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Wake Forest blunts Temple comeback to win Military Bowl
Temple had a chance to complete a monstrous Military Bowl comeback, but a couple of bad decisions late in the fourth quarter ruined all hopes of an 11th win as Wake Forest held on for a 34-26 victory.
Temple trailed 31-10 at halftime and closed to within 31-23 with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter with a first and goal at Wake Forest’s 6. But Temple quarterback Phillip Walker took a 22-yard sack on second down, forcing the team into a third and goal at the 28.
After an eight-yard gain on third down, a field goal made more sense than going for the touchdown, and the Owls cut the deficit to five points.
Wake Forest returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards inside the Temple 20, but the Owls’ defense was able to hold Wake to a field goal and provide the offense an opportunity to get a game-tying touchdown and two-point conversion in the final two minutes.
Here’s where the next bad decisions happened. On third and 1 at the Wake 44 with 1:18 left, Temple ran the ball and running back Jahad Thomas was dropped for a loss of two yards. Without timeouts, the failure to get first down forced Temple to scramble for a fourth down play as the clock kept running. And the scrambling equaled an apparent miscommunication as Walker threw an incomplete pass deep after his receiver stopped short on his route.
Temple’s comeback was aided by the absence of Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford, who left the game early in the third quarter after a scary hit. Wolford was tackled while scrambling and slammed head first into the turf. After being down on the field for a while, Wolford walked off the field but didn’t return the rest of the game.
While Wolford was injured in the second half, Walker suffered an injury in the first half. According to Temple interim coach Ed Foley, Walker dislocated a knuckle on his throwing hand in the first half after his hand hit a defensive lineman’s arm following a pass. Per Foley, Walker popped the knuckle back into place on the field and he didn’t miss a play.
The win means Wake Forest ends the season 7-6, the school’s first winning season since 2008. Temple finishes the season at 10-4.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
