The 2015 Temple Owls football team represented

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

in the

2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 3, 2015 and ended on D ...

. The Owls were led by third-year head coach

Matt Rhule Matthew Kenneth Rhule (born January 31, 1975) is an American football coach and former player, who is the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was previously the head coach at Temple University, Baylor University, and for the Carolina Pant ...

and played their home games at

Lincoln Financial Field Lincoln Financial Field is an American football stadium located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It serves as the home stadium of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) and the Temple Owls football team of Temple University. ...

. They were members of the East Division of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. 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 Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. They were invited to the

Boca Raton Bowl The Boca Raton Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Boca Raton, Florida, since December 2014 on the campus of Fl ...

where they lost to Toledo. The season was highlighted by the first win against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

since 1941, their first ever 7–0 start, and their first

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

ranking since 1979, and is widely considered the greatest season in program history.

Schedule

:Schedule Source:

Game summaries

Penn State

This was the Owls' first victory over Penn State since 1941. The announced crowd at

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 Christian Blaize Hackenberg (born February 14, 1995) is a former American football quarterback and current quarterbacks coach for Winslow Township High School. He played college football at Penn State, and was drafted by the New York Jets in the ...

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 The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

, as the Owls snapped a 31-game losing streak in the series to the Nittany Lions.

at Cincinnati

This was the Owls' first victory over Cincinnati since 1985.

at UMass

at Charlotte

Tulane

UCF

at East Carolina

This was the first game, and win, for a nationally ranked Owls team since 1979.

Notre Dame

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

at South Florida

Memphis

UConn

This win sealed the Owl's berth in the inaugural AAC Championship, their second division title in team history.

The American Championship vs. Houston

Boca Raton Bowl vs. Toledo

Awards and honors

National Awards

*Defense Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior *

Chuck Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ame ...

- Winner *

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

- Winner *

Lott IMPACT Trophy The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize the ...

- Finalist *

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombar ...

- Semi-Finalist

All Americans

*Consensus All-American Tyler Matakevich - LB - Senior *Phil Steele All American Team

Dion Dawkins Dion Dawkins (born April 26, 1994) is an American football offensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Temple. Early years Dawkins attended Rahway High School in Rahway, New Jersey ...

- 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 Matthew Ioannidis ( ; born January 11, 1994) is an American football defensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Temple and was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the fifth r ...

, DL
Eric Lofton, OL
Tyler Matakevich, LB
Nate D. Smith, DL

Jahad Thomas Jahad Thomas (born November 6, 1995) is a former American professional running back. He played college football at Temple University, where he earned second-team All-American Athletic Conference honors in 2016. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboy ...

, RB
Alex Wells, FS *Second Team

, OL

Sean Chandler Sean Chandler (born April 27, 1996) is an American football safety for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Temple and signed with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2018. Ear ...

, DB *Honorable Mention

Haason Reddick Haason Samir Reddick (born September 22, 1994) is an American football outside linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Temple, and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fi ...

, DL

Rankings

NFL Players

NFL Draft Combine

Three Temple players were invited to participate in the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine. † Top performer

2016 NFL Draft

Following the season, the following members of the Temple football team were selected in the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

Undrafted Free Agents

In addition to the draft selections above, the following Temple players signed NFL contracts after the draft.

References

{{Temple Owls football navbox

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Temple Owls football seasons

Temple Owls football The Temple Owls football team represents Temple University in the sport of college football. The Temple Owls compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American). They play thei ...