The Temple Owls got a score on the opening kickoff and Montel Harris has been great on the ground, but the undefeated Louisville Cardinals responded with big plays of their own as the score is tied 14-14 after one quarter.
Harris has 62 yards and a touchdown on only six carries on primarily routine runs behind great blocking But Teddy Bridgewater has two touchdowns, including a 73-yard pass to tight end Ryan Hubbell, to even the score.
The Owls got on top early as Matt Brown sliced through the Cardinals kick coverage for a 93-yard runback to get Temple on the board on the opening kickoff.
The score was evened up quickly though, as the Cardinals drove 86 yards in ten plays. Temple got Louisville to a fourth down, but the Cardinals went for it in enemy territory and picked up a conversion on a scramble by Bridgewater. A few plays later, Bridgewater slotted a 15-yard bullet into a tiny window to find Eli Rogers between three Owls' defenders for a touchdown.
An 11-yard rush by Montel Harris was all that happened for the Owls on their first real drive, as they were forced to punt after a single first down. The Cardinals' second drive stalled when Chris White was stopped a half-yard short of the sticks on third down. But Charlie Strong opted not to go for it as he did on his team's first drive, punting from his own side of the field.
Strong running and some trickeration let the Owls move down the field on their next drive. Harris had several more nice runs, and wide receiver Jalen Fitzpatrick didn't make the best throw on a throwback pass play to Chris Coyer, but he still hit his quarterback for a 15-yard gain - the biggest pass play of the day for Temple thus far. Harris finished the drive off by following his blockers and hitting the defense with a stutter-step on an five-yard TD run on third-and-one.
But Louisville once again responded quickly, with Bridgewater finding a wide open Ryan Hubbell for a 73-yard strike thanks to blown coverage downfield. Hubbell was open on a fly route with nobody between him and the end zone, and although the tight end was almost caught from behind, he made it to pay dirt untouched.
On the first play of the Owls' next drive, Coyer botched the exchange with the center and fumbled. A holding penalty pushed the Cardinals back, but a dumpoff to Senorise Perry brought Louisville into field goal range to end the half.