During Friday’s media day, Temple coach Stan Drayton revealed that there was a second and final scrimmage scheduled for that night at Penn's Franklin Field. That scrimmage, Drayton said, would act as an interview for players and could go a long way toward building the depth chart.

Drayton met with reporters again Monday and said there was still no decision on who will start at quarterback. Rutgers transfer Evan Simon and junior college product Forrest Brock are still competing to see who will take the first snap against No. 16 Oklahoma, as is redshirt-freshman Tyler Douglas.

“Our quarterbacks were doing a great job competing,” Drayton told reporters. “It did solidify some things, but we are still getting our depth chart together.”

One of the other big decision looming over the team, who will earn a single digit, was voted on over the weekend, Drayton said. Drayton is not set to reveal who has earned those prestigious single-digit jersey numbers until Friday.

Here are other key takeaways from Monday’s media availability with Drayton, defensive backs coach Dominique Bowman and linebackers coach Chris Woods.

While saying the scrimmage would go a long way toward determine the depth chart, Drayton made it clear that it was also designed to get his guys ready for the atmosphere they will face at Oklahoma.

The third-year head coach opted to hold the scrimmage at Franklin Field at Penn in the evening. Drayton wanted to throw his guys off their routine and get his travel squad ready for week one.

“We pumped in the crowd noise. It was more or less about getting on the buses. We talked to them about what it’s going to be like in the hotel prior to a night game, so we practiced late at night,” Drayton said. “We had our in-the-hotel routine going on and then once we got to the field it was the whole pregame warmup, letting them know where they are going to be in the locker room and on the sideline. As the scrimmage went on, we tried to make it as close to a game as possible."

"It was just for logistics and making sure the travel squad knows exactly what is expected of them on a travel day," Drayton added. "Every day is an opportunity to evaluate the depth chart and that is a continual thing for us.”

Beyond the logistical aspect, the scrimmage was also successful from an on-field perspective for Drayton. The offense came out firing, racking up a multitude of big plays from guys like running back Terrez Worthy and wide receiver Zae Baines.

Despite the offensive success, Drayton said the defense still made its mark on the scrimmage and played well after the fast offensive start.

“The offense came out firing on all cylinders, there is no question about it. Although it seemed like our defense wasn’t clicking, they were actually playing some pretty good football,” Drayton said. “Although they didn’t play well on first down, they showed the ability to get back on second down and the production on second down was really good. For me, that’s an indicator that we can get to the next play, which is critical. Regardless of what happens on one play, we were able from a mindset perspective to get to the next play.”

The cornerback room underwent a major overhaul during the offseason. Eight of the 11 guys who were in that room last season are no longer on the roster, headlined by former single-digit Jalen McMurray, who headed to Tennessee, and Dominick Hill, who transferred to Liberty.

The Owls brought in a handful of transfers to rebuild that secondary, most notably Jaylen Lewis from Arkansas, Javier Morton from Nebraska and Torey Richardson from UTEP. The rest of the guys that joined the team are either transfers from JUCO, FCS schools or are incoming freshmen. Despite seemingly losing more talent than gaining on paper, Bowman feels the depth he has at corner is much improved.

“I don’t feel like there is much of a dropoff from the first group to the second group,” Bowman said. “It’s not about the first group, it’s about the guys behind. It’s a long season and injuries will happen and guys will get tired, so we expect our guys to be able to go in and play and not have a huge dropoff. The depth is better for sure.”

Elijah Deravil, who bumped over to cornerback after racking up 40 tackles as a safety last year, has stood out. The Miami native has stepped up as a silent leader in the room and has had a great camp, according to Bowman.

“I think [Elijah Deravi] is the most improved player we have on defense,” Bowman said. “We brought a bunch of new guys in and we met at the end of the year and he knew we had to get better. He could have gone in the portal and transferred, but he asked me if he could be a starter and I said yes, so he came in and has been great. He’s probably had the best camp of the whole unit.”

When Temple takes on No.16 Oklahoma in 11 days, it will be a tall task for the Owls to take down the Sooners. After all, Temple has not beaten a ranked opponent since the 2019 season when they upset No. 20 Maryland and No. 23 Memphis in the first five weeks.

The Owls will have the help of someone who used to be at Oklahoma and knows what the atmosphere is like in Norman. Linebackers coach Chris Woods spent 2015-17 coaching at Oklahoma as a defensive assistant. Now the veteran coach is heading back to Norman as a visitor.

Woods has tried to relay as much information as he can remember from his time with the Sooners to his current players and coaches. The Owls open as heavy underdogs, so any intel and extra preparation they can get will help.

“I have been sharing my tidbits of knowledge, mainly about what it is going to be like to be there. It is very hard to simulate what type of crowd it is and how tight it is. The sidelines are incredibly tight,” Woods said. “Their strength coach, who is a good friend of mine, is going to be the guy over there barking in their ear anytime they are near the sideline. I’m just trying to prepare them for that kind of stuff.”