Philadelphia, PA— Edward Saydee ran for 265 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yarder to start the second half, and Temple (3-6, 1-4) annihilated South Florida (1-8, 0-5) , 54-28 Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.
South Florida trailed 16-14 at the half after taking an early 7-0 lead, the Owls scored 16-straight points and then closed the half with a 25-second touchdown drive to trim the deficit by two. Temple opened the second half with three long touchdown runs and a combined 21 points scored from both team in the first four minutes, but the owls pulled away, outscoring USF 38-14 in the last 30 minutes of the contest.
Temple, who led by two at the break 16-14, put up 50 points in a game for the first time since 2019.
E.J. Warner completed 27 of 36 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns for the Owls, who had lost four straight conference games, three of them on the road.
The Bulls offense produced a season-best 471 yards with sophomore Katravis Marsh making his fourth career start, but also turned the ball over three times.
Saydee, who had 104 yards on 14 carries in the first half, he opened the third quarter with his 75-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage and added scoring runs of 40 and 27 yards. He carried the Owls all game long.
CamBrian Battie ran for his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season with 129 yards and moved closer to a 1,000-yard rushing season with 718 rushing yards on the year. Xavier Weaver recorded his third 100-yard receiving game, catching six passes for a career-best 119 yards, as he continued his move up the USF career receiving charts moving into fourth in career receiving yards (1,675) and sixth in career receptions (112).
The Owls extended its halftime lead when Saydee went 75 yards on the Owls’ first play of the second half to make it 23-14.
USF responded quickly on its third play of the second half, when Jimmy Horn bolted for 55 yards on a handoff for a touchdown that pulled the Bulls back within two, 23-21. It marked Horn’s first career rushing touchdown and a career-long run.
Temple went right back to Saydee, he broke a tackle in the backfield and sprinted 40-yards for a touchdown that capped a 75-yard drive and put the Owls up 30-21 with 11:08 to play in the third.
The two teams went back and forth but the difference of the game, the Owls were able to make crucial stops in the red zones when they needed to and USF defense could not.
KEY STATS
• USF’s 471 yards of offense marked a season-high and fifth game over 400 yards on the year.
• Temple’s 621 yards of offense marked a season high for the Owls and the most yards USF has given up since Houston posted 646 yards in 2021.
• Temple’s Edward Saydee ran for 265 yards on 24 carries (11 ypc), marking the most yards rushing for an opponent vs. USF since Temple’s Ryquell Armstead ran for 210 yards in 2016.
den Price kicked field goals from 32, 34, 32 and 35 yards for Temple.
Up Next:
Temple will travel to Texas to play the Houston Cougars it is a 3 P.M. start time.
