#WETHET 2015 MARMOT BOCA RATON BOWL 2015 Marmot Boca Raton Bowl #24 Temple Owls (10-3, 7-1 American) Toledo Rockets (9-2, 6-2 MAC) Tuesday, December 22 – 7:00 p.m. FAU Stadium – Boca Raton, Fla. Game: This is the second annual Boca Raton Bowl Date: Tuesday, December 22, 2015 Site: FAU Stadium (30,000) in Boca Raton, Fla. Teams: Temple (10-3, 7-1 American) vs. Toledo (9-2, 6-2 MAC) Kickoff:7:00 p.m. EST Television: The Marmot Boca Raton Bowl will be aired nationally by ESPN. Allen Bestwick (play-by-play), Dan Hawkins (ana- lyst) and Tiffany Greene (sidelines) will call the game. Radio: The Owls radio broadcast will air on 1210 WPHT with Harry Donohue (play-by-play), Paul Palmer (analyst) and Harry Mayes (sidelines). Series History: Toledo holds a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series against Temple. Bowl History: This is Temple’s fifth bowl appearance. The Owls have been in the 1935 Sugar Bowl (20-14 loss to Tulane), 1979 Garden State Bowl (28-17 win over California), 2009 Eagle Bank Bowl (30-21 loss to UCLA), and 2011 Gildan New Mexico Bowl (37-15 win over Wyoming) Contact Information Table of Contents Temple Athletic Communications ....................................................215-204-0876 Media Information..........................2 Rich Burg (Assistant AD/Football Contact) ...............................215-356-3952 (cell) Bowl Notes.................................3-11 .........................................................................................rich.burg@temple.edu Depth Chart ..................................12 Shanna Moser (Communications Assistant).............................267-664-0112 (cell) Rosters ....................................13-14 .................................................................................shanna.moser@temple.edu 2015 Statistics.........................15-28 Larry Dougherty (Sr. Associate AD/Communications) ...............215-651-1822 (cell) Game Recaps...........................29-41 .............................................................................. [email protected] Head Coach Matt Rhule ............43-45 TEMPLE HEADQUARTERS in BOCA RATON Coaches & Staff .......................42-58 Marmot Boca Raton Bowl Headquarters Player Bios ............................59-108 PGA National Resort & Spa ..............................................................561-227-2517 Bowl History & Records.........109-114 400 Avenue of the Champions .............................Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. 33418 Feature Clips.........................115-128 MARMOT BOCA RATON BOwL MEDiA CONTACT Rachel Rodriguez (Communications Assistant).................................954-254-5139 Bowl Guide Credits ................................................................................rrodriguez@orangebowl.org Temple’s 2015 Marmot Boca Raton Bowl Guide was produced by the Tem- MEDiA HOTEL/MEDiA HEADQUARTERS ple Athetic Communications Depart- Hotel: Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center.......................................561-392-4600 ment. Written and edited by Rich Burg, 5150 Town Center Circle.......................................................Boca Raton, FL 33486 Marco Cerino, Lauren Ferrett, and Headquarters /Work Room:..................................................... Glades Boardroom Shanna Moser. Cover design by Kelli Hours of Operation: Sheesley. December 19—December 21: ..................................................................24 hours December 22:..............................................................................7:00am-5:00pm Photos by Joe Labolito, Betsy Manning, and Ben Solomon. All team and bowl materials are available in the Headquarters, as well as daily practice reports, schedule updates, notes and quotes. As a complimentary service to our guests, information from our local tourism partners in Palm Beach County are made available in the Media Headquarters. 2015 TEMPLE FOOTBALL BOWL GUIDE OWLSPORTS.COM 1 2015 TEMPLE FOOTBALL BOWL GUIDE #WETHET Schedule of Events for 2015 Marmot Boca Raton Bowl Game All times listed in Eastern Time and subject to change Thursday, December 17 TBA Airport ..............................................................................Team Arrival Upon Arrival Airport ..............................................................................Media Availability TBA PGA National Resort and Spa .............................................Team Arrival Friday, December 18 TBA Oxbridge Academy ............................................................Practice 5:00pm Revolutions, CityPlace.......................................................Team Welcome Party Saturday, December 19 TBA Oxbridge Academy ............................................................Practice 3:00pm Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa ......Team Beach Party Sunday, December 20 TBA Oxbridge Academy ............................................................Practice 11:00am West Palm Beach VA Medical Center...................................Hospital Visit 7:30-9:30pm Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center – Palms I & II .........................................................................................Media Reception Monday, December 21 TBA Oxbridge Academy ............................................................Practice 10:00am Palm Beach County Convention Center ...............................Mandatory Pregame Meeting 10:00am Lion Country Safari............................................................Family Day 12:00–1:00pm Palm Beach County Convention Center ..............................Kickoff Luncheon 1:45–2:45pm Palm Beach County Convention Center ...............................Joint Teams Press Conference 6:00-8:00pm CityPlace...........................................................................Team Pep Rally Tuesday, December 22 3:00–7:00pm FAU Stadium .....................................................................Ford Fan Fest and Oh Boy Sports Midway 7:00pm FAU Stadium .....................................................................Marmot Boca Raton Bowl Game Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Fla. OWLSPORTS.COM 2015 MARMOT BOCA RATON 2 #WETHET 2015 TEMPLE FOOTBALL GAME NOTES 2015 Marmot Boca Raton Bowl The spotlight shined bright on the 2015 Temple Owls who played in 12 nationally televised games and eight prime time contests. ESPN’s The #24 Temple Owls (10-3) will meet the Toledo Rockets (9-2) in the College GameDay came to Philadelphia for a showdown of ranked Marmot Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday, December 22, 2015. The game teams when the #22 Owls hosted the #9 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. will be held at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla., and will Notes Bowl air on ESPN with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. Accolades were numerous as a conference-high seven players earned first team American Athletic Conference honors, with a total of 10 Temple, bowl eligible for the fifth time in seven seasons, will play in players garnering recognition. Senior linebacker Tyler Matakevich its first bowl game since a 37-15 win over Wyoming in the 2011 Gildan was the conference defensive player of the year, the 2015 Bronko New Mexico Bowl. The 2015 Owls won the American Athletic Confer- Nagurski Award winner, and is also a finalist for the Bednarik, Lott ence East Division, copiling a 7-1 conference mark, but fell 24-13, to IMPACT, and Senior CLASS awards. #17 Houston in the inaugural American Championship Game. Toledo spent five weeks in the Top 25 this season, reaching a top- “I couldn’t be prouder of this team.” said head coach Matt Rhule. ranking of #19. They started the season with an impressive victory “With everything they have been through, our players have earned over #18 Arkansas, 16-12, and ran their record to 7-0 before a five- the right to play in an outstanding bowl game against a tremendous point loss to Northern Illinois. However, at 9-1 with a spot in the MAC opponent.” Championship game on the line, the Rockets lost, 35-30, to Western Michigan. Following that game, head coach Matt Campbell resigned In just his third season, Rhule brought Temple to new heights in the to take the head coaching job at Iowa State and associate head 2015 campaign. The Owls’ 10 wins tied for the most in school history, coach/offensive coordinator Jason Candle was promoted to head a 7-0 start was the program’s best ever, and a signature opening day coach. The Rockets will be playing in their fifth bowl in the last six win against Penn State was the first over the in-state rivals in 74 years. years. Temple was ranked in the Top 25 for a total of seven weeks, in- cluding a stretch of four straight – a first for the Temple football pro- gram Temple Bowl History Date Bowl W/L Opponent PF PA Coach Jan. 1, 1935 Sugar Bowl L Tulane 14 20 Pop Warner Dec. 15, 1979 Garden State Bowl W California 28 17 Wayne Hardin Dec. 29, 2009 EagleBank Bowl L UCLA 21 30 Al Golden Dec. 11, 2011 New Mexico Bowl W Wyoming 37 15 Steve Addazio Dec. 22, 2015 Boca Raton Bowl Toledo Matt Rhule Total 5 bowl games 2–2 110 82 In the past two seasons, Temple Football has….. 2015 STATISTICAL COMPARISON •Beaten an SEC team (Vanderbilt) for the first time in 76 years TEMPLE (10-3, 7-1)...................Stats .............TOLEDO (9-2, 6-2) (Florida in 1938) Avg.(NCAA/Conf.)........................Category.........................(NCAA/Conf.)Avg. •Posted the largest margin of victory in 40 seasons – a 59-0 369.2 (94/9)........................Total Offense .........................(29/3) 463.3 shutout over Delaware State 153.6