Rhodes' Big Day Not Enough: SU Football Loses, 34-24, at Temple

Saturday, November 13

Philadelphia, PA

12:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Temple

Diamond Ferri played on all three sides of the ball at Temple, with one rush for 32 yards on offense.

Rhodes' Big Day Not Enough: SU Football Loses, 34-24, at Temple

11/13/2004 4:11:03 PM | Football

SU 24, Temple 34

PHILADELPHIA – The Syracuse football team lost, 34-24, to Temple on Saturday, Nov. 13, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. SU junior running back Damien Rhodes started in place of an injured Walter Reyes and ran for a career-best 200 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries.

Junior wide receiver Steve Gregory set career bests with seven receptions for 87 yards. Sophomore quarterback Perry Patterson threw for 240 yards on 20-of-35 passing and one interception. Senior wide receiver Jared Jones finished the day with six catches for 76 yards. Rhodes also had two receptions for 33 yards.

Temple quarterback Walter Washington ran for 185 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries and completed 10-of-19 passes for 130 yards and one touchdown.

The Orange fell behind 14-0 early in the second quarter on a touchdown pass and run by Owls’ quarterback Walter Washington. Washington opened the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown throw to Phil Goodman and followed that with a one-yard touchdown run just 1:49 into the second quarter.

Syracuse got on the scoreboard with 8:47 remaining in the second quarter on a 30-yard field goal by senior Collin Barber. Barber’s three-pointer capped a 12-play drive covering 52 yards.

Washington scored on a 19-yard touchdown run with 4:34 left in the second quarter, to give the Owls a 21-3 lead at halftime.

The Orange came out strong in the second half and put together a 75-yard drive capped with a 31-yard touchdown run by Rhodes. Barber’s point after made the score 21-10.

The Owls would tack on a 28-yard field goal by Ryan Lux with 10:23 left in the third quarter. Syracuse answered with a 16-yard touchdown run by Rhodes. That pulled the Orange within a touchdown at 24-17, but that is as close as the Orange would get.

Temple extended its lead to 34-17 on a touchdown and a field goal early in the fourth quarter. Washington scored his third rushing touchdown of the day just 59 seconds into the fourth and Lux added a 41-yard field goal with 10:23 left in the game.

The Orange continued to battle scoring on the next possession on a 71-yard drive finalized by a two-yard touchdown run by Rhodes, his third of the day.

On the ensuing possession, the SU defense forced the Owls to punt and the Orange took over on their own 16-yard line with 3:32 left in the game. Syracuse drove down to the Temple 38-yard line before DeMarco Dodson picked off a Patterson pass with just over 2 minutes remaining.

Junior free safety Anthony Smith led the Orange defense with 14 tackles, including 5 solo stops. Junior defensive end James Wyche and sophomore linebacker Jerry Mackey each finished with 13 tackles. Senior safety Diamond Ferri played all three sides of the ball as he was in for one offensive play. He tallied 10 total tackles on defense, 49 yards on three kickoff returns and 32 rushing yards on one carry for the offense.

The Orange football team will have the next week off before closing the regular season at No. 20 Boston College on Saturday, Nov. 27.