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Defenseless Owls need answers

Temple’s defense needs to figure things out soon.

The Owls have allowed 954 yards and 83 points in a two-game span. The back-to-back underwhelming defensive performances against USF and UCF are alarming and obviously a big part of Temple’s three-game losing streak following a win over Memphis back on Oct. 2. And there was, of course, the 52-3 loss to then-No. 5 Cincinnati back on Oct. 8 that started the losing skid.

Temple, now 3-5, lost 49-7 to a UCF team Saturday afternoon that had not won on the road this season.

Third-year defensive coordinator Jeff Knowles is struggling to find answers, but are there solutions? On the back end of the field, injuries left Temple without three starters in safeties Amir Tyler and M.J. Griffin, the Owls’ two leading tacklers, and cornerback Keyshawn Paul. And another starting safety, DaeSean Winston, started at Rutgers but sustained an injury in that game and has not played since.

So yes, Temple’s defense, particularly the secondary, is inexperienced and banged up. Second-year freshman Alex Odom and true freshman Corey Cuascut-Palmer were two of the three starting safeties, along with redshirt junior Jalen Ware, but well-coached teams can often overcome those issues.

Third-year head coach Rod Carey sat at the podium after Saturday’s loss and was accountable for the overall bad performance.

“No excuses,” he said.

UCF had fallen a bit short of expectations under first-year head coach Gus Malzahn. Without quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who broke his clavicle in a 42-35 loss to Louisville on Sept.18, the Knights lost their firepower, but it was reignited against Temple.

The Owls’ run defense made slight improvements Saturday in giving up 199 yards on the ground. Then again, that’s not saying much after the Owls allowed USF to rush for an abysmal 421 yards in Tampa last weekend.

The pass defense crumbled and allowed a true freshman quarterback, Mikey Keene, to throw for 229 yards and five touchdowns. The 5-foot-11,180-pound signal caller matched the amount of total touchdowns Saturday afternoon that he had thrown all season prior to Saturday.

It’s hard to find a bright spot in a 42-point loss, but a few young players took valuable snaps. Palmer, Odom, second-year freshman BUBO Muheem McCargo and redshirt-freshman defensive tackle Jacoby Sharpe started the game. McCargo racked up four tackles and Cuascut-Palmer finished with two. Carey was encouraged by their performances.

“There was some things in there that were very, very positive. There were some mistakes as well,” Carey said. “We need to build on the positives and eliminate the mistakes, but certainly at times didn’t look out of place out there.”

Northwestern transfer Cameron Ruiz used an analogy to describe how Temple has to approach things moving forward.

“Put out the fire,” the cornerback said. “We came here hopeful. We know we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, but we are so confident in ourselves. Still a long season.”

Temple expected Keene to take deep shots down the field to his fast wide receivers, Ruiz said. The long ball was effective, but UCF’s offense was methodical and balanced as well. Running backs Isaiah Bowser and Johnny Richardson both ran for one touchdown apiece.

In the second quarter with 9 minutes and 29 seconds remaining, Keene found tight end Alec Holler wide open for a 13-yard touchdown, giving the Knights a 14-0 lead. And with 33 seconds left in the second quarter, Keene’s pass to wide receiver Brandon Johnson went for an 18-yard touchdown, expanding UCF’s lead to 21-0.

On the first drive of the third quarter, with 12:20 remaining, Keene connected to Holler once more for a 33-yard touchdown. Holler was wide open in the middle of the field and had plenty of space as he sprinted toward the end zone to help lift the Knights to a 28-0 lead.

Thirteen seconds later, Edward Saydee fumbled and UCF recovered. On the first play of the new drive, Keene connected with wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe for a 12-yard touchdown, giving the Knights a 35-0 lead.

The knockout punch came with 3:41 to go in the third quarter. Keene placed a perfect ball to O’Keefe near the left sideline. O’Keefe gained slight separation and scored a 46-yard touchdown, extending the Knights’ lead to 42-0.

And even when the Owls had the chance to make a play or create a turnover, they botched it. At the end of the second quarter, Ware read Keene perfectly and snatched the ball out of the air for an interception. Then he carried the ball carelessly as he started his return and fumbled it back over to UCF.

The schedule remains difficult with ECU, Houston and Tulsa coming up next. ECU (4-4) is not an offensive juggernaut, but the Pirates beat USF 29-14 Thursday and only lost to UCF by 20-16 on Oct.9.

To get to six wins and bowl eligibility, Temple must win three of its last four games, and the Owls’ defense, banged up as it is, must improve. A struggling secondary is getting virtually no help from a defensive front that produced just one sack Saturday (from Layton Jordan), and fellow defensive end Manny Walker has cooled off since a strong start. After collecting 13 tackles, two interceptions and a sack in the Owls’ first four games, Walker has contributed just four tackles and no sacks over the last four games.

“We only got each other,” redshirt junior linebacker George Reid said of a defense that has allowed 35.8 points per game, the second-worst mark in the American Athletic Conference. “We got to stick together and keep working every week like we do.”

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