Both Southern Methodist Mustangs Senior Garrett Gilbert (left) and Temple Owls True Freshman P.J. Walker put on stellar performances, both passing and running the football. The Mustangs Rallied in the second half to came away with the 59-49 victory over The Owls. Photo Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports
Temple suffered a tough loss on Saturday, losing to SMU 59-49. The Owls (1-7, 0-4 in AAC) at one point had a commanding 28-7 lead against the favored Mustangs. Temple’s P.J. Walker continued to play well as the team’s signal caller. Walker completed 70 percent of his passes (26 for 37) and threw for 293 yards and 4 touchdowns. The dual threat quarterback also carried the ball 14 times for 92 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Although Walker’s statistics were good, SMU’s quarterback Garrett Gilbert’s statistics were even more impressive. Gilbert set an SMU record, throwing 538 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran for 2 touchdowns. Gilbert was responsible for 635 of SMU’s 728 yards.
During the first half, the Temple defense looked stout, forcing 3 fumbles and 3 punts. However, the defense proceeded to let the Mustangs roll off 8 scoring drives and 45 points in the second half. Temple will head to New Jersey to face Rutgers while SMU (3-4. 2-1 in AAC) heads into a bye week.
