TEMPLE’S RYQUELL ARMSTEAD, SEEN HERE ABAINST BUFFALO, RAN FOR A TOUCHDOWN AND HAD A SACK IN THE OWLS WIN OVER TULSA (Photo by Jesse Garber)

Philadelphia – The Temple defense made big plays and timely plays while Owls running back Ryquell Armstead had an historic game as Temple (2-2, 1-0 American) beat Tulsa (1-3, 0-1 American) 31-17 at Lincoln Financial Field in the AAC opener for both teams. The Owls defenders forced five turnovers (two of which they returned for touchdowns) and had six sacks while being on the field for 107 plays and nearly 37 minutes of game time.

Ty Mason took an interception back 36 yards for the Owls first touchdown and Karamo Dioubate returned a fumble 50 yards as Temple has scored at least one non-offensive in all four of their games so far.

Armstead had 108 yards rushing including a 22-yard touchdown run. Also, because of injuries, he played a few snaps as a defensive end and recorded a sack. He’s just the third college player ever to have a 100-yard rushing game and a sack in the same game.

“It felt great,” Armstead said about the sack. “To be honest, I didn’t even know I sacked the guy, I thought it was just a regular tackle until a couple of the defensive players told me. I was excited, I’m just happy I was able to help me team out.”

Owls head coach Geoff Collins, who pointed out the Armstead also plays on kick coverage teams, called the play one of his favorite moments of the game.

Starting fast, the Owls moved the ball to inside the Hurricane red zone, the only problem on the drive was Tulsa linebacker Diamon Cannon tipping two of Anthony Russo’s passes. The first one was on the first play from scrimmage, the second one was the final play of the drive because Cooper Edminston intercepted the ball at the five-yard line.

After the teams traded punts, Mason stepped in front of a pass by Tulsa’s Luke Skipper at the 36-yard line and practically walked into the end zone.

The fast-paced spread offense of Tulsa seemed to have the Owls defense off balance on the next possession. The Hurricane converted two of three on third down and Corey Taylor II got a first down on a fourth-and-one at the Temple five. Then on the next play, he powered in from the three to tie it. The Hurricane held the ball over five and a half minutes on the drive and used 16 plays to go 75 yards.

Isaiah Wright returned the kickoff 42 yards to the Temple 45 then on the second play of the second quarter, Russo hooked up with Randle Jones on a deep ball that Jones hauled in at the Tulsa one. Three plays later, Russo scored from there for his first career rushing touchdown.

On a play down the sideline, Rock Ya-Sin made an amazing catch to intercept a Skipper pass on the next possession but the Owls could do nothing with it. After each team had another chance with ball, the Owls decided to shake things up. They had Wright play quarterback, after an end around by Jaden Blue, Wright ran for two successive first downs.

“We had a nice three play package,” said Collins, who felt the plays with Wright at quarterback sparked the offense. “We executed it, went back and they were off balance from that.”

After Russo returned, he handed the ball to Armstead three straight plays. Rock gained 43 yards and capped the drive with a nifty, start left, come all the way across the field 22-yard run for the score.

The Hurricane would answer with another long drive and get an 18-yard field goal from Nate Walker as time expired in the first half with the score 21-10.

Tulsa was driving with the second half kickoff when Quincy Roche went off. The Hurricane had a first-and-10 at the Temple 32, Roche stopped Taylor on a first down run for no gain. On each of the next two plays, he stripped sacked Skipper. The Tulsa quarterback got the first fumble back but on the second one, Dioubate scooped it up and went 50 yards for the Owls sixth non-offensive touchdown of the season.

Each team missed a field goal and the Owls started the fourth quarter with Todd Centeio at quarterback. They failed to move the ball and Russo came back in but his third down pass was intercepted. The turnover sparked the Hurricane, Taylor would score on a five-yard run but Tulsa converted three third downs and a fourth down as they matriculated the ball down the field.

The Owls didn’t have much of an answer, they got a penalty on the kickoff and had to start the series at their own seven. They quickly went three-and-out and gave the Hurricane the ball back at the Temple 36. Skipper got a first down on fourth-and-eight from the Temple 34 when he completed a 10-yard pass to Jarion Anderson. On the next play, Sam Franklin sacked Skipper, Chapelle Russell picked up the resulting fumble and the Owls had the momentum back especially after linebacker Shaun Bradley ran 28 yards on a fake punt. The sequence set up a 33-yard field goal by Will Mobley which combined with a late-game interception by Benny Walls put the game away.

Email Rock Hoffman at rock@footballstories.com