Bearcats Fall at Temple

PHILADELPHIA - The University of Cincinnati coaching staff knew it would be difficult to slow Temple's offense, but after the way quarterback Gunner Kiel played last week, they had every reason to believe they could score enough points to keep up with the Owls.

They didn't come close.

Temple was every bit as formidable as it was expected to be, rolling up 474 yards of offense, 275 on the ground, but the UC offense was punchless in the second half when it failed to produce a first down or complete a pass. The Bearcats went three-and-out on all four of their second-half possessions.

The result was a disheartening 34-13 loss for the Bearcats on Saturday before 29,763 fans at Lincoln Financial Field, their third loss in the last four games, leaving them with a 4-4 record overall, 1-4 in the American Athletic Conference. Temple, which shares first place with South Florida in the AAC East with a 4-1 record, is 6-3 overall.

"I thought if we could keep them between 400 and 500 yards we'd have a chance," said UC coach Tommy Tuberville, "but I didn't think that they would be able to shut our offense down like that in the second half. You've got to give credit to their defense."

The Bearcats were so ineffective on offense that Tuberville said after the game it was time for a change, not just in personnel or technique, but with substantial alterations to their offensive approach.

"Sometimes we might go a little bit conservative trying to protect the quarterback and get it down the field," Tuberville said. "We've got to get away from that. We've got to be more aggressive on offense. We've got to take the reins off, let our receivers run routes.

"We very seldom get five out on a route. We keep a back in to help protect. We can't do that anymore. We've got to be more aggressive in play calling, formations, things that can give you more big plays. We've got to really come together as an offensive staff and really look at what we're doing in terms of trying to get the ball to our outside receivers."

Kiel, who passed for 348 yards and four touchdowns last week against East Carolina in his first start of the season, thrived in a wide-open offense the past few years, minus a few interceptions and injuries, so you would think he'd be strongly in favor of a move to a more aggressive approach.

"He's our head coach," Kiel said of Tuberville. "We're gonna be there to support him. These tough losses I know a lot of fans come at him, but the guys still respect him on the team and we're gonna be there for our head coach. He's our leader and we're gonna do whatever he says. We've just got to stay positive."

In a sign of what was to come, UC went three-and-out on its first possession. Temple's Avery Ellis then blocked Sam Geraci's punt and the Owls took over on the UC 38-yard line. Aaron Boumahri kicked a 26-yard field goal and Temple had a 3-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

The Owls increased their lead to 10-0 on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Phillip Walker to Adonis Jennings with 1:58 left in the first quarter.

Mike Boone gave the Bearcats a lift with a career-long 60-yard kickoff return, the longest for the Bearcats since Ralph David Abernathy IV had a 90-yard return for a touchdown against Vanderbilt in the 2011 Liberty Bowl. Kiel's 4-yard touchdown pass to Devin Gray got UC on the board, but Josh Pasley's extra point attempt was no good, leaving the Owls with a 10-6 lead.

On Temple's next possession, Jahad Thomas ran 56 yards to the UC 26. Walker's 28-yard touchdown pass to Ventall Bryant gave Temple a 17-6 lead. The Bearcats cut the Temple lead to 17-13 on another Kiel touchdown pass to Gray, this time from 10 yards out, and that's where it stood at halftime.

At that point, there was no inkling that UC's offense was finished for the day, but that's exactly what happened.

"We just couldn't get things rolling," Kiel said.

With the offense unable to muster a first down, pressure grew on the UC defense to come up with stops, but it was unable to make the plays to get the Temple offense off the field. As a result, Temple had a huge advantage in time of possession - 40:23 to 19:37.

"No matter how long we have to stay on the field we still should be able to stop them," said UC safety Zach Edwards. "I think it was mental toughness. We just weren't tough enough. We weren't doing what we were coached to do."

On its second possession of the second half, Temple drove from its own 4-yard line to the UC five, where it had first-and-goal. The UC defense stiffened and on fourth and goal at the UC 9-yard line, Boumahri kicked a 27-yard field goal to increase the Owls' lead to 20-13 with 4:23 left in the third quarter.

The Bearcats failed to get a first down on their second straight possession and punted to the Owls, who took over on their own 33. Thomas ran 35 yards to the UC 32. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Ryquell Armstead ran for three yards and a touchdown to put Temple ahead 27-13.

After Armstead's touchdown, Temple tried a squib kick that UC was unable to handle, and Temple's Cequan Jefferson recovered at the UC 15. Four plays later, Armstead scored from six yards out to make it 34-13.

"They didn't onside kick it," Tuberville said. "We had had a couple of decent runbacks on kicks and they were keeping us from running the ball back. They were just kicking a little end-over-ender and we couldn't get on it. It was a good bounce for them, a bad bounce for us and they made a good play out of it."

Thomas, who blistered UC with 193 rushing yards and a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Temple's 34-26 victory last year, was a load again, gaining 152 yards on 17 carries. Walker was 12-of-19 for 199 yards and two touchdowns.

Kiel completed 15 of 27 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. The Bearcats were held to 67 rushing yards.

"We had over 50 yards rushing in the first half," Tuberville said. "In the second half, they played man coverage on us and put five, six seven in the box. They weren't gonna let us run the ball. They were gonna force us to throw it and we didn't make any throws or catches. Gunner didn't have a very good second half. Nothing worked in the second half on offense."

Things don't get any easier next week when the Bearcats play a non-conference game against BYU at Nippert. The Bearcats must win at least two of their last four games to become bowl eligible.

"It's still a positive outcome that can come of this season," Edwards said. "We're not holding our heads down at all. Our heads are still high."

Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January, 2015.