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Temple RB Ryquell Armstead gets more recognition for six-touchdown effort

On Monday, Armstead was named the American Athletic Conference offensive player of the week.

Temple running back Ryquell Armstead runs with football past East Carolina defenders on Saturday, October 6, 2018. YONG KIM / Staff Photographer
Temple running back Ryquell Armstead runs with football past East Carolina defenders on Saturday, October 6, 2018. YONG KIM / Staff PhotographerRead moreYong Kim

The awards keep piling up for Temple running back Ryquell Armstead after his dominating performance Saturday in the Owls' 59-49 victory at Houston.

As expected, Armstead was named the American Athletic Conference offensive player of the week Monday after rushing for 210 yards and six touchdowns on 30 carries. He did all that despite a sore ankle.

The award came a day after Armstead was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation national offensive player of the week. Armstead also was named the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) and College Sports Madness national offensive player of the week. In addition, he earned a spot on the Pro Football Focus offensive team of the week.

The win improved Temple to 6-4 and 5-1 in the American Athletic Conference and made the Owls bowl-eligible with two games remaining: noon Saturday against South Florida at Lincoln Financial Field and Nov. 24 at UConn.

The Owls are tied for second place with Cincinnati and a game behind Central Florida in the AAC East Division. If Cincinnati beats UCF this week and Temple defeats South Florida (7-3, 3-3), there would be a three-way tie for first place in the AAC East with one game left. A UCF win over Cincinnati would clinch the division for the Knights.

As for Armstead, he has rushed for 978 yards (5.5 avg.) and 12 touchdowns, despite missing two games with an ankle injury.

"Ryquell runs so hard, has so much passion, [is] so physical and so tough, and a reason he wears a single digit is because of how physical, how tough he is," Temple coach Geoff Collins said during Monday's AAC media call.

Collins added that Armstead had to miss some time against Houston while getting a hand X-rayed. "They thought he had a broken hand," Collins said. Armstead returned after the X-ray and scored four of his six TDs.

Temple will face a USF team that played without starting quarterback Blake Barnett on Saturday in a 35-23 loss at Cincinnati. Barnett suffered a shoulder injury in the previous week's game against Tulane.

"Blake is day to day. I just don't know right now if he will be ready to go Saturday," USF coach Charlie Strong said during the media call. "We will try to get him out to practice a few days."

Sophomore Chris Oladokun and junior Brett Kean saw time at quarterback for USF against Cincinnati.