2015 Temple Owls football
The American East Division champion
Boca Raton Bowl, L 17–32 vs. Toledo
ConferenceAmerican Athletic Conference
DivisionEast Division
Record10–4 (7–1 AAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMarcus Satterfield (3rd season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorPhil Snow (3rd season)
Base defense4–3[1]
Home stadiumLincoln Financial Field
2015 American Athletic Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
East Division
Temple x  7 –1   10 –4  
South Florida  6 –2   8 –5  
Cincinnati  4 –4   7 –6  
UConn  4 –4   6 –7  
East Carolina  3 –5   5 –7  
UCF  0 –8   0 –12  
West Division
No. 8 Houston xy$  7 –1   13 –1  
No. 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

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 is widely considered the greatest season in program history.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 53:30 p.m.Penn State*
ESPNW 27–1069,176
September 128:00 p.m.at Cincinnati
ESPNewsW 34–2638,112
September 193:00 p.m.at UMass*
ESPN3W 25–2310,141
October 27:00 p.m.at Charlotte*
CBSSNW 37–313,105
October 1012:00 p.m.Tulanedagger
  • Lincoln Financial Field
  • Philadelphia, PA
ESPNUW 49–1035,179
October 177:30 p.m.UCF
  • Lincoln Financial Field
  • Philadelphia, PA
CBSSNW 30–1631,372
October 227:00 p.m.at East CarolinaNo. 22
ESPN2W 24–1439,417
October 318:00 p.m.No. 9 Notre Dame*No. 21
ABCL 20–2469,280
November 68:00 p.m.at SMUNo. 22
ESPN2W 60–4017,232
November 147:00 p.m.at South FloridaNo. 22
CBSSNL 23–4428,393
November 2112:00 p.m.No. 21 Memphis
  • Lincoln Financial Field
  • Philadelphia, PA
ESPNUW 31–1231,708
November 287:00 p.m.UConnNo. 25
  • Lincoln Financial Field
  • Philadelphia, PA
ESPNUW 27–328,236
December 512:00 p.m.at No. 19 HoustonNo. 22
ABCL 13–2435,721
December 227:00 p.m.vs. Toledo*No. 24
ESPNL 17–3225,908

[2]

Game summaries

Penn State

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

This was the Owls' first victory over Penn State since 1941.[3] The announced crowd at Lincoln Financial Field was 69,176 Saturday, a record for a Temple home game.[4] 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.[5] This game was Temple's first victory over a Big Ten team since a 1990 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers, as the Owls snapped a 31-game losing streak in the series to the Nittany Lions.[6]

At Cincinnati

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

This was the Owls' first victory over Cincinnati since 1985.[7]

At UMass

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

At Charlotte

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

Tulane

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

UCF

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

At East Carolina

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

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

Notre Dame

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

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

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

At South Florida

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

Memphis

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

UConn

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

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

The American Championship vs. Houston

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

Boca Raton Bowl vs. Toledo

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

Awards and honors

National awards

  • Defense

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior [8]

All Americans

  • Consensus All-American

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior

  • Phil Steele All American Team

Dion Dawkins - OL - Junior - 4th Team

Conference awards

  • Defense

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior

  • American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year - Winner

American Athletic Conference All-Conference Team

  • 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

[9]

  • Other notable NFL players

Haason Reddick, DL
P. J. Walker, QB

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP—RVRVRVRVRVRV22212321RV252024RV
Coaches—RVRVRVRVRVRV24222321RV242124RV
CFPNot released2222—252224Not released

NFL Players

NFL Draft Combine

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

#NamePOSHTWTArmsHands40Bench PressVert JumpBroad Jump3 Cone Drill20-yd ShuttleRef
#1Tavon YoungCB5-9183 lbs30 5/89 1/84.46934.5 in118 in6.803.93[10]
#8Tyler MatakevichLB6-0238 lbs31 1/49 1/24.812231.0 in112 in7.194.50[10]
#9Matt IoannidisDL6-3299 lbs5.033228.0 in108.0 in7.784.71[10]

† Top performer

2016 NFL Draft

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

#PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL Club
#1Tavon Young4104CBBaltimore Ravens
#9Matt Ioannidis5152DLWashington Redskins
#8Tyler Matakevich7246LBPittsburgh Steelers

[11]

Undrafted Free Agents

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

#NamePOSHTWTNFL ClubRef
#17Brandon ShippenWR5-11191 lbsDolphins[12]
#19Robby AndersonWR6-3190 lbsJets[13]
#75Shahbaz AhmedOL6-3285 lbsFalcons[14]
#79Kyle FriendOL6-2305 lbsJets[15]

References

  1. ↑ Newton, David (September 29, 2021). "Carolina Panthers' top-ranked defense reflects 'old-man' strength of Phil Snow". ESPN. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  2. ↑ "2015 Temple Owls Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  3. ↑ Snyder, Audrey (September 5, 2015). "Temple Beats Penn State for First Time Since 1941". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Rapid Reaction: Temple 27, Penn State 10 (No, seriously, the score is correct)".
  5. ↑ "Temple Makes History: Beats Penn State For First Time Since 1941".
  6. ↑ "Penn State vs. Temple - Game Recap - September 5, 2015 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  7. ↑ Goheen, Kevin (September 13, 2015). "Temple Beats Cincinnati for First Time Since 1985". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Temple University Athletics". owlsports.com.
  9. ↑ "Ten Football Players Selected in Football's All-Conference Honors".
  10. 1 2 3 "2016 NFL Combine Results - Historical NFL Scouting Combine Data". nflcombineresults.com.
  11. ↑ "2016 NFL Draft". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Dolphins undrafted rookies include Canes WR Scott, Temple WR Shippen - The Daily Dolphin".
  13. ↑ "New York Jets: Robby Anderson".
  14. ↑ "Atlanta Falcons: Shahbaz Ahmed". Archived from the original on May 18, 2016.
  15. ↑ "New York Jets: Kyle Friend". Archived from the original on May 18, 2016.
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