Temple-Toledo football preview box
BOCA RATON BOWL
Temple vs. Toledo
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. at Florida Atlantic U Stadium.
Records: Temple (10-3); Toledo (9-2).
Titles this year: Temple won the East Division of the American Athletic Conference. Toledo earned a share of the Mid American Conference Western Division title.
Television: ESPN
All-time series: Toledo leads, 7-3.
Last meeting: Oct. 1 2011, Toledo won, 36-13 in Philadelphia.
Coaches:
Toledo, Jason Candle (1st season, 0-0, promoted from offensive coordinator after last regular season game)
Temple, Matt Rhule (3rd season, 18-19).
Scoring offense: Temple, 30.7 ppg.; Toledo, 35.3ppg. .
Scoring defense: Temple, 19.15 ppg. ; Toledo, 21.1 ppg.
TEMPLE
Sept. 5 Penn State, 27-10
Sept. 12 at Cincinnati, 34-26
Sept. 19 at UMass, 25-23
Oct. 2 at Charlotte, 37-3
Oct. 10 Tulane, 49-10
Oct. 17 Central Florida, 30-16
Oct. 22 at East Carolina, 24-14
Oct. 31 Notre Dame, 20-24
Nov. 6 at SMU, 60-40
Nov. 14 at USF, 23-44
Nov. 21 Memphis, 31-13
Nov. 28 UConn, 27-3
Dec. 5 at Houston, 13-24
TOLEDO
Sept. 5 Stony Brook (cancelled)
Sept. 12 at Arkansas, 16-132
Sept. 19 Iowa State, 30-23 (2 OT)
Sept. 26 Arkansas State, 37-7
Oct. 3 at Ball State, 24-10
Oct. 10 Kent State, 38-7
Oct. 17 Eastern Michigan, 63-20
Oct. 24 at UMass, 61-35
Nov. 3 Northern Illinois, 27-33
Nov. 10 at Central Michigan, 28-23
Nov. 17 at Bowling Green, 44-28
Nov. 24 Western Michigan, 30-35
Key players:
Temple:
WR Ventell Bryant, 6-3, 181, R-Fr., (37 receptions, 521 yards, 3 TDs), RB Jahad Thomas, 5-10, 180 Jr. (1,257 yards rushing, 4.7 avg., and 17 TDs, 19 total TDs); QB P.J. Walker, 6-1, 200, Jr. (223-391 passing, 2,737 yards, 19 TDs, 7 INT); WR Robby Anderson, 6-3, 175 R-Sr. (64 receptions, 873 yards, 7 TDs); DE Nate D. Smith, 6-0, 236, R-Sr (34 tackles, 7.0 sacks); LB Tyler Matakevich, 6-1, 232 Sr. (126 tackles, 15 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 5 interceptions, 481 career tackles); DT Matt Ioannidis, 6-4, 292 Sr. (39 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks), CB Sean Chandler, 5-11, 185 So. (61 tackles, 4 INT, 10 pass breakups, 12.35 punt return average); CB Tavon Young, 5-10, 180 Sr. (40 tackles, 7 pass breakups), FS Alex Wells, 6-0, 203 Sr. (52 tackles, 2 INT, 6 pass break-ups), OL Eric Lofton, 6-5, 302 Sr. (has played LG, RG and RT this season, 1st team all-conference), C Kyle Friend, 6-2, 305 Sr. (1st team all-conference).
Toledo:
RB Kareem Hunt, 6-0, 225 Jr. (894 yards rushing, 5.5 avg. 10 TDS in eight games); RB Terry Swanson, 5-10, 202 So. (870 yards rushing, 6.6 avg., 7 TDs); QB Phillip Ely, 6-1, 202 Sr. (206-375 passing, 2680 yards, 21 TDs, 10 INT); WR-PR Corey Jones, 5-9, 165 Jr. (52 receptions, 535 yards, 4 TDs, 10.5 punt return avg., 1st team all-MAC PR) WR Cody Thompson, 6-1, 202 So. (33 receptions, 706 yards, 4 TDs); WR Alonzo Russell, 6-4, 205 Sr. (33 receptions, 586 yards 5 TDS); PK Jameson Vest, 5-9, 203 Fr. (18-26 FG, 46-46 PAT, 100 points, long of 44 yards); LB Chase Murdock, 6-0, 225 Sr. (78 tackles, 7.5 TFS); CB Cheatham Norrils, 6-0, 195 Sr. (60 tackles, 3 INT, 16 passes defensed, 1st team all-MAC); LT Storm Norton, 6-8, 310 Jr. (1st team all-MAC); FS DeJuan Rogers, 6-1, 191, Jr. (61 tackles in 9 games); DT Orion Jones, 6-2, 285 Sr. (44 tackles, 11.5 TFL, 6 sacks, 1st team all-MAC); DE Allen Covington, 6-2, 275 Sr. (41 tackles, 11 TFL, 4.5 sacks); DE Trent Voss, 6-3, 235 Sr. (58 tackles, 9.5 TFL).
About Temple: In the Owls 24-13 American Athletic Conference title game loss at Houston, the winning Cougars rushed for 233 yards (5.8 avg.) and 3 TDs…With 12 receptions for 150 yards against Houston, Robby Anderson recorded his 100th career reception and now has 108…P.J. Walker has a school record 52 career TD passes…Tyler Matakevich earned several honors, including the Nagurski Trophy and Bednarik Award as national defensive player of the year…Joining Matakevich on the first-team all-AAC squad from Temple were DT Matt Ioannidia, DE Nate D. Smith, RB Jahad Thomas, C Kyle Friend, OL Eric Lofton and S Alex Wells.
About Toledo: A win in its last game would have earned Toledo a berth in the Mid-American Conference championship, but the Rockets fell at home to Western Michigan, 35-30…Toledo won every road game on its schedule (5-0) for the first time the Rockets were unbeaten and untied away from home since 1971… In 2014, QB Phillip Ely suffered a season-ending knee injury vs. Missouri during Week #2 and also tore the labrum in his left shoulder. He had surgery for both and came back strong this year… Matt Campbell, who left after the final regular season game to take over at Iowa State, was named the MAC Coach of the Year…Senior Alonzo Russell has caught at least one pass in every game in his UT career—a streak of 49 consecutive games, tying the all-time mark set by Steve Odom from 2003-06.
Fast fact: This will be Temple's fifth bowl game, while it will be the 15th for Toldeo, which will be making its fifth bowl appearance in the past six years. Temple is 2-2 in bowl games while Toledo is 10-4.