When the injury report for the Temple Owls said star running back Bernard Price was not going to play against Army, the odds stacked up slightly in favor of the Black Knights. That was until Matt Brown took the field. Brown ran for 226 yards on just 28 carries and four scores leading the Owls to a second half comeback over Army in a 42-35 victory on Homecoming day at West Point.
“Matt’s proven himself in big games and big environments,” said Temple Head Coach Al Golden. “He may be our finest competitor , and he made a lot of guys miss.”
The 5’5” 170 pound sophomore used his agility and vision to tear apart the Cadet defense rushing for 108 yards in the first quarter. Army was able to stifle the running attack in the second frame giving up just seven yards on the ground taking a 21-13 lead into the halftime break.
Army (3-2) scored again in the third to take a 15 point advantage before a stout Temple defense and Matt Brown’s running contributed to 29 unanswered points to take a 42-28 lead. The Owls (4-1) put up 240 yards of total offense in the second half en route to the victory.
“They did a nice job of getting him started,” said Army head man Rich Ellerson after the loss. They had enough space and, in that open field tackling drill, he won way too many reps.
The Cadets did have a solid outing from sophomore quarterback Trent Steelman who ran for 65 yards on 19 carries and four scores while throwing 124 yards (9 of 16 passing) and another touchdown. Steelman has been directly responsible for seven straight Army touchdowns dating back to last week’s victory at Duke.
“In an option offense, the quarterback is in the eye of the storm,” noted Ellerson on his second year starter. “In a situation like that where it’s close, and you give him a chance to check, he’ll generally call his own number.”
Temple was arguably the most talented team on the schedule for Army to this point in the season and a good barometer of how Rich Ellerson’s second season at West Point would go. Army has now lost three straight against their MAC opponent. They last defeated Temple in 2007 at Michie Stadium 37-21.
“If you’re going to beat a team like Temple, you have to be hitting on all cylinders,” said Ellerson.
Army will be away from the friendly confines of the Academy for the next two weeks traveling first to Louisiana to take on Tulane and then hosting Big East opponent Rutgers at the New Meadowlands Stadium on October 16th. The Black Knights will return home on October 30th against VMI at noon.
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