INSIDE SLANT

No Bernard Pierce, no problem for white-hot Temple.

The Owls are 9-2 overall and still-perfect 7-0 Mid-American Conference.

After losing superstar tailback Pierce, who entered the game as the nation’s fourth leading rusher, on the first series of the game with a shoulder injury, Temple inserted its No.2 tailback Matt “The Bug” Brown and rolled to its ninth straight victory, 47-13 win over Kent State.

Brown might be the size of a middle-school kid (5-foot-5, 167 pounds), but he came up big-time vs. Kent, rushing for 156 yards and two scores as Temple. “I had a big role to fill. Bernard is one of the best running backs in the country.”

Brown wasn’t the only guy who flashed big-play ability for the Owls, who scored 41 unanswered points after falling behind early. For a second straight week, Delano Green returned a punt for a score, this time going 52 yards down the right sideline. It was one of two highlight-reel plays for Green—the other was on a 50-yard reverse.

With the win, Temple clinched a share of the MAC East title. They can win it outright on “Black Friday” if they can beat Ohio University (8-3 overall, 6-1 MAC). ESPNU will televise the winner-take-all game live from Peden Stadium in Athens, Ohio.

“We both want the same thing (the MAC East title and a spot in the MAC title game,” said Temple defensive lineman Adrian Robinson. “And we’re both one win away from it.”

NOTES, QUOTES

• The Owls scored 41 unanswered points to register their ninth straight victory, 47-13. Tailback Matt Brown, subbing for the injured Bernard Pierce, paced the Owls’ attack with 156 yards and two scores.

• Temple’s 47-13 win over Kent State was the team’s ninth straight victory. Temple had never won nine straight games in a single season before.

• The nine wins for Temple (9-2 in 2009) are the most victories for a Temple team since the 1979 Garden State Bowl squad went 10-2.

• WR/PR Delano Green pulled off a program first, becoming the first Temple player ever to return punts for touchdowns in consecutive games with his 52-yard return vs. Kent State. His two returns for touchdown tie the school record (Anthony Young, 1982) for punt returns for scores in a single season.

Game Ball Goes To:   RB Matt Brown—After losing superstar freshman Bernard Pierce, Temple needed someone to step up and Brown did the job, rushing for 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns vs. Kent State. Brown’s 71-yard TD run in the third quarter was Temple’s longest run from scrimmage this season.

Keep An Eye On:   KR/PR/WR Delano Green—It ain’t easy chasing Green. The lightning-quick Green returned a punt for a touchdown in a second straight game (the first Owl ever to pull off that feat) and later added a 50-yard TD run on a reverse in Temple’s rout of Kent State.

Quote To Note:   “We’re finishing games right now. That’s hard to teach a team, but these kids have learned that.”—Temple coach Al Golden said of his 9-2 Owls.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Looking Good:   Temple’s Grade-A quality beef along both lines and playmakers on both sides of the ball continues to be a lethal winning combination for Al Golden. Despite losing stud freshman tailback Bernard Pierce to a shoulder injury after just one carry into the game, the red-hot Owls just kept rolling along as Matt Brown entered the game and did a pretty fair Darren Sproles imitation, rushing for 156 yards and two scores. Temple’s O-line opened holes aplenty all afternoon and the talented D-line wreaked havoc all afternoon vs. Kent.

Still Needs Work:   For a second straight ballgame, Temple started off slow before demonstrating a ridiculous finishing kick. They’ll need to reverse that slow-starting trend against Frank Solich’s Ohio U squad this week in a Black Friday morning game that will decide the MAC East title.

Roster Report:  

• Temple freshman tailback Bernard Pierce (1,349 yards, 15 rushing TDs in 2009) suffered a shoulder injury during the first offensive series of the game vs. Kent State and did not return. After the game, Temple coach Al Golden described the injury to Pierce’s shoulder as “significant.” Whether he’ll play in the Nov 27 MAC East showdown vs. Ohio University is unknown.

• The recent emergence of Matt Brown, small (5-5, 167 pounds), but speedy tailback from Baltimore, as a dependable backup to Pierce has resulted in Temple coach Al Golden moving sophomore Kee-ayre Griffin, who has battled minor injuries all year, to cornerback. “He is one of the best 22 players on the team, and he deserves to be on the field,” Golden said of Griffin. Golden appears to have made the right call on both players as Brown rushed for 156 yards and two scores vs. Kent State and Griffin recorded his first career interception on Saturday and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown.

• Starting right guard Colin Madison (6-3, 318), a junior, has winning football in his DNA. His second cousin is four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Sam Madison.

• Prior to Saturday’s home finale vs. Kent State, Temple recognized the achievements of its 16 seniors: DB Wilbert Brinson, Jr. (Cheltenham, Md.), OL Marcus Brown (Upper Marlboro, Md.), PK Jake Brownell (Thorofare, N.J.), DB Anthony Ferla (Waldwick, N.J.), DT Grigory Frenk (Brooklyn, N.Y.), LB John Haley (Potomac Falls, Va.), WR Jason Harper (Budd Lake, N.J.), DB Dominique Harris (Washington, D.C.), LB Alex Joseph (Stamford, Conn.), TE Steve Maneri (Saddle Brook, N.J.), RB Lamar McPherson (Philadelphia, Pa.), LB James Namude (Potomac, Md.), NT Andre Neblett (Rahway, N.J.), DT Dave Nwasike (Marietta, Ga.), DT Brian Sanford (Hartford, Conn.), OT Devin Tyler (Suitland, Md.).