PHILADELPHIA - Running backs Marcus Furman and Raymond Kirkley came up big Saturday as Pittsburgh rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Temple 27-22 at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Panthers trailed 16-3 late in the first half before Furman took a pitch from quarterback Tyler Palko and threw a 43-yard completion to Greg Lee to set up a 33-yard field goal by Josh Cummings with 3:29 left in the first half to cut Temple lead to 10.

After a scoreless third quarter, Kirkley took a handoff from Palko and started toward the line of scrimmage. The Owls' defense bit and Kirkley quickly tossed the ball back to Palko, who had Lee alone for a 50-yard scoring play that pulled the Panthers within three, 16-13, less than a minute into the fourth quarter.

"We knew it was going to work," said Lee, who finished with career-highs in receptions (8) and yards (159). "They were biting down on the run so hard it was only a matter of time before we were able to dump it over their heads."

The Owls, who racked up 356 yards over the first three quarters, never recovered. Kirkley added touchdown runs of 1 and 5 yards to put Pitt in control, 27-16.

"Walt (Harris, Pitt head coach) likes to do that," said Temple head coach Bobby Wallace. "He lulls you to sleep and then hits you with a big play. Those kinds of plays give your team a definite mental edge."

"It worked beautifully," Harris said about the flea flicker. "Ray just got a piece of one of their lineman (after flipping the ball back to Palko) so Tyler could get something on the throw."

Pitt (3-2, 1-1) rebounded from a loss to Connecticut in its Big East opener last week. "I was very excited we found a way to win," Harris said, since at times "we were our own worst enemy."

Palko finished 13-of-18 passing for 191 yards.

Walter Washington threw a career-high three touchdown passes, but Temple (1-5, 0-1) dropped its final Big East opener and lost in conference play for the ninth straight time.

Washington, who also posted career highs in completions (30) and yards (314), ran for 82 yards on 23 carries. Washington threw a touchdown pass to Phil Goodman in the final minute, but the Owls failed on the 2-point conversion attempt.

Temple has not beaten a conference opponent since knocking off Rutgers near the end of the 2002 season. The Owls, who were 0-7 in Big East play last season, have not beaten Pittsburgh since a 34-33 victory at Pitt Stadium in 1998 and fell to 8-26-1 against the Panthers.

The Temple defense, which allowed opponents to average more than 40 points over the first five games, held the Panthers to just a pair of first-half field goals despite playing without one of their leading tacklers, linebacker Rian Wallace, who was suspended for a violation of team rules.

"It was a locker room altercation," said coach Wallace. "He made a mistake and he'll be back at practice on Monday."

The already injury-plagued defense sacked Palko in the end zone and Washington threw TD passes to Tim Brown and Ikey Chuku in the first half.

Temple scored on its first possession of the game, moving 79 yards on nine plays to take a 7-0 lead on 8-yard pass from Washington to Brown. Pitt responded immediately, using a 52-yard return by Furman on the ensuing kickoff to set up a 45-yard field goal by Cummings.

The Owls recorded their first safety since the 2000 season when Palko was pulled down in the end zone by Eric Carpenter less than a minute into the second quarter to increase the Temple lead to 9-3.

Midway through the second quarter, Washington rolled right and found Chuku behind the defense at the Pitt 5. Chuku, who adjusted nicely to get under the pass, crashed into the end zone to give the Owls a 16-3 advantage with 6:53 remaining before halftime.

"We talked about pride after last week's game," said coach Wallace, whose team was routed 70-16 by Bowling Green last Saturday. "We came to play today and showed a lot of pride, but the next thing we have to learn to do is close the deal."