Saturday, Dec. 5
12:07 p.m. ET • 11:07 a.m. CT
TDECU Stadium (40,000/Synthetic)
Houston, Texas
#TEMvsHOU
Television
ABC -
WATCH LIVE -
LIVE STATS -
TROPHY PRESENTATION
Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Todd McShay
National Radio
IMG Radio
SiriusXM 84
TuneIn App
Adam Witten and David Klingler
Temple Radio
WPEN-FM 97.5 (flagship)
Houston Radio
KPRC-AM 950 (flagship)
THE GAME
The American Athletic Conference conducts its first postseason championship in football when Temple visits Houston Saturday … The American is in its first year as a 12-team conference after operating with 10 teams in 2013 and with 11 teams in 2014 … The addition of Navy in 2015 allowed The American to establish two six-team divisions …
Temple is looking for its first American Athletic Conference title in any sport, while Houston is looking for its fourth American title in all sports … The Cougars previously won conference championships in baseball and men’s outdoor track and field in 2013 and in men’s indoor track and field in 2014 … Temple and Houston did not meet during the 2015 football regular season, though the teams have four previous meetings on the gridiron … Houston was a 31-10 winner at TDECU Stadium in 2014, while the Cougars took a 22-13 win at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia in a 2013 game which was the first American Athletic Conference game in history … Houston also took both ends of a home-and-home series in the late 1980s as the Cougars were 37-7 winners at Veterans Stadium in 1987 and 65-7 winners at the Astrodome in 1989.
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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
2013 UCF
2014 UCF, Cincinnati, Memphis
20/21 TEMPLE
10-2, 7-1 American
Head Coach
Matt Rhule (Penn State ’97)
16-18, third season
NOTES
Temple enters the American Athletic Conference Championship with a 10-2 overall record, while the Owls went 7-1 in conference play to win the East Division outright … The Owls are looking for their first 11-win season in program history … Temple’s only previous conference championship came in 1967, when the Owls won the Mid-American Conference title … Temple held off USF, which handed the Owls one of their two losses, down the stretch as Temple finished the regular season with impressive wins against Memphis (31-12) and UConn (27-3) … After USF scored 44 points against Temple Nov. 14, the Owls have not allowed a touchdown in their last two games … Temple has held its opponent without a touchdown three times this season and has held four opponents without an offensive touchdown … Temple entered the top 25 of both national polls Oct. 18 and has been ranked in six of the last seven national polls … The No. 20 ranking by the Associated Press is Temple’s highest national ranking of the season … Temple has outscored its opponents in the third quarter, 112-25 … The Owls are led offensively by RB Jahad Thomas, who has rushed for 1,188 yards and 17 touchdowns … QB P.J. Walker has completed 196 of 346 passes (56.6 percent) for 2,449 yards and 18 touchdowns with six interceptions … WR Robby Anderson has a team-high 52 catches for 723 yards and six touchdowns … The defense is led by LB Tyler Matakevich, the Bronko Nagurski Award finalist who has 118 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 14.0 tackles for loss and five interceptions and is the NCAA’s active career leader in total tackles (472) … Matakevich became the seventh player in NCAA FBS history to register four seasons with 100 or more stops, joining Rick Razzano (Virginia Tech, 1974-77), Carl McGee (Duke, 1975-78, Dan Bass (Michigan State, 1976-79), Stephen Boyd (Boston College, 1991-94), Dana Howard (Illinois, 1991-94) and Marcus McGraw (Houston, 2008-11).
2015 RESULTS
September
5 Penn State W 27-10
12 at Cincinnati * W 34-26
19 at Massachusetts W 25-23
October
2 at Charlotte W 37-3
10 Tulane * W 49-10
17 UCF * W 30-16
22 at East Carolina * W 24-14
31 Notre Dame L 20-24
November
6 at SMU * W 60-40
14 at USF * L 23-44
21 Memphis * W 31-12
28 UConn * W 27-3
December
5 at Houston ^ Noon
* American Athletic Conference game
^ American Athletic Conference Championship
17/18 HOUSTON
11-1, 7-1 American
Head Coach
Tom Herman (Minnesota ’96)
11-1, first season
NOTES
Houston bounced back from its only loss of the 2015 season to defeat Navy, 52-31, to forge a tie atop the American Athletic Conference West Division standings … The Cougars advanced to the championship game with the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Midshipmen … Houston began the season with an 11-game winning streak, which came to an end with a 20-17 setback at UConn Nov. 21 … Tom Herman became the first Houston coach to begin his career with 11 consecutive wins … Houston has been ranked in both national polls for seven straight week, standing at No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 18 in the USA Today ranking … Houston has averaged 40,562 spectators at TDECU Stadium, which is the Cougars’ best attendance figure since 1967, when Houston played in the Astrodome … Houston is 15-14-3 all-time when both teams are nationally ranked … The Cougars have won 10 conference championships since 1952, most recently the 2006 Conference USA title … Houston last played for a conference title in 2011, when the Cougars took a 12-0 record and a No. 7 national ranking into the Conference USA Championship, but were stunned by Southern Mississippi, 49-28 … Houston leads The American in scoring offense (42.0 points per game) … QB Greg Ward Jr. has completed 69.3 percent of his passes (196 of 283) for 2,502 yards and 16 touchdowns with five interceptions and has rushed for 893 yards and 17 touchdowns as well … RB Kenneth Farrow, who missed the regular-season finale against Navy, has 949 rushing yards and 12 TDs … WR Demarcus Ayers has a team-leading 89 receptions for 1,140 yards and six touchdowns … LB Steven Taylor leads The American with 8.0 sacks and has 15.0 tackles for loss … LB Elandon Roberts has 127 tackles with 6.0 sacks and 17.0 tackles for loss … S Adrian McDonald has four interceptions this season and has 17 career picks, while CB William Jackson has three INTs and 14 pass breakups.
2015 RESULTS
September
5 Tennessee Tech W 52-24
12 at Louisville W 34-31
26 Texas State W 59-14
October
3 at Tulsa * W 38-24
8 SMU * W 49-28
16 at Tulane * W 42-7
24 at UCF * W 59-10
31 Vanderbilt W 34-0
November
7 Cincinnati * W 33-30
14 Memphis * W 35-34
21 at UConn * L 17-20
27 Navy * W 52-31
December
5 Temple ^ Noon
* American Athletic Conference game
^ American Athletic Conference Championship