P.J. Walker was an efficient 11-of-15 for 183 yards and two touchdowns in Temple’s win over Tulane.

It was a perfect October Saturday for football at Lincoln Financial Field and while the Temple Owls were not perfect, they left no doubt as they rolled the Tulane Green Wave 49-10 before a Homecoming crowd of 35,179 (the fourth largest attendance figure for Temple at the Linc). The Temple defense stifled Tulane, holding them to 110 yards of total offense including just eight yards on the ground.

“Stopping the run made them one dimensional,” said Temple head coach Matt Rhule, “which was good for us.”

What wasn’t so good for Temple was six fumbles on the day; they lost two of them. On their first two offensive possessions, they had nine plays for minus four yards, suffered one of those lost fumbles and committed three penalties.

“Our guys just needed to calm down,” said Rhule. “It’s one of those deals where everyone starts looking at each other, yelling and screaming. You just have to take a moment and say ‘settle down guys, let’s go play.’”

The Owls (5-0, 2-0 American Athletic Conference) imperfections started early as they fumbled on their first possession, the Green Wave drove to the Temple two-yard line but cut the Owls a break when they misplayed a lateral on 2nd-and-goal. They recovered and salvaged a field goal but missed a great opportunity to go up 7-0.

“I thought it was a well-designed play,” said Tulane head coach Curtis Johnson of the play from the two-yard line. “It was one of our better calls on the day, we just missed the throw.”

The Owls got it going on offense with their third chance with the ball by going no-huddle. P.J. Walker connected with Robby Anderson for 23 yards on a third-and-12 from the Temple 18. Anderson caught the pass over two defenders, one of whom tipped the ball. Walker went right back to Anderson for 15 more yards plus an additional 15 yards on a penalty against Tulane. After calling his own number for seven yards, Walker again connected with Anderson on a beautifully thrown ball to the back shoulder that Anderson made look easier than it was.

The Temple defense forced a three-and-out but the punt hit the Owls’ Artrel Foster and Tulane recovered. Four plays later, the Green Wave was back in the lead after Tanner Lee threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Teddy Veal.

“We know bad things are going to happen during a football game,” said Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who finished with seven tackles and now has 399 for his career. “The only thing you can do is stay composed, stay relaxed [and] play the next play.”

A fumble on the ensuing kickoff forced the Owls to start at their own 10 but they over came that and a fumble by Walker after he was sacked thanks to Jahad Thomas. Thomas gained 28 yards on a 2nd-and-29 following the Walker fumble and got the first down on the next play. After a 43-yard catch and run by Kip Patton, Thomas put the Owls ahead to stay with a 10-yards run.

Tulane (2-3, 1-1 American Athletic Conference) was forced to punt again but this time they made the mistake when punter Zachary Block dropped the ball. Walker and Thomas connected on a 16-yard screen pass for the score.

After two punts each to start the second half, Temple finally got it going and freshman running back Ryquell Armstead scored on a 16-yard run to cap a 70-yard drive and make up for his fumble on the first possession of the game.

Sean Chandler intercepted Lee on the next Tulane possession and took back 22 yards for and a touchdown. Next, it was Avery Williams turn to pick off Lee and two-plays later, Armstead was in the end zone again. Back up quarterback Frank Nutile threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to David Hood to cap the scoring.

“We have to continue to work on and focus on coming out fast,” said Thomas, who finished with 78 yards and two touchdowns on 16 touches, “and not having those penalties and turnovers early in the game that can set us back.”

Email Rock Hoffman at rock@footballstories.com