Temple Notes: Owls shut out Connecticut in first half

Temple achieved a first when it went into halftime with a 10-0 lead over Connecticut during Saturday's American Athletic Conference football game at Lincoln Financial Field.

It marked the first time this season that the Owls had shut out a team in the first half. The Owls limited UConn to 61 total yards and three first downs over the first two quarters.

Not always the strongest first-half team, Temple entered the game even with opponents in the first half. The Owls had scored and allowed 144 points.

Entering the weekend, the American Athletic Conference has had 15 televised games that attracted one million viewers or more, according to a league spokesman. Temple was involved in three of them:

Notre Dame at Temple, Oct. 31, ABC, 5,977,380 viewers;

Penn State at Temple, Sept. 5, ESPN, 1,912,493 viewers;

Temple at Southern Methodist, Nov. 6, ESPN2, 1,079,524 viewers.

Last year, according to AAC commissioner Mike Aresco, the conference had 11 games with a million or more viewers.

"Philadelphia is a good media market," Aresco said in a phone interview. "The people of Philadelphia seem to be embracing the team."

UConn started backup Tim Boyle at quarterback. Boyle played most of the game during last week's 20-17 win over Houston after starter Bryant Shirreffs suffered a head injury in the second series.

In addition, the Huskies used Garrett Anderson at quarterback against Temple. Anderson carried the ball three times and completed his only first-half pass.

Luke Carrazola, a Connecticut sophomore from Neshmainy, not only started at defensive end, but also saw action in the first series for a play at fullback. UConn coach Bob Diaco used many players on offense.

Carrazola entered the game with a team-high 9.5 tackles for loss and shared the team lead with six sacks.

When Temple's Jahad Thomas scored the first touchdown of the game on a 9-yard first-quarter run, it was his 16th rushing touchdown. Thomas has rushed for a score in 11 of the Owls' 12 games. The lone exception was last week's 31-12 win over visiting Memphis.

- Marc Narducci