# 2016 Temple Owls football team

The 2016 Temple Owls football team represented Temple University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Owls were led by fourth-year head coach Matt Rhule and played their home games at Lincoln Financial Field. They were members of the East Division of the American Athletic Conference.
On December 6, Rhule resigned to become the head coach at Baylor. Special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Ed Foley led the Owls in the Military Bowl.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 7:00 p.m. | Army* | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | CBSSN | L 13–28 | 34,005 |
| September 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Stony Brook* | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPN3 | W 38–0 | 22,296 |
| September 17 | 12:00 p.m. | at Penn State* | | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | BTN | L 27–34 | 100,420 |
| September 24 | 12:00 p.m. | Charlotte* | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ASN | W 48–20 | 27,786 |
| October 1 | 12:00 p.m. | SMU | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPNews | W 45–20 | 22,401 |
| October 6 | 8:00 p.m. | at Memphis | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPN | L 27–34 | 34,743 |
| October 15 | 7:30 p.m. | at UCF | | Bright House Networks StadiumOrlando, FL | ESPNU | W 26–25 | 38,299 |
| October 21 | 7:00 p.m. | South Florida | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPN | W 46–30 | 25,950 |
| October 29 | 3:30 p.m. | Cincinnati | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | CBSSN | W 34–13 | 29,763 |
| November 4 | 7:00 p.m. | at UConn | | Rentschler FieldEast Hartford, CT | ESPN2 | W 21–0 | 22,316 |
| November 19 | 3:30 p.m. | at Tulane | | Yulman StadiumNew Orleans, LA | ASN | W 31–0 | 16,497 |
| November 26 | 7:30 p.m. | East Carolina | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPNews | W 37–10 | 28,373 |
| December 3 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 19 Navy | | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD (American Athletic Conference Championship Game) | ABC | W 34–10 | 22,815 |
| December 27 | 3:30 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest* | No. 24 | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD (Military Bowl) | ESPN | L 26–34 | 26,656 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 1 released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Army

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Black Knights | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Owls | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |

### Stony Brook

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Seawolves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Owls | 14 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 38 |

### At Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
| Nittany Lions | 14 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 34 |

### Charlotte

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
| Owls | 3 | 28 | 14 | 3 | 48 |

### SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 20 |
| Owls | 21 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 45 |

### At Memphis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 6 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 27 |
| Tigers | 0 | 3 | 17 | 14 | 34 |

### At UCF

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 26 |
| Knights | 11 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 25 |

### South Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulls | 7 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 30 |
| Owls | 3 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 46 |

### Cincinnati

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bearcats | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Owls | 10 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 34 |

### At UConn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Huskies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### At Tulane

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 7 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 31 |
| Green Wave | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### East Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Owls | 7 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 37 |

### At Navy–American Athletic Championship Game

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 14 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 34 |
| #20 Midshipmen | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
The Owls dominated a Navy Midshipmen football offense that was ranked in the top 20 in the country, coming off a 75-point offensive outburst the week before to win the first major conference title in Temple history. Temple sent one of its largest away crowds ever, with nearly half the fans in attendance supporting the Owls. Temple was ranked in all three major polls following the game and were invited to the Military Bowl vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons football on December 27, 2016.

### Wake Forest–Military Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #23 Owls | 7 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 26 |
| Demon Deacons | 14 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 34 |

## Awards and honors
### American Athletic Conference All-Conference Team

* First Team
Dion Dawkins, OT Haason Reddick, DL
* Second Team
Jahad Thomas, RB Praise Martin-Oguike, DL Avery Williams, LB Sean Chandler, S Aaron Boumerhi, K
* Honorable Mention
Colin Thompson, TE Stephaun Marshall, LB

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | 23 | RV |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | 24 | RV |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | 24 | Not released |

## NFL players
### NFL Draft Combine

Four Temple players were invited to participate in the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine.
| # | Name | POS | HT | WT | Arms | Hands | 40 | Bench Press | Vert Jump | Broad Jump | 3 Cone Drill | 20-yd Shuttle |
| #5 | Jahad Thomas | RB | 5-10 | 190 lbs | 30 1/8 | 9 | 4.62 | 11 | 32.0 in | 116.0 | | |
| #7 | Haason Reddick | LB | 6-1 | 237 lbs | 32 3/4 | 10 1/8 | 4.52† | 24 | 36.5 in† | 133.0 in† | 7.01 | 4.37 |
| #15 | Nate Hairston | CB | 6-0 | 196 lbs | 31 | 9 1/2 | 4.52 | 14 | 35.5 in | 118.0 in | | |
| #66 | Dion Dawkins | OL | 6-4 | 314 lbs | 35 | 9 7/8 | 5.11 | 26 | 26.0 in | 106.0 in | 7.30† | 4.78 |
† Top performer

### 2017 NFL Draft

Following the season, the following members of the Temple football team were selected in the 2017 NFL draft.
| # | Player | Round | Pick | Position | NFL Club |
| #7 | Haason Reddick | 1 | 13 | Linebacker | Arizona Cardinals |
| #66 | Dion Dawkins | 2 | 63 | Offensive lineman | Buffalo Bills |
| #15 | Nate Hairston | 5 | 158 | Cornerback | Indianapolis Colts |

### Undrafted free agents

In addition to the draft selections above, the following Temple players signed NFL contracts after the draft.
| # | Name | POS | HT | WT | NFL Club |
| #2 | Avery Williams | LB | 5-10 | 224 lbs | Houston Texans |
| #5 | Jahad Thomas | RB | 5-10 | 188 lbs | Dallas Cowboys |
| #8 | Phillip Walker | QB | 5-11 | 205 lbs | Indianapolis Colts |
| #11 | Romond Deloatch | TE | 6-4 | 245 lbs | New York Giants |
| #50 | Praise Martin-Oguike | DL | 6-1 | 255 lbs | Miami Dolphins |
| #86 | Colin Thompson | TE | 6-4 | 255 lbs | New York Giants |