2015 Temple Owls football team

2015 American Athletic Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	3:30 p.m.	Penn State*		Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	ESPN	W 27–10	69,176
September 12	8:00 p.m.	at Cincinnati		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPNews	W 34–26	38,112
September 19	3:00 p.m.	at UMass*		Gillette Stadium Foxborough, MA	ESPN3	W 25–23	10,141
October 2	7:00 p.m.	at Charlotte*		Jerry Richardson Stadium Charlotte, NC	CBSSN	W 37–3	13,105
October 10	12:00 p.m.	Tulane		Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	W 49–10	35,179
October 17	7:30 p.m.	UCF		Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	CBSSN	W 30–16	31,372
October 22	7:00 p.m.	at East Carolina	No. 22	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPN2	W 24–14	39,417
October 31	8:00 p.m.	No. 9 Notre Dame*	No. 21	Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA (College GameDay)	ABC	L 20–24	69,280
November 6	8:00 p.m.	at SMU	No. 22	Gerald J. Ford Stadium Dallas, TX	ESPN2	W 60–40	17,232
November 14	7:00 p.m.	at South Florida	No. 22	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	CBSSN	L 23–44	28,393
November 21	12:00 p.m.	No. 21 Memphis		Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	W 31–12	31,708
November 28	7:00 p.m.	UConn	No. 25	Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	W 27–3	28,236
December 5	12:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Houston	No. 22	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX (American Athletic Conference Championship Game)	ABC	L 13–24	35,721
December 22	7:00 p.m.	vs. Toledo*	No. 24	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL (Boca Raton Bowl)	ESPN	L 17–32	25,908
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 3 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

^[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