TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016 Continued from Page 1
RUN GAME Followed by sophomore running back Ryquell Armstead, Sharga ran out to the right and set his sights on South Florida senior defensive back Johnny Ward. Sharga pummeled Ward, knocking him to the ground and clearing the way for Armstead to sprint down the sideline on the way to a 42-yard touchdown run, which gave the Owls a lead they never relinquished. “By the end of the third quarter, he has guys falling to their knees and they’re scared to make contact with him,” Armstead said. On Friday, the defenders who avoided Sharga’s blocks had to deal with Armstead, who was lowering his shoulder and seeking contact just like his lead blocker. His 210-yard, two-touchdown performance was the first 200-yard game for a Temple back since 2012. With the game already in hand late in the fourth quarter, he was dragging defenders on his back for first downs. “Powering guys in the first and the
second quarter, just coming in and headhunting basically, not shying away from contact,” Armstead said of what led to a successful game. “By the end of the third or fourth quarter, they don’t want to tackle me.” Senior offensive lineman Dion Dawkins said the difference in Temple’s rushing attack on Friday was all 11 members of the offense playing together. Dawkins helped open up a hole for Armstead to the left side on the running back’s 76-yard touchdown run. When everyone picks up their blocking assignment, then all the back has to do is make one or two guys miss for a big play, Dawkins said. “It’s showtime from there on out,” he added. Following a redshirt season in 2014, Sharga’s teammates voted him as one of the Owls’ toughest players last season, which is why he wears one of the team’s single-digit jerseys. During his postgame press conference, Rhule said Sharga has been playing with a partially torn ACL this season, comparing him to the X-Men character Wolverine.
S P O RT S “He’s got regenerative powers or something,” Rhule said. Sharga’s hard-hitting blocks fit right into the way Temple plays. Rhule emphasizes the ability to run the ball, specifically late in games. The Owls outrushed South Florida 84-24 in the fourth quarter. “I think it really suits our play style well,” Sharga said of his physicality. “Our big thing is just finishing the game the best we can. I think just wearing teams down by running the ball at the end of the game really helps our offense out.” The run game helped Temple in more ways than one on Friday. By running the ball, Temple controlled possession and kept South Florida’s offense, which came into the game averaging 44.1 points per game, from finding a rhythm. The Owls held the ball nearly twice as long as the Bulls. “Part of trying to stop these offenses, is running the football,” Rhule said. “That possession time … that keeps a great offense off the field.” owen.mccue@temple.edu @Owen_McCue
PAGE 15
SPORTS BRIEFS FOOTBALL
Upperclassmen catching attention from NFL scouts Scouts representing six professional teams and a representative from the Senior Bowl visited Lincoln Financial Field to evaluate talent during Friday’s game against South Florida, the Inquirer reported. Five NFL teams and the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes sent scouts to the game. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. considers senior offensive lineman Dion Dawkins to be the No. 1 offensive tackle prospect in the upcoming draft and said he “has a chance to be a first-round pick depending on how he works out at the combine.” CBS Sports projects senior running back Jahad Thomas as either a seventh-round selection or undrafted free agent and predicts that redshirt-senior defensive lineman Haason Reddick will be taken in the third or fourth round. Junior defensive back Sean Chandler is projected as a sixth-round talent. The NFL Draft will be held in Philadelphia for the first time since 1961 from April 27-29, 2017 along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. -Evan Easterling
HOJUN YU FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Redshirt-senior defensive lineman Haason Reddick (right), is projected to be a third- or fourth-round pick by CBS Sports.
BASKETBALL
HOJUN YU FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Senior running back Jahad Thomas runs for one of his two touchdowns during Friday’s 46-30 win against South Florida at Lincoln Financial Field.
Continued from Page 18
BRYANT last-second road win against Central Florida on Oct. 15. He led the Owls with five catches for 94 yards, including three straight on the final drive to set up senior quarterback Phillip Walker’s game-winning touchdown pass. Bryant played in the season-opener against Army West Point, but missed the next three games with a shoulder injury. Since returning to the field on Oct. 1 against Southern Methodist, he has 18 catches for 322 yards and a touchdown. He has increased his receiving yardage every game this season, culminating in his career-high performance on Friday. His previous career-high came against the University of Notre Dame last season when he caught six passes for 91 yards. Bryant is the first Temple receiver this season to have more than 100 receiving yards in a game. “I definitely felt like these past couple
Continued from Page 18
NFL make it to the NFL with going to Temple.’ People might have doubted that before. … Four guys from one class making it to the NFL, I think it’s huge for the program and the university.” Young has played in all seven of the Ravens’ games this season, and got his first start on Oct. 16 against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium, where he made a diving interception that circulated the internet. He made his second-straight start on Sunday against the Jets. Young made a season-high six tackles, including two against Anderson. He has 20 tackles and two interceptions already in his career and credits the Temple program for his quick transition. “The way they coached us, the way they taught us to study film, it helped prepare me,” Young said. Matakevich, who is affectionately called ‘Dirty Red’ in Pittsburgh, also said
games I’ve been playing to the level I’ve been playing in the offseason and I’m glad that I’m getting into that form as the season is going on,” Bryant said. After redshirting in 2014, Bryant played in all 14 games last year and finished as the team’s second-leading receiver behind Robby Anderson, now with the New York Jets. “I knew that Robby was a great player, but I knew that he was going to need someone to be a counterpart for him like a Batman, Robin type,” Bryant said. Bryant wouldn’t call himself the new “Batman” after Anderson’s graduation, but expressed gratitude for what Anderson taught him. “He’s someone I look up to,” Bryant said. “I’m glad that I was able to be a part of his life and I’m glad that he showed me what he did and we talk frequently, just about NFL, just about football, just how to run your routes, when to expect the ball from the quarterback, coverages, just everything, man. I love him.” Bryant said he noticed Anderson’s
passion for football last year and felt like he “needed to take that extra step” and be a leader for the younger players. After wearing No. 87 last season, Bryant earned the right to wear a single-digit number in August when his teammates voted him one of the toughest. After his injury, Bryant said he has gotten used to playing with extra padding on his shoulder. “He’s been hanging in there,” Walker said. “He gets angry when he doesn’t make the right route or he slips or something. You can see it in his face. It bothers him. He put a lot of his game on display [Friday] and he did his thing. He went out there, ran crisp routes, caught the ball really well and made some big catches.” “I think he’s going to continue to ascend, because he’s really starting to figure out how to be a good player, how to be a great teammate,” coach Matt Rhule said. “He’s really growing up in front of us.”
the standard to “do a little extra” set by coach Matt Rhule and his Temple coaching staff helped prepare him for the NFL. He plays on all four special teams units. While he’s seen limited action on defense in seven games, he filled in at linebacker and totaled nine total tackles against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 16. Anderson has seen significant action due to a depleted Jets receiving unit that lost Eric Decker for the season. The former Temple wide receiver has a catch in the team’s last five games and has started the last four contests for New York. Anderson had a season-high 41 receiving yards against Baltimore and added a 30-yard run. “When I first came into Temple in 2011, there was a flow of guys going to the NFL and making things happen,” Anderson said. “It did hit a little bit of a drought, but I feel like it’s back on the rise and me, Tyler and Tavon have really opened back up those doors and shed some light onto the program.” The group has stayed close to the
Owls’ program even after graduation. Young checks in with his former teammates whenever he can. Matakevich has watched all of Temple’s games this year. He stayed awake in the Steelers’ hotel room during the Owls’ Oct. 15 game against Central Florida watching senior quarterback Phillip Walker, who has adopted Matakevich’s old No. 8. He woke up his roommate when Walker tossed the game-winning touchdown. Anderson went to the Owls’ season opener with Jets’ teammate Muhammad Wilkerson, another Temple alumnus. He hopes to return to the team at some point this season to share his NFL experiences. “That’s my family forever,” Anderson said. “I want to talk to the team and teach them some things that this time last year I had no idea about and just give them a little insight.”
evan.easterling@temple.edu @Evan_Easterling
owen.mccue@temple.edu @Owen_McCue
Teams to host Cherry and White night on Thursday The men’s and women’s basketball programs will hold their annual Cherry and White night Thursday in the Liacouras Center. The new student sections, the Cherry Zone and the White Zone, will be debuted. There will be live music and performances from the Diamond Gems, pep band and cheerleaders. Students can also get free t-shirts and food and get a ticket to the football game against Cincinnati on Saturday. Attendees can also participate in games and contests, including the chance to win more than $10,000 in prizes. The free event starts at 7:15 p.m. The student entrance at 15th Street and Montgomery Avenue will open at 6:30 p.m. and the IBC Student Recreation Center entrance will open at 7 p.m. for the general public. Both teams have their first home games against Big 5 rival La Salle. The men face the Explorers on Nov. 11 in the Liacouras Center and the women have their home-opener on Nov. 14 in McGonigle Hall. -Evan Easterling
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Conference commisioner wants new TV deal American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco told reporters that realignment is “the business of college sports” before the football team’s win against South Florida on Friday. He is relieved that his conference will remain intact now that the Big 12 announced that it is no longer considering expansion. Aresco, who said the majority of the conference’s schools were considered for expansion, is looking to take advantage of the newfound momentum and negotiate a bigger television deal with ESPN. The current contract expires after the 2019 football season and 2019-20 basketball season. Several schools were intrigued by joining the Big 12, one of the Power 5 conferences, because the conference offered each school an additional $20-25 million per year in revenue. He believes The American deserves to be included in a new Power 6 group because teams in the conference have beaten Power 5 teams. Central Florida beat Baylor University in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl and Houston beat Florida State in last year’s Chik-fil-A Peach Bowl. In men’s and women’s basketball, six teams recorded 20-win seasons last year. Connecticut’s women have won four straight National Championships. The American has schools in several top television markets, including four in the Top 10. -Serenity Bishop sports@temple-news.com