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Temple football notes: Owls offensive line has another strong effort

Quarterback Anthony Russo wasn't sacked while attempting 41 passes in Saturday's 24-17 overtime win over No. 20 Cincinnati.

Temple quarterback Anthony Russo (15) hands the ball off to Temple running back Jager Gardner (21) during a game against Cincinnati at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. TIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Temple quarterback Anthony Russo (15) hands the ball off to Temple running back Jager Gardner (21) during a game against Cincinnati at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. TIM TAI / Staff PhotographerRead moreTim Tai

Temple's offensive line has continued to produce at a high level.

During Saturday's 24-17 overtime win over No. 20 Cincinnati at Lincoln Financial Field, the Owls didn't allow a single sack while quarterback Anthony Russo attempted 41 passes.

"Nothing happens without the offensive line," Russo said. "That is one of the best defensive lines I think we will play all season and I barely got touched today."

Cincinnati entered the game with 14 sacks.

Temple's starting offensive line consists of center Matt Hennessy, guards Jovahn Fair and Vincent Picozzi, and tackles Adam Klein and Jaelin Robinson.

>> PHOTO GALLERY: Temple 24, Cincinnati 17

"During the week, our coaches gave us a great opportunity in seeing the blitz looks that we would see," said Hennessy, who has played at an all-conference level or above all year. "Cincinnati really likes to eat teams up in the blitz and I thought we did a  pretty good job picking up all their stuff."

This season, the Owls have allowed just eight sacks and Saturday was the third time that their quarterback wasn't sacked in a game.

Injury updates

Temple running back Ryquell Armstead missed his second straight game with an ankle injury. After Saturday's win, coach Geoff Collins was asked how close Armstead was to playing.

"I think he was really close, but we have a big game coming up after this week, so just an extra week of getting him ready and healthy," Collins said. "He was out there and didn't have a boot on."

Temple has a bye this week and returns to action on Thursday Nov. 1 at No. 10 Central Florida.

Owls defensive tackle Freddie Booth-Lloyd, who was injured in last week's 24-17 win at Navy but returned to make some big plays, was wearing a boot on his left foot on the Temple sideline.

It was the first game Booth-Lloyd has missed since suffering an injury in pregame warmups during last year's opener at Notre Dame.

Key timeout

Cincinnati's Cole Smith missed three of four field goals, but a key one occurred with 1 minute and 43 seconds left in the second quarter, when he was wide right from 37 yards out.

Before that, Temple had called a timeout. Thinking the timeout was over, Cincinnati lined up and Smith made the kick. The referee announced to the crowd that the game was still in a TV timeout.

Smith then missed the second try.