Nov. 24, 2007

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KALAMAZOO, Mich. -Temple football saw its dream of a school-record fifth conference win melt away as the Owls fell in the season finale, 16-3, at Western Michigan before a crowd of 8,662 at Waldo Stadium on a cold and blustery Saturday afternoon.

Temple concluded its second season under head coach Al Golden with a 4-8 overall record and a 4-4 league record during its inaugural season of Mid-American Conference.

It took a while for the teams to get started. The Broncos registered the first down of the game on the sixth series of the play.

WMU got on the scoreboard first with a five-yard pass from QB Tim Hiller to TE Branden Ledbetter. With the score, Ledbetter became the Broncos' all-time touchdown leader for tight ends. Temple DT Terrance Knighton blocked the point after, giving WMU a 6-0 lead. The block was Knighton's first.

Hiller finished the game on 24-of-29 passing for 276 yards and a touchdown, becoming the first sophomore in WMU history to surpass 3,000 passing yards in a season.

Freshman LB Amara Kamara helped the Owls on its first scoring drive, picking off a Hiller pass for his first career interception. The Owls then marched 53 yards downfield, picking up their back-to-back first downs on a Harper 28-yard rush. Sophomore PK Jake Brownell put TU on the board with a 24-yard field goal to come within three, 6-3 before intermission.

On the strangest play of the game, with 2:04 remaining in the first half, on third down and 21 to go, Charlton punted the ball 58 yards to the WMU 36. The Broncos responded with a nine-play, 50-yard drive to set up a 32-yard field goal with two seconds to go. Knighton blocked the kick again, the second of his career, and Kamara ran the ball 28 yards to end the half.

Western Michigan opened the third stanza with a five-play 61-yard opening drive rushing touchdown by RB Mark Bonds. Following an extra point by Chris Kelly, WMU pushed its lead to 13-3.

Kelly added three more points 10 minutes later on a 33-yard field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, DB Jamal Schulters had a career-long 45 yard return. WMU led 16-3 at the end of three.

Temple had three drives in the fourth quarter, each ending on a failed fourth-down conversion. WMU had a chance to score again at the end of the quarter, but graciously took a knee on first and second down to run down the clock.

On the ground, Jason Harper led TU with 40 yards on nine carries, including a 28-yard run in the second quarter. Harper also led the receiving corps with 44 yards on two receptions, including a 33-yard catch.

Charlton finished the day completing six-of-25 for 92 yards. He was sacked six times.

Defensively freshman DB Jamal Schulters paced Temple with 10 tackles, including a career-high seven solo takedowns. DB Jaiqauwn Jarrett and Knighton followed with nine tackles each.