Temple falls to Central Florida, 34-14

ORLANDO - Temple had no answer for Central Florida pm Saturday, and the Owls took their lumps for the second straight week.

UCF, the defending American Athletic Conference champion, scored on its first possession in front of an announced crowd of 39,554 at Bright House Networks Stadium and went on to a convincing, 34-14 win.

Temple sophomore quarterback P.J. Walker was replaced by Connor Reilly early in the third quarter after being intercepted by Jordan Ozerities a minute into the second half.

Reilly fared no better, finishing 4-of-9 passing for 25 yards and an interception, and Walker, who aggravated a lingering right- ankle injury early in the opening quarter, returned early in the fourth quarter. Temple (4-3, 2-2 American) was outgained, 463-182, by UCF (5-2, 3-0).

"P.J. was kind of limping around, and he just wasn't playing the way I know he's capable of playing," Temple coach Matt Rhule said. "I wanted to see if I could get something jump-started and then put P.J. back in there. I didn't plan on pulling him forever, I just wanted him to sit for a second, rest, see the game, and make a decision on how he wanted to go back in there and play."

Rhule said afterward he doesn't anticipate a change at quarterback despite recent offensive struggles. Temple lost by 31-10 to Houston last week.

The Owls had opportunities to recover from an early deficit against UCF several times in the first half but could get no closer than 10 points.

"I've just got to know where to go with the football at the right time and start reading defenses a lot better and being a lot more responsible with the football," Walker said of his recent performances. "As of right now I'm not doing my job up to the potential I have."

Walker passed for 111 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions on 15 of 26 attempts. He rushed for just 6 yards on nine carries.

Central Florida's offense had its way with Temple throughout much of the first quarter, building a 17-0 advantage while gaining 138 total yards on three drives.

The Knights went 75 yards over 12 plays to start the game, converted on fourth and 1, and reached the end zone on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Justin Holman to J.J. Worton.

Temple turned the ball over on its second play as Jalen Fitzpatrick was stripped by Jacoby Glenn after taking a short pass from Walker.

The Knights turned the mishap into a 23-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead just over 6 minutes, 29 seconds into the game.

After the Owls were forced to punt on the ensuing possession, UCF again found little resistance while going 58 yards on 11 plays for another score.

"We have to go back and look at everything we're doing to figure out why all of a sudden we're not starting fast," Rhule said. "And really we haven't started fast for a while on offense."

Romond Deloatch caught a 3-yard touchdown pass to cut UCF's lead to 17-7 early in the second quarter, but the Owls couldn't gain any momentum. The Knights responded with a 54-yard bomb down the middle from Holman to Breshad Perriman to increase their lead to 24-7 with 10 minutes left in the first half.

Temple nearly scored early in the fourth quarter after recovering a fumble on a punt return at UCF's 15-yard line, but Walker was intercepted in the end zone on fourth down with less than seven minutes remaining.