TEMPLE OWLS
vs.
WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS
Tuesday, Dec. 27
3:30 p.m. ET
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
(34,000/FieldTurf)
Annapolis, Md.
Television
ESPN
Jason Benetti, Kelly Stouffer and Paul Carcaterra
National Radio
ESPN Radio
John Brickley and TBD
SiriusXM 80
Temple Radio
WPEN-FM 97.5 (flagship)
THE GAME
The American Athletic Conference is in its first year of its partnership with the Military Bowl … The Military Bowl is the first and only bowl game to be played in the Washington, D.C., region and the first to be played on the campus of one of the nation’s service academies … The Military Bowl has provided more than $600,000 to the USO and other organizations that support the nation’s military … The only previous meeting between Temple and Wake Forest was a 36-0 Owls win in Philadelphia Oct. 31, 1930 … Temple interim head coach Ed Foley and Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson served on the staff at Albany in 1989-90, while Foley was on Clawson’s staff at Fordham in 1999 before succeeding Clawson as the Rams’ head coach … Temple and Wake Forest shared two common opponents this season — both schools lost to Army and both defeated Tulane.
MILITARY BOWL RESULTS (1-1)
12-20-08 Wake Forest 23, Navy 19
12-29-09 UCLA 30, Temple 21
12-29-10 Maryland 51, East Carolina 10
12-28-11 Toledo 42, Air Force 41
12-27-12 San Jose State 29, Bowling Green 20
12-27-13 Marshall 31, Maryland 20
12-27-14 Virginia Tech 33, Cincinnati 17
12-28-15 Navy 44, Pittsburgh 28
23/24 TEMPLE
10-3, 7-1 American
Interim Head Coach
Ed Foley (Bucknell ’89)
0-0, first season at Temple
7-15, third season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Temple brings a seven-game winning streak into the Military Bowl … The Owls have won nine of their last 10 following a 34-10 victory against Navy in the American Athletic Conference Championship … Temple has made five previous bowl appearances and have been bowl eligible in each of the last three seasons … The Owls will be looking for their first bowl victory since the 2011 New Mexico Bowl, when Temple was a 37-15 winner against Wyoming … Temple has won 10 games for the third time in program history, including in back-to-back seasons … Ed Foley will serve as the interim head coach for the Military Bowl, while former Florida defensive coordinator Geoff Collins will take over for the 2017 season … Temple is ranked third nationally in total defense (275.9 ypg) … Temple has shut out three opponents (Stony Brook, UConn, Tulane) and has held five straight opponents to 13 points or fewer …Temple went 1-7 in The American Athletic Conference in 2013, the league’s first season, but improved to 4-4 in 2014 and has gone 7-1 in each of the last two years … The Owls strung together 10 consecutive quarters without allowing a point, beginning with the second half of their Oct. 29 win against Cincinnati and consecutive shutouts at UConn and Tulane … QB Phillip Walker, a four-year starter, has thrown for 2,899 yards and 20 touchdowns with 12 interceptions and was the Most Outstanding Player at the American Athletic Conference Championship … The Owls boast one of the nation’s best tandems in the backfield as RB Jahad Thomas (a high school teammate of Walker’s) has 918 yards and 13 touchdowns, while RB Ryquell Armstead has 918 yards and 14 TDs … WR Ventell Bryant has 744 yards and four touchdowns on 43 receptions … The defense is paced by DE Haason Reddick, who has 59 tackles, 9.5 sacks and a league-leading 21.5 tackles for loss to go with three forced fumbles … DE Praise Martin-Oguike has 7.5 sacks, 10.0 tackles for loss and is seond among all active FBS players with 11 career forced fumbles … S Delvon Randle leads the team with three interceptions … Temple has blocked five kicks on special teams … K Aaron Boumerhi has hit 11 of 13 field goal attempts.
WAKE FOREST
6-6, 3-5 ACC
Head Coach
Dave Clawson (Williams ’89)
12-24, third season at Wake Forest
102-104, 17th season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Wake Forest will make its 11th bowl appearance in program history … The Demon Deacons are 6-4 all-time in bowl games … Wake Forest is 1-0 in the Military Bowl, with a 23-19 win against Navy in the inaugural game in 2008 … Head coach Dave Clawson will make his second Military Bowl appearance … Clawson led Bowling Green in the 2012 game, when the Falcons fell 29-20 to San Jose State … Wake Forest opened the 2016 season with four straight wins, but went 2-6 down the stretch … The Demon Deacons held a 12-0 halftime lead against then-No. 5 Louisville before allowing 34 fourth-quarter points in a 44-12 setback … Wake Forest looks to snap a three-game slide to close the 2016 season … The Demon Deacons went 3-5 in the ACC to finish tied for fourth in the Atlantic Division … Wake Forest has been outscored 90-30 in the first quarter, but has outscored its opponents by a 101-37 margin in the second period … The Deacons had five players named to the All-ACC team, including K Mike Weaver, who was a first-team choice … Wake Forest ranks 20th nationally in scoring defense (21.8 ppg) … The Demon Deacons have registered 37 sacks, which ranks second in school history … Wake Forest has scored three defensive touchdowns … LB Marquel Lee leads the team with 98 tackles, 19.0 tackles for loss and has 7.5 sacks … S Jessie Bates, a redshirt freshman, has a team-high five interceptions and is one of eight FBS players with two touchdowns on interception returns in 2016 … Bates also ranks second on the squad with 93 tackles … DE Duke Ejiofor has a team-high 10.0 sacks with 15.0 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries … The offense is led by QB John Wolford, who has thrown for 1,591 yards and seven touchdowns with nine interceptions and has a team-high six rushing touchdowns … RB Matt Colburn has rushed for 566 yards and a TD … WR Tabari Hines is the leading receiver with 35 catches for 401 yards and two touchdowns … Weaver was chosen to the All-ACC team after he hit 19 of 25 field goal attempts … Weaver saw a streak of seven straight made field goals end with a pair of misses against Boston College … P Dom Maggio has averaged 42.6 yards per punt.