BC’s Defense Bounces Back in Dominant Win at Temple

PHILADELPHIA — As soon as Temple quarterback Justin Lynch charged up the middle on a designed draw play, Boston College linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley got on his horse. The sixth-year transfer, who grew up in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and played the first five years of his career with the Owls, stood Lynch up a yard short of the first-down marker.

Hit stick. Turnover on downs.

It was one of six solo tackles from Graham-Mobley, or “IGM” as his coaches and teammates call him, and the highlight-reel play preserved BC’s first-half shutout.

Graham-Mobley, one of four team captains for Saturday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field, stared down the Owls as they came running out of the tunnel in pregame. He came out swinging against Temple, and so did the entire Eagles defense.

A week removed from allowing 28 points to UMass, BC whacked Temple, 28-3, holding the Owls to a measly 4-of-18 on third and fourth down.

“It’s a huge statement for us,” Graham-Mobley said. “This is our standard.”

Running back Travis Levy picked up right where he left off in Amherst with a 67-yard kickoff return to open the game. The reigning ACC Specialist of the Week was the catalyst for a three-play, 29-yard touchdown drive that ended in a 19-yard pass to true freshman wide receiver Jaden Williams.

The Eagles’ defense got off to an even better start. Defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu’s unit began the day by forcing three consecutive three-and-outs. BC (3-0), which came in ranked third nationally in opponent third-down conversion rate, was all over the Owls (1-2) in the first half. Lynch, a true freshman filling in for injured Georgia transfer D’Wan Mathis for the second week in row, was just 2-of-5 for seven yards in the opening two quarters.

Temple mustered 58 total yards of offense in that span, averaging 2.8 yards per play. Owls offensive coordinator Mike Uremovich tried to get creative with the quarterback run game and even used wide receivers Randle Jones and Jadan Blue in the backfield. But nothing worked for the Temple offense in the first half.

Luckily for the Owls, BC wasn’t on its A-game offensively, either. Not without starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who suffered a season-threatening fracture to his throwing hand last week at UMass. Grosel—who finished 5-of-13 for 34 yards, a touchdown and a pick—had Williams open in 1-on-1 coverage downfield on the Eagles’ second series. But the redshirt senior underthrew him, resulting in a Keyshawn Paul interception.

The Eagles scored on their next drive but only after close to eight minutes of game time in the 80-plus degree Philly heat. Grosel got things going with a 3rd-and-16 conversion. The 6-foot-1, Willoughby, Ohio, native whipped a dot to CJ Lewis to move the chains. Running back Pat Garwo III, though, was the one who pushed BC into Temple territory.

Garwo was starting for the first time this season, and he looked good in the first quarter. The 5-foot-8 redshirt sophomore had more than 100 friends and family in attendance for the game, which also featured his brother, Temple freshman cornerback Andrew Garwo. A Levittown, Pennsylvania, native, Garwo ripped off a 20-yard run to catapult the Eagles to the Temple 39. A few plays later, Grosel used his wheels for a 19-yard carry on the zone-read.

But Garwo was the one who found the paint. The fourth time was the charm for him inside the 10-yard line, increasing BC’s lead to 14-0.

Just as Temple was finally starting to find a groove on the ground in the second quarter, boosted by a TJ Rayam personal foul, Graham-Mobley made his game-changing stop on 4th-and-3.

“I was so hype for him,” fellow Temple transfer Khris Banks said with a smile on his face. “He’s a big motivator for me. He always picks up the energy when he sees me down. When I see him hype, I’m getting hype, too. I’m jumping up and down.”

Grosel said he thought BC’s defense played better than he’s seen “in a really long time.” And he believes that the energy Graham-Mobley (eight total tackles) and Banks (five total tackles and 1.5 sacks) brought was contagious.

Before the end of the half, BC got on the board again. Wide receiver Zay Flowers was almost the one to do it. After motioning across the line and then behind Grosel, he caught a backwards pass from his quarterback and followed a Lewis block down the sideline for a gain of 47 yards. BC head coach Jeff Hafley thought Flowers was going to score on the play.

“I asked him if he was being a good teammate so someone else could score a touchdown,” Hafley said jokingly.

That someone was Levy, who plunged into the end zone for a two-yard score, staking the Eagles to a 21-0 halftime lead in the home of the NFL’s Eagles.

BC outgained Temple, 171-58, in total yards over the course of the first half. In the final two quarters of play, however, the Owls were more effective on offense. Still, that doesn’t mean they could score on BC’s defense.

Temple, which shot itself in the foot with 11 penalties Saturday—including seven on the offensive side of the ball—was once again stopped deep in Eagles territory midway through the third quarter. An 11-play, six-minute drive was all for naught after the Owls turned the ball over on downs on BC’s 21-yard line.

It was a series that saw Lynch dial up a 29-yard reverse flea-flicker to Temple tight end Darius Pittman and move the sticks on the following third down with his legs. Yet a false start on a 4th-and-1 spelled doom for the Owls, who watched Jones get dragged down short of the line to gain.

Lynch had himself a respectable second half. He completed his first eight passes and finished 17-of-24 for 161 yards. But he never broke the Eagles’ secondary. Meanwhile, BC’s linebackers were flying to the ball, and the Eagles’ D-Line was creating havoc.

Temple’s lone scoring drive nearly didn’t end in points, but a Brandon Barlow forced fumble was recovered by the Owls, and BC cornerback Eljiah Jones dropped a pick in the end zone. Regardless, the 32-yard field goal did nothing more than fuel the Eagles’ final scoring series.

“It was almost personal at that point,” Grosel said. “We wanted to punch it in the end zone, whether we were winning or not.”

Led by Alec Sinkfield, BC pounded the rock down the throat of Temple in the fourth quarter. The Owls entered with the 106th-ranked run defense, and the Eagles knew it. Sinkfield ran the ball seven plays in a row for a total of 40 yards, setting up a Grosel quarterback sneak touchdown.

Fittingly, BC practically ended the game by turning Temple over on downs on the Eagles’ half of the field. It was a suffocating defensive performance from BC, the kind Eagles fans have been hoping for from a Hafley team.

Hafley said after the game that it was one of the best defensive showings he’s been part of in a while. The Eagles have now held their opponents scoreless for nine of 12 quarters this season.

“If we keep playing like that, the sky’s the limit,” Graham-Mobley said.