Temple’s Bernard Pierce sets school offensive records

The most famous ball carrier in the history of Temple football is Bill Cosby, an Owls fullback in the early 1960s.

But there’s always room for second place.

Or there seemed to be until, perhaps, Bernard Pierce rolled along.

You may have heard of the Owls’ junior running back.

Entering Saturday’s game against Buffalo, Pierce had a nation-high 15 rushing touchdowns, five of which he gained — along with considerable notoriety — in Temple’s shocking 38-7 rout of Maryland on Sept. 4.

Buffalo held him to three fewer than that … but still lost, 34-0, as Pierce continued his impressive season — and career — by setting records for touchdowns and points.

Pierce rushed for a pair of touchdowns to set single-season school marks for rushing touchdowns (17), overall touchdowns (17) and points (102). He also broke the school’s career record for touchdowns (44).

“It means that I am in the midst with other great backs that came through Temple,” Pierce said of breaking the records, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

With the win, Temple improved to 17-1 when Pierce has at least 18 carries. And behind him, the Owls (5-2, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) are just one win from being bowl eligible under first-year Coach Steve Addazio.

In those five wins, the Owls have been a hoot, too, outscoring their opponents, 197-17.

Rolling along

Rutgers is off to its best start since 2006, when it rolled to 11 wins and was a triple-overtime loss from its first Bowl Championship Series berth.

The Scarlet Knights sank Navy, 21-20, by blocking a potential go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter, giving Rutgers (5-1) more wins than it had all of last season.

Meanwhile, the Midshipmen (2-4) have lost four straight, their longest losing streak since 2002.

Crisis abatement

In the history of the Miami Hurricanes, who were once illustrious, no team had ever gone 0-3 to start league play. The Hurricanes nearly blew a 24-point lead against North Carolina to make that happen, but held on to avoid embarrassment and win, 30-24.

Miracle worker

June Jones worked one miracle at Hawaii, and he’s in the midst of working another at Southern Methodist.

At Hawaii, Jones took over an 0-12 team in 1999 and less than a decade later led it to the Sugar Bowl against Georgia.

SMU was considered a bit more of a chore when he was hired in 2008.

Jones had to deal with a program with barely a pulse since the NCAA gave it the “death penalty” in 1987.

With a 38-17 win over Central Florida in a rematch of the 2010 Conference USA championship game, the Mustangs are 5-1, their best start since 1986.

Not-so-safe bets

Every point can be costly, even if not to teams on the field.

The spread in the South Carolina-Mississippi State game was three points, favoring the Gamecocks to win.

Anyone who bet on the Gamecocks with that line was set to cash in as South Carolina led, 14-10, with four seconds left and facing fourth down from its own nine-yard line.

But in an effort to run the clock out on the game’s final play, Gamecocks quarterback Connor Shaw ran out of the end zone, resulting in a safety and a 14-12 final score, meaning those who took South Carolina to cover went from winners to losers.

Tough luck, that.

baxter.holmes@latimes.com

twitter.com/baxterholmes

Times wire services contributed to this report.