A Temple football season full of accolades added a few more on Wednesday.
Led by star senior linebacker Tyler Matakevich, seven Owls earned first-team all-American Athletic Conference honors. No team in the conference had more players named.
Matakevich, who was also named the AAC Defensive Player of the Year, was a unanimous first-team selection, and it’s easy to see why. He’s tied for 13th in the nation with 118 total tackles, tied for 13th with five interceptions and was named the conference’s defensive player of the week four times. He also recently became the seventh player in Football Bowl Subdivision history to record 100 or more tackles in each of his four collegiate seasons.
In a release, Matakevich said, “It's quite an honor. I said it before and it's no different now. I'm able to make plays because my coaches put me in the right position and my teammates take on blockers to free me up. I'm prouder that Temple had more all-conference selections than any single award I have received."
Other defenders to earn first-team honors included seniors defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis, defensive end Nate D. Smith and safety Alex Wells.
Junior running back Jahad Thomas led the way among the three offensive first-team selections.
Thomas has been the workhorse of the Owls’ offensive attack this year with 1,188 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns, both of which rank second in the conference. He also has a receiving touchdown and kickoff return touchdown to bring his season total to 19 touchdowns.
Seniors center Kyle Friend and right tackle Eric Lofton were the other two Owls named to the first team.
In addition, junior left tackle Dion Dawkins and sophomore defensive back Sean Chandler earned all-conference second-team honors while redshirt junior defensive end Hasson Reddick was an all-conference honorable selection.
All told, 10 Owls received all-conference honors.
The No. 22 Owls (10-2) will try to add another accolade in the form of the AAC championship when they travel to Houston on Saturday to face the No. 19 Cougars (11-1) in the inaugural conference title game. Kickoff is slated for noon.