quarterback Evan Simon found tight end James Della Pesca for an 11-yard gain, head coach Stan Drayton called a timeout with five seconds left, and out came kicker Maddux Trujillo for a 64-yard field goal attempt.
The Austin Peay transfer put the ball onto the crossbar and over it for a record-breaking kick.
“After I hit the ball, I was kind of leaning because I started on the right upright,” Trujillo said. “I didn’t catch it absolutely perfect. It’s kind of a cocky thing to say, but I didn’t catch it perfect, so I was hoping that it would get there. Two weeks in a row now, I’ve had one bounce in for me. If that’s not God's plan, I don’t know what is.”
The kick broke the record for the longest field goal at Lincoln Financial Field, which Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliot previously held at 61 yards both last season and in 2017. It also bested Don Bitterlich’s Temple’s previous team record, a 56-yard make dating back to 1975.
Beyond breaking records, Trujillo’s field goal gave the Owls a huge lift going into the locker room.
“[We got] all of [the energy],” said Temple safety Javier Morton. “It turned me all the way up. That gave us the energy that we needed. We needed that going into halftime.”
Tight end trifecta
Temple’s offense put up the most points in a game since Nov. 26, 2022, when the Owls fell 49-46 to East Carolina. A lot of that offensive success against Utah State had to do with the fact that the Owls got their tight ends involved, and they did it down the depth chart, too.
Della Pesca, who had been relied upon more as a blocking tight end prior to this season, led the Owls in receptions with four for 42 yards and was an important part of establishing the offense early on. Tight ends Peter Clarke and Daniel Evert each had a touchdown reception as well.
Saturday’s game marked the first of the season for both Evert and Clarke, first games of the season, as both had been dealing with nagging injuries that kept them out at the start of the season.
Evert, a true freshman from Regensberg, Germany who came to Temple via the NFL Academy, enrolled midyear and got reps during spring ball. His 16-yard touchdown catch at the 11:57 mark of the fourth quarter was the first of his college career and helped push the Owls’ lead to 10 at 31-21.
Clarke has three career catches to his credit, and two have gone for touchdowns. His 2-yard scoring catch nearly six minutes after Evert’s, courtesy of a great throw from Simon that he dropped over Utah State safety Jordan Vincent near the back of the end zone.
Drayton was happy to see Evert and Clarke getting in and contributing in their first games back.
“I love touchdowns. I’m not really picky about how we get them,” Drayton said. “Really excited about how [Evert] got out there for the first time and played some real ball. That’s huge for him and this football team. [Clarke] is another guy we’re just getting back off a setback and catches a phenomenal pass from [Simon] for a touchdown.”
Linebackers stepping up
Temple linebackers Tyquan King and D.J. Woodbury were crucial in the win. After a sloppy start, King finished with a team-high 13 tackles and one sack, and Woodbury finished his third-straight game with double-digit tackles with 10.
One of Woodbury’s 10 tackles included a pivotal fourth-down stop on the one-yard line early in the game.
“It’s Temple football,” Woodbury said. “How many linebackers have you seen on fourth-and-1 say, ‘I gotta go make a play.’ That’s my mindset. Each and every time it’s me versus them. So [I] got to make that [play].”
The linebacker room saw a change-up after Eric Stuart went down with an injury during the week. Woodbury was moved to the Willspot on the field, and King was then moved to Woodbury’s spot in the middle. While he moved spots on the defense, Woodbury was still the one calling things out for the defense.
The shift didn’t change much in Woodbury’s approach to the game this weekend.
“Not a lot,” Woodbury said of how much his preparation shifted. “I know the playbook well in and out, so it wasn’t that hard. No, [I] just talked with [King], and communicated with [King]. I think that was our first time out there together. It was different. Normally it’s me and [Stuart], but we did a great job. We’re going to get better and better as we go.”
Heading into the game, the Owls knew Utah State liked to play toward the outside, which meant Temple’s defense – especially the linebackers – had to play faster.
Faison, a Pottstown native and the cousin of former Temple linebacker Rian Wallace, was a big factor in the Aggies' offense early on. He broke multiple tackles and ran for 148 yards and a touchdown, a 20-yard run in the second quarter.
As the game progressed and the Owls took the lead, it took pressure off the linebackers and allowed them to play at their own pace.
The Owls held the Aggies to 37 yards on the ground in the second half – including just six in the fourth quarter – to help secure the victory.
