# 2015 Temple Owls football team

The 2015 Temple Owls football team represented Temple University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Owls were led by third-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. They finished the season 10–4, 7–1 in American Athletic play to finish as champions of the East Division. They represented the East Division in the American Athletic Championship Game where they lost to Houston. They were invited to the Boca Raton Bowl where they lost to Toledo.
The season was highlighted by the first win against Penn State since 1941, their first ever 7–0 start, and their first AP Poll and Coaches Poll ranking since 1979, and is widely considered the greatest season in program history.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 3:30 p.m. | Penn State* | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPN | W 27–10 | 69,176 |
| September 12 | 8:00 p.m. | at Cincinnati | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | ESPNews | W 34–26 | 38,112 |
| September 19 | 3:00 p.m. | at UMass* | | Gillette StadiumFoxborough, MA | ESPN3 | W 25–23 | 10,141 |
| October 2 | 7:00 p.m. | at Charlotte* | | Jerry Richardson StadiumCharlotte, NC | CBSSN | W 37–3 | 13,105 |
| October 10 | 12:00 p.m. | Tulane | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPNU | W 49–10 | 35,179 |
| October 17 | 7:30 p.m. | UCF | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | CBSSN | W 30–16 | 31,372 |
| October 22 | 7:00 p.m. | at East Carolina | No. 22 | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPN2 | W 24–14 | 39,417 |
| October 31 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 9 Notre Dame* | No. 21 | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA (College GameDay) | ABC | L 20–24 | 69,280 |
| November 6 | 8:00 p.m. | at SMU | No. 22 | Gerald J. Ford StadiumDallas, TX | ESPN2 | W 60–40 | 17,232 |
| November 14 | 7:00 p.m. | at South Florida | No. 22 | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | CBSSN | L 23–44 | 28,393 |
| November 21 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 21 Memphis | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPNU | W 31–12 | 31,708 |
| November 28 | 7:00 p.m. | UConn | No. 25 | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPNU | W 27–3 | 28,236 |
| December 5 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 19 Houston | No. 22 | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX (American Athletic Conference Championship Game) | ABC | L 13–24 | 35,721 |
| December 22 | 7:00 p.m. | vs. Toledo* | No. 24 | FAU StadiumBoca Raton, FL (Boca Raton Bowl) | ESPN | L 17–32 | 25,908 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 3 released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nittany Lions | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Owls | 0 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 27 |
This was the Owls' first victory over Penn State since 1941. The announced crowd at Lincoln Financial Field was 69,176 Saturday, a record for a Temple home game. After the Nittany Lions scored 10 points in the first quarter, Temple responded with 27 unanswered points. Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg was sacked 10 times, with Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich recording three sacks. This game was Temple's first victory over a Big Ten team since a 1990 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers, as the Owls snapped a 31-game losing streak in the series to the Nittany Lions.

### At Cincinnati

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 3 | 7 | 21 | 3 | 34 |
| Bearcats | 0 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 26 |
This was the Owls' first victory over Cincinnati since 1985.

### At UMass

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 7 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 25 |
| Minutemen | 0 | 17 | 0 | 6 | 23 |

### At Charlotte

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 3 | 7 | 20 | 7 | 37 |
| 49ers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

### Tulane

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Green Wave | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Owls | 7 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 49 |

### UCF

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Knights | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
| Owls | 7 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 30 |

### At East Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #22 Owls | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
| Pirates | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
This was the first game, and win, for a nationally ranked Owls team since 1979.

### Notre Dame

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #9 Fighting Irish | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
| #21 Owls | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
This was the first time ESPN's College GameDay visited a Temple home game. Set up at Independence Mall, the broadcast attracted more than 10,000 fans.

### At SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #23 Owls | 14 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 60 |
| Mustangs | 0 | 17 | 7 | 16 | 40 |

### At South Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #21 Owls | 7 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 23 |
| Bulls | 7 | 24 | 3 | 10 | 44 |

### Memphis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| Owls | 0 | 14 | 0 | 17 | 31 |

### UConn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Huskies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| #25 Owls | 7 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 27 |
This win sealed the Owl's berth in the inaugural AAC Championship, their second division title in team history.

### The American Championship vs. Houston

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #20 Owls | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| #17 Cougars | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 |

### Boca Raton Bowl vs. Toledo

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #24 Owls | 3 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 17 |
| Rockets | 0 | 12 | 0 | 20 | 32 |

## Awards and honors
### National awards

* Defense
Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior
* Chuck Bednarik Award - Winner
* Bronko Nagurski Trophy - Winner
* Lott IMPACT Trophy - Finalist
* Lombardi Award - Semi-Finalist

### All Americans

* Consensus All-American
Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior
* Phil Steele All American Team
Dion Dawkins - OL - Junior - 4th Team

### Conference awards

* Defense
Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior
* American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year - Winner

#### American Athletic Conference All-Conference Team

* First Team
Kyle Friend, C Matt Ioannidis, DL Eric Lofton, OL Tyler Matakevich, LB Nate D. Smith, DL Jahad Thomas, RB Alex Wells, FS
* Second Team
Dion Dawkins, OL Sean Chandler, DB
* Other notable NFL players
Haason Reddick, DL P. J. Walker, QB

## 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 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 21 | 23 | 21 | RV | 25 | 20 | 24 | RV |
| Coaches | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 22 | 23 | 21 | RV | 24 | 21 | 24 | RV |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 22 | 22 | — | 25 | 22 | 24 | Not released |

## NFL Players
### NFL Draft Combine

Three Temple players were invited to participate in the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine.
| # | Name | POS | HT | WT | Arms | Hands | 40 | Bench Press | Vert Jump | Broad Jump | 3 Cone Drill | 20-yd Shuttle |
| #1 | Tavon Young | CB | 5-9 | 183 lbs | 30 5/8 | 9 1/8 | 4.46 | 9 | 34.5 in | 118 in | 6.80 | 3.93 |
| #8 | Tyler Matakevich | LB | 6-0 | 238 lbs | 31 1/4 | 9 1/2 | 4.81 | 22 | 31.0 in | 112 in | 7.19 | 4.50 |
| #9 | Matt Ioannidis | DL | 6-3 | 299 lbs | | | 5.03 | 32 | 28.0 in | 108.0 in | 7.78 | 4.71 |
† Top performer

### 2016 NFL Draft

Following the season, the following members of the Temple football team were selected in the 2016 NFL draft.
| # | Player | Round | Pick | Position | NFL Club |
| #1 | Tavon Young | 4 | 104 | CB | Baltimore Ravens |
| #9 | Matt Ioannidis | 5 | 152 | DL | Washington Redskins |
| #8 | Tyler Matakevich | 7 | 246 | LB | Pittsburgh Steelers |

### 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 |
| #17 | Brandon Shippen | WR | 5-11 | 191 lbs | Dolphins |
| #19 | Robby Anderson | WR | 6-3 | 190 lbs | Jets |
| #75 | Shahbaz Ahmed | OL | 6-3 | 285 lbs | Falcons |
| #79 | Kyle Friend | OL | 6-2 | 305 lbs | Jets |