In mid-August, Temple defensive coordinator Thomas Rocco had high praise for junior Isaiah Ellis, who earned a starting linebacker position this season after backing up then-senior standout Ethan Sauls at “boom” safety last year.

“Isaiah’s a stud,” Rocco said Aug. 13. “Very good instincts and a physical guy who plays with his pads.”

Now five games into his debut campaign at strongside linebacker, the 5-foot-11, 168-pound Ellis certainly has validated Rocco’s glowing assessment.

His 44 tackles (27 solo) rank third on the Wildcats defense behind senior middle linebacker Mikah Boldon (55 stops) and senior boom safety Jason Bradford (51), who also switched spots this year after two seasons as a starting cornerback.

Employing an instinctive, relentless style of play, the quick, hard-hitting Ellis shares the team lead for sacks (four) and tackles for loss (seven) with Boldon and paces the Wildcats with 11 quarterback pressures. Ellis registered nine tackles, five QB pressures and two sacks against San Antonio Reagan and scored a touchd... Click here to read full article

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