The second annual Marmot Boca Raton Bowl features the Toledo Rockets versus the Temple Owls. There were plenty of points in the inaugural game last year, as The Thundering Heard from Marshall ran away with the game 52-23 over Northern Illinois. Both Temple and Toledo got off to 7-0 starts before mediocre finishes to their seasons. Both will be hoping to put the slow finish behind them and come away with a win in beautiful Boca Raton. This will be ex-offensive coordinator Jason Candle’s first game as the head coach for the Rockets. Coach Matt Cambell took his show over Iowa State effective immediately.
Bowl: Boca Raton Bowl
Teams: Temple Owls vs Toledo Rockets
Date/Time: December 22, 2015 – 7PM EST on ESPN
Location: Florida Atlantic Stadium, Boca Raton, FL
Vegas Line/Total: Temple -2 / O/U 51
Written by: Erik the Hun
10 – 3 Record – 9 – 4 Vs Spread Over – Under: 5 – 8Season Results 12/05/15 @ Houston L 13-24 L 5.5 U 52.5 |
9 – 2 Record – Vs Spread Over – Under:Season Results 11/27/15 Western Michigan L 30-35 L -7 O 58.5 |
December 17, 2011 – New Mexico Bowl – Temple 37 – 15 Wyoming December 29, 2009 EagleBank Bowl – Temple 21 – 30 UCLA December 15, 1979 – Garden State Bowl – Temple 28 – 17 California January 1, 1935 – Sugar Bowl – Temple 14 – 20 Tulane |
December 21, 2005 – GMAC Bowl – Toledo 45 – 13 UTEP December 26, 2010 – Little Caesars Pizza Bowl – Toledo 32 – 34 FLA Int’l December 28, 2011 – Military Bowl – Toledo 42 – 41 Air Force December 15, 2012 – Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Toledo 15 – 41 Utah State January 4, 2015 – GoDaddy Bowl – Toledo 63 – 44 Arkansas State |
Temple Outlook:
Temple played Notre Dame very close in week 8, before relenting to the more talented Irish. The Owls capped the season off with a loss to Houston in the AAC Championship game on December 5th to go 10-3 on the year and 7-1 in their conference. Until those shortfalls happened, Temple was an early pick for a representative to a New Year’s Eve bowl from a non-power five conference, with impressive wins over Penn State and Memphis. The body of work was good enough for Coach Matt Rhule to sign a six-year extension.
The signal caller behind center, P.J. Walker, finished out the 2015 campaign with solid numbers. He completed 222 balls for a respectable 2736 yards and tossed 19 touchdowns with only seven hiccups. He is athletic enough to contribute to the ground attack as well. Though his numbers were not stellar, he did carry the rock 70 times for two scores.
Jahad Thomas, Temples go to ground and pound weapon, was steady all year, and his numbers reflect that. Thomas finished off the year with 268 carries that were good for 1257 yards, but more importantly, he racked up 17 touchdowns for the Owls.
Although Temple would prefer to keep the chains moving in smaller chunks, when they did let Walker loose, his go to guy was senior Robby Anderson. The 6’3 220 pound receiver used his size and speed to accumulate 64 catches for 873 yards and 7 scores.
The Defense is where the Temple Owls excelled. They ranked in the top 20 in FBS in total yards (329.2, 17th), rushing yards (126.3, 20th), and points allowed (19.2, 16th). This rock solid group was lead by Tyler Matakevich, this years winner of the Bronco Nagurski Award for college’s top defensive player. The fiery red head compiled over 100 tackles (126), for his fourth straight year. He also had 4.5 sacks, and the five interceptions, coming from the line backer position, that is a sign of just how athletic this linebacker is. After this next start, he will hold the all time record at Owl Nation for consecutive games started (36).
Toledo Outlook:
The Rockets had a very similar season as the Owls. They jumped out to a quick 7-0 start, but went 2-2 down the stretch and fell short of the MAC Conference Championship after their loss to Western Michigan. Toledo did build a resume’ in the early part of the year by upsetting Arkansas on the road and then following that up with home wins in its next two games over Iowa State and Arkansas State. Jason Candle will need to tap into that squad to beat a scrappy Temple outfit.
The Rockets offense was extremely balanced throughout the season. QB Phillip Ely threw for 2680 yards and 21 touchdowns with only 10 INTs. Not known for his dual threat, Phillip hung in the pocket and completed some clutch passes from start to finish.
Keeping with the balanced theme, Toledo fielded three backs that all found pay dirt. Kareem Hunt led the way with 163 carries for 894 yards and 10 scores, and Terry Swanson and Damion James-Moore together had 212 carries for a combined 1274 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Toledo spread the ball around to various receivers throughout the year. Eight caught at least ten balls and eight recorded at least one touchdown. The three highlighting this group are, sophomore Cody Thompson (33-706 yards and 5 TDs), senior Alonzo Russell (33-586 yards and 5 TDs) and junior Corey Jones (52-585 yards and 4 TDs).
Toledo again mirrors Temple with its consistent defensive play. Ten of Eleven starters were back this year, so expectations were raised, and they answered. They were huge against the run, holding opponents to 118.2 yards a game on the ground which was good for 14th in the country, and could be very stingy, allowing only 21 points a game in 2015. The leadership of this football team lies with this group.
Matchup Analysis & Prediction
Match-Up Analysis:
With both teams coming in off loses, expect these two teams to want to wipe that bad taste out of their mouths from rocky finishes to successful seasons. It really is amazing how these two teams mimic each other in their numbers and their style of play. We would not consider either team to be outstanding, but they are effective on the offensive side of the ball, while each play solid run stop defense, and hold teams to the minimum on the score board. This should be a tightly contested bowl game, between two well coached, and complete football teams, as they compete for the Boca Raton Bowl title.
Prediction:
To get further analysis from Ej the Rainmaker and Erik the Hun, check out our audio preview of the Boca Raton Bowl using the audio file below…
