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The Temple Owls closed out the regular season with an emphatic 57-7 win over the UConn Huskies on Saturday afternoon to finish the year with a 8-4 record in Geoff Collins’ second season as head coach.
The 50-point win is Temple’s largest ever against an FBS opponent, surpassing the 43-point win over ECU earlier this season.
It was a contest that was never in doubt as UConn (1-11, 0-8) finally closed out what will go down as the worst season in the history of the sport.
With that Temple touchdown, UConn has clinched 50 points per game allowed this year.
— Alex Putterman (@AlexPutterman) November 24, 2018
The Huskies are the first team since 1997 and only the second since World War I to allow 50+ for a full season.
There is more. The Huskies gave up the most yards (7,409), yards per game (617.4) and points (605) in NCAA history.
The future of Randy Edsall has to be in question after making “history.” UConn has gone 4-20 since Edsall returned for a second stint in East Hartford, and their lone win this season came against Rhode Island, a FCS opponent.
Frank Nutile got the start at quarterback in place of an injured Anthony Russo, but was not asked to do much through the air as Temple lead 40-7 at halftime. Russo was seen on the sidelines with his right hand in a cast.
Temple scored on seven of their eight first-half possessions and four different players scored touchdowns rushing in the onslaught. Isaiah Wright was one of those to find the end zone on the ground on the Owls first drive, and also added a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The junior wideout has now scored on special teams three times this season after previously returning two punts for scores. He now has five career returns for touchdowns, three on punt returns and two on kickoffs.
Christain Braswell scored on 8-yard interception return to give Temple 13 non-offensive touchdowns this season. It was also the third time this season that the Owls scored a touchdown on offense, defense and special teams.
The Owls finished 7-1 in conference play and 8-2 in their final 10 games after an 0-2 start that began with a loss to FCS opponent Villanova. Temple will now wait to see their fate in the upcoming bowl season. In our latest bowl projections here at Underdog Dynatsy, the Owls are predicted to take on the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns in the Birmingham Bowl.