Branden Mack leads a wide range of options at receiver
On the face of it, the news of Temple’s football season opener at Navy getting pushed back two weeks from Sept. 26 to Oct. 10 may seem like disappointing news.
And in the midst of an unprecedented college football season that has faced one challenge after another due to the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps it was in some ways for a program of players and coaches who are likely itching to get back out on the field.
But on the other hand, it might have been a blessing in disguise, especially for an Owls offense that returns its starting quarterback in Anthony Russo, its starting tailback in Re’Mahn Davis, and a deep wide receiving corps that’s among the best in the American Athletic Conference.
Second-year head coach Rod Carey has talked over the past month about how his team has been limited to practicing in groups of 50 - and that included staff as well – to comply with safety guidelines outlined by the city of Philadelphia. They’ve been able to get maybe 10 teams reps of offense vs. defense, but not much more.
So if Russo can get two additional weeks to establish more rhythm with his receiving corps, it could ultimately be a good thing.
Jadan Blue is getting some much-deserved hype heading into the 2020 campaign after he became the first Temple wide receiver to record more than 1,000 yards receiving in a season, but Russo and his fellow quarterbacks have another dynamic target to throw to in Branden Mack, a graduate student whose own career-best season was a bit overlooked last year due to Blue’s success.
Mack, a former quarterback, running back, defensive back and special teams standout at Cheltenham High School who signed with Temple as part of its 2016 recruiting class, set career-highs last season with 59 catches and seven touchdowns and also fell just 96 yards short of a 1,000-yard season with a career-best 904 receiving yards.
Like Blue, who saw his production increase dramatically by 92 receptions and 1,028 yards from 2018 to 2019, Mack has aspirations of playing in the NFL, and his 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame could be an asset for him as he works toward playing on Sundays in the future.
“There are a couple of pro guys that I model my game after,” Mack sais. “Davante Adams and Odell Beckham Jr. are examples. Even though those guys are small, I try to take little parts of their games and I try to put it in my game. As far as bigger receivers, Julio Jones is one of my favorite wide receivers in the NFL. He’s a big, fast, and strong guy who likes to go up there and get the ball, which is where I’m comfortable.”
With this season being pared down to eight games, the prospect of Mack and Blue becoming the program’s first pair of 1,000-yard receivers in the same year is unlikely. And the return of Randle Jones and the improvement of younger players like redshirt sophomores Jose Barbon and Jordan Smith could mean that Mack and Blue could see a dip in targets.
Mack doesn’t mind.
“We are all going to get the ball thrown to us,” Mack said. “We just have to go out there and make plays when the ball comes our way. There’s really no competition because we understand that at the end of the day, we just have to do our part and win our route. If the ball comes to us, the ball comes to us. It’s all about who the coaches want to get the ball to on that play. They know how to get each and everyone of us the ball and I’m confident that they’ll put us in our best position to have success.”