Temple had an upset of undefeated Navy in hand on homecoming weekend. Until it didn’t.

Temple held a seven-point lead with just over a minute left in Saturday’s game against Navy. The Owls had just marched down the field and scored a go-ahead touchdown, but still needed a stop on defense.

That was easier said than done.

Navy moved the ball to midfield, where quarterback Blake Horvath promptly took off up the middle and scored a 51-yard touchdown virtually untouched. Instead of kicking the extra point for the tie, the Midshipmen went for two.

Navy would convert, as Horvath found running back Alex Tecza in the end zone with 39 seconds left, securing a 32-31, nail-biting win to remain undefeated (6-0, 3-0 American). The Owls fell to 3-3, 1-1.

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“They’re a really good football team,” Owls head coach K.C. Keeler said about Navy, postgame. “We’re going to be in a lot of 50-50 games, and that was just one 50-50 game.”

However, Temple forced Navy to earn this one.

After a Navy field goal tied the game with 6 minutes, 34 seconds left, Temple drove down the field looking for the lead. Keeler was presented with the option to try to run the clock all the way down and play for the winning field field goal. He decided to play for the touchdown and leave time on the clock for Navy.

Temple had a first-and-10 from Navy’s 23-yard line and ran a run play that gained just 2 yards, but forced Navy to call a timeout with 1:23 remaining. Simon completed a pass to wide receiver Kajiya Hollowayne on the next play down to the 1-yard line.

The Owls could have chewed up nearly the whole clock, settled for a field goal, and forced Navy to use its final two timeouts to preserve a chance to win. But instead of taking the field goal, Keeler and his staff opted to punch the ball in while they could and Ducker scored on first-and-goal from a yard out with 1:16 remaining.

“I think our thought was, let’s get the ball in the end zone,” Keeler said. “It’s not like they have a sophisticated passing game where we felt like they could pick us apart down the field. The passing game is kind of elementary and so we felt like that was going to be our advantage.”

Navy only needed to use one timeout on its ensuing offensive drive before Horvath broke off his touchdown run.

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The Midshipmen are known for running the triple-option offense, which is heavily dependent on running the ball. They entered the game with the nation’s top rushing offense, but through one half, they didn’t look close to that.

Temple’s defense kept Navy’s offense limited for nearly the entire first half. The Midshipmen scored on their first drive before Temple’s defense forced four straight punts for the rest of the first half. It held Navy to just 56 rushing yards and 111 total yards through 30 minutes.

“I think they got a little cute in that first half and put themselves in a second-and-long [situation] a number of times,” Keeler said. “That was a big benefit for us and that’s when we really stopped them. We stopped them when they got to second-and-longs.”

However, the second half became a different story.

The Midshipmen marched down the field for touchdown drives of 75 and 74 yards, respectively, on their first two third-quarter possessions. They found their footing on the ground and continuously picked up good chunks of yards on first down to set up second- or third-and-short. Temple’s defense struggled to contain Horvath, who finished with 155 rushing yards.

The Owls’ defense allowed a score on all four second-half Navy drives after only giving up one score in the first half.

“That second half I think they came out and said, ‘Hey, let’s get the quarterback in the run game, let’s get the plus-one run game going,’” Keeler said. “And they did and they were pretty tough.”

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Temple’s offense found its groove early in the first quarter and did not abandon it for the rest of the first half. The Owls attacked the Midshipmen’s secondary and Simon delivered on-target passes time and time again.

Simon started his day with a perfect thrown pass to wide receiver Kajiya Hollowayne, who picked up 46 yards to set the tone for Temple’s offense. Simon completed a pair of passes on Temple’s first touchdown drive for first downs to keep the series alive.

Simon had 137 passing yards in the first quarter and 98 in the second quarter while completing 65% of his passes to guide the Owls to a 17-7 halftime lead. He’d finish with 345 yards passing and a touchdown.But after the pass game worked so well, the Owls’ offense shifted gears to the run.

Running back Jay Ducker started to find momentum on the ground with strong runs in the third and fourth quarters. With the game on the line, Temple turned to Ducker to get it back in scoring range.

The Owls got the ball back with the score tied and 6 minutes remaining in the final quarter. Temple went on the back of Ducker, with some help from Hunter Smith and true freshman Keveun Mason and marched into field-goal range.

Simon took one more turn to deliver a dime, once again to Hollowayne on a 22-yard completion to the 1-yard line. That throw and catch opened the door for a handoff to Ducker, who scored his second touchdown. He’d finish with 97 rushing yards, and two touchdowns.

Temple now heads out on the road to take on Charlotte (1-4, 0-2) on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN+).

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