Bearcats’ rally falls short

Kickoff return enables Owls to maintain control.

CINCINNATI — Temple kept its bowl hopes alive and made its senior class the most successful in school history.

Junior Frank Nutile threw for one touchdown and ran for other, Isaiah Wright had a 98-yard kickoff return and Temple kept its bowl hopes alive with a 35-24 win over Cincinnati on Friday night.

“We would rather die out there than let our seniors down,” Nutile said.

With two games left, the Owls need one more victory to become bowl-eligible. One more win and the senior class will be the best all-time.

“Our seniors are special. I’m lucky I got to be their coach,” first-year coach Geoff Collins said. “They’ve gone through a lot with this program. A lot of them had to wait their turn.”

The Owls (5-5, 3-3 American) held off an inspired second-half effort by the Bearcats (3-7, 1-5) to earn the victory.

Hayden Moore threw a 29-yard pass to Thomas Geddis and Mike Boone had 28and 21-yard runs on consecutive plays to make it a onescore game with 7:40 left in the third quarter, but Wright took the kickoff back 98 yards to separate the Owls from the Bearcats. Wright then threw a 2-point conversion pass to Nutile on a trick play.

“For the first time I told the guys I’m disappointed with the way we coached; disappointed with the way we prepared,” Cincinnati first-year coach Luke Fickell said. “It is baffling to me. The defense can play really well in the first half and have really big stops in tough situations. The offense doesn’t move the ball in the first half. In the second half it completely flips.

“We have to find a way to break through some of this stuff.”

Nutile completed 19 of 30 passes for 224 yards.

David Hood’s 1-yard run midway through the second quarter gave Temple a 13-0 halftime lead. Hood was Temple’s leading rusher with 89 yards on 19 carries.

Cincinnati had a 76-yard punt return called back for an illegal block in the back and fumbled to set up one of Aaron Bourmerhi’s two first-half field goals.

Hayden Moore completed 20 of 36 passes for Cincinnati and was the Bearcats’ leading rusher with 75 yards on 11 carries.