Behind 254 yards passing and a touchdown from quarterback and game MVP Frank Nutile, the Temple Owls dominated late and pulled away from the FIU Panthers for a 28-3 in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl at Tropicana Field on Thursday evening in St. Petersburg.
"These players work so hard. They've done an amazing job," said Owls head coach Geoff Collins after the game. "I couldn't be more proud of this group of guys. The senior class is the all-time winningest class in Temple University history."
FIU's senior starting quarterback Alex McGouch broke his collarbone picking up a first down rushing on the opening drive, and his backup Maurice Alexander vacillated between mediocre and incompetent, finishing 16-33 passing for 162 yards and two interceptions. But the Owls (7-6, 4-4 AAC) sputtering offense did their best to keep the Panthers in it, averaging just 4.4 yards per play in the first half themselves. Temple's seven sacks were a Gasparilla Bowl record.
"I am extremely proud of this football team regardless of the outcome tonight," said Panthers head coach Butch Davis, who led his team back to postseason for only the third time in school history in his first season in Miami Gardens. "Nobody's ever happy about losing a game. But what these kids accomplished this year, nobody thought was even remotely possible."
In a game chock-full of replay reviews and lawn mower memes on Twitter, a one-yard rush by Owls running back David Hood pulled the American Conference representative ahead 14-3 with 28 seconds left in the third quarter. And that seemed to seal it with the Panthers offensive woes looking hopeless sans McGouch. In their first bowl appearance since 2011, also in this game when it was known as the Beef O' Brady's Bowl, FIU (8-5, 5-3 C-USA) averaged just 3.5 yards per play.
Bad Boy Mowers can make your lawn pretty, but they couldn't do anything to help the ugly game on the field in the first half. Both teams combined for 70 plays and just 265 yards after 30 minutes. There were six turnovers, four from FIU. The winning team was just 4-12 on third down, the losing team was 4-15.
Temple found their footing in the fourth quarter, with a 45-yard strike from Nutile to Isaiah Wright for a touchdown and the longest completion of the game with 7:15 remaining. FIU's Alexander then fumbled on the ensuing possession at his own 23-yard line, and six plays later the Owls found paydirt behind five yards from Ryquell Armstead to seal it.
Both teams look to use this win to help bolster their status during the last day of the early signing period for NCAA Football recruits, which ends at midnight today.
Pictured: Gasparilla Bowl MVP Frank Nutile of Temple. Photo by Collin Sherwin.
