The Temple Owls weathered an early assault by UConn on Saturday and trail 14-7 after one half at Rentschler Field. UConn jumped all over Temple early, scoring two touchdowns on back-to-back possessions in the first quarter. A missed 36-yard field goal on the Huskies opening possession prevented it from being even worse for the Owls.
On UConn's second possession, quarterback Chandler Whitmer moved the offense 66 yards in less than four minutes, capping it off with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Michael Smith. The Huskies briskly marched down the field on their next possession, with a big-play strike resulting in a quick 14-0 lead. This time, Whitmer hit Ryan Griffin for a 42-yard touchdown as time expired in the first.
UConn had all the momentum, but the Owls turned things around in the second quarter. Montel Harris nearly single-handedly ended the shutout, leading the offense on a six-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that took up only three minutes. Four of the six plays on the drive were Harris rushes, and the transfer from Boston College broke off runs of 33 and 24 yards. The 24-yarder provided Temple its first touchdown of the day, slicing the UConn lead in half. Harris had 12 carries for 74 yards in the first 30 minutes.
It looked like the Owls would cut the deficit even further on their next possession, but Harris coughed it up on the Connecticut 26-yard line. The Huskies were content to take a knee and end the half there, but the Owls take momentum into the locker room and will receive the kick to start the second half.