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.

2015 Temple Owls football
The American East Division champion
American Athletic Championship Game, L 13–24 vs. Houston
Boca Raton Bowl, L 17–32 vs. Toledo
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Division	East Division
Record	10–4 (7–1 AAC)
Head coach	Matt Rhule (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Marcus Satterfield (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Phil Snow (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3[1]
Home stadium	Lincoln Financial Field
Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

2015 American Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Temple x		7	–	1					10	–	4
South Florida		6	–	2					8	–	5
Cincinnati		4	–	4					7	–	6
UConn		4	–	4					6	–	7
East Carolina		3	–	5					5	–	7
UCF		0	–	8					0	–	12
West Division
No. 8 Houston xy$		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 18 Navy x		7	–	1					11	–	2
Memphis		5	–	3					9	–	4
Tulsa		3	–	5					6	–	7
Tulane		1	–	7					3	–	9
SMU		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: Houston 24, Temple 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of December 31, 2015 Rankings from AP Poll

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

^[2]

Game summaries

Penn State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Nittany Lions	10	0	0	0	10
Owls	0	7	10	10	27

See also: 2015 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

This was the Owls' first victory over Penn State since 1941.^[3] The announced crowd at Lincoln Financial Field was 69,176 Saturday, a record for a Temple home game.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

At Cincinnati

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	3	7	21	3	34
Bearcats	0	6	6	14	26

See also: 2015 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

This was the Owls' first victory over Cincinnati since 1985.^[7]

At UMass

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

See also: 2015 UMass Minutemen football team

At Charlotte

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

See also: 2015 Charlotte 49ers football team

Tulane

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

See also: 2015 Tulane Green Wave football team

UCF

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

See also: 2015 UCF Knights football team

At East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Owls	3	7	0	14	24
Pirates	0	14	0	0	14

See also: 2015 East Carolina Pirates football team

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

See also: 2015 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

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

See also: 2015 SMU Mustangs football team

At South Florida

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

See also: 2015 South Florida Bulls football team

Memphis

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

See also: 2015 Memphis Tigers football team

UConn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	0	0	0	3	3
#25 Owls	7	3	10	7	27

See also: 2015 UConn Huskies football team

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

See also: 2015 Houston Cougars football team and 2015 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

Boca Raton Bowl vs. Toledo

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

See also: 2015 Toledo Rockets football team and 2015 Boca Raton Bowl

Awards and honors

National awards

• Defense

Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior ^[8]

• 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

^[9]

• Other notable NFL players

Haason Reddick, DL
P. J. Walker, QB

Rankings

Further information: 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	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									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	Ref
#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	[10]
#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	[10]
#9	Matt Ioannidis	DL	6-3	299 lbs			5.03	32	28.0 in	108.0 in	7.78	4.71	[10]

† 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

^[11]

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	Ref
#17	Brandon Shippen	WR	5-11	191 lbs	Dolphins	[12]
#19	Robby Anderson	WR	6-3	190 lbs	Jets	[13]
#75	Shahbaz Ahmed	OL	6-3	285 lbs	Falcons	[14]
#79	Kyle Friend	OL	6-2	305 lbs	Jets	[15]