E.J. Warner overcomes early adversity in Temple's win
During the week in practice, true freshman quarterback E.J. Warner threw what he called one of “the grossest balls I’ve ever thrown of my life” in the direction of wide receiver Adonicas Sanders.
On Saturday, the same play went for a 50-yard touchdown pass and one of the best throws Warner has made in his young career, and it helped put the finishing touches on Temple’s 28-0 win over UMass at Lincoln Financial Field.
It was also proof that Warner is capable of bouncing back from some earlier adversity and mistakes.
In his second career start, Warner finished the day 11 of 22 passing for 173 yards and two touchdowns, but not before fighting through the most mistake-prone part of his day. On back-to-back drives, Warner threw interceptions in the first half.
The first was a poor decision over the middle of the field in double coverage into the hands of UMass cornerback Jordan Mahoney. His second interception wasn’t as bad of a read, as he was looking for Ian Stewart on a crossing route, but it tipped off of Stewart and over to Noah Boykin.
But on Temple’s next drive, Warner responded with what was then his best throw of the day, a 34-yard dime down the right sideline to Sanders, who has been Warner’s most targeted receiver.
After that play, it seemed the offense then settled down and went to work.
Prior to that throw, Warner had completed just 3 of his first 10 pass attempts. The pass to Sanders was the first of five straight completions and set him on his way to completing 8 of his last 12 throws of the afternoon.
“It was definitely a big play,” Warner said. “Anytime you get an explosive, it helps get your team ready and rolling. Hopefully, convert on the rest of the drive. Dono (Sanders) made a nice move on his guy, went up, made a nice play on the sideline, and that was definitely good for us.”
Just as important was the fact that the Warner-to-Sanders came at a time when Temple really needed it, facing third-and-14 from its own 27-yard line. It kept the drive going, one that culminated in Warner’s 11-yard touchdown throw to Ian Stewart that helped put the Owls up 7-0 at the half.
From that drive on, Temple dominated the rest of the way.
Warner then settled down in the second half and didn’t put the ball in harm’s way again, and he thrived when first-hear head coach Stan Drayton continued calling an aggressive game, just as he had last week.
Facing a fourth-and-1 from its own 29-yard line on Temple’s opening series of the third quarter, Drayton elected to go for it. Instead of running the ball, Drayton and offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf had Warner drop back to pass, and he hit tight end David Martin-Robinson for what turned into a 30-yard catch and run. The conversion was part of a 10-play, 80-yard drive that eventually found the end zone when backup quarterback Quincy Patterson scored from two yards out, and Rory Bell’s extra point gave the Owls a 14-0 lead at the 9:52 mark of the third quarter.
Patterson’s involvement in the second half was part of a coaching staff adjustment to respond to the Owls’ continued issues with running the football. Warner was coming in and out of the game consistently as Patterson went on to become Temple’s leading rusher on the day with 52 yards on 10 carries.
Warner said he didn’t mind splitting time with his teammate.
“My mindset is whenever I am on the field, you go out there and make plays,” Warner said. “When I’m not, I’m gonna support Quincy and have him go out there and make plays on his own. Whatever chance I got, just capitalize on it, and whenever he has a chance, capitalize on his. So it was definitely fun to be out there with him and trade off and make some good drives.”
With Temple heading into American Athletic Conference play next Saturday at Memphis, Warner is 1-1 as a starter and has completed 60.3 percent of his passes (44 of 73) to go with five touchdowns and three interceptions. He will be facing a Tigers team that’s 3-1 coming off Saturday’s 44-34 win over future AAC program North Texas and currently ninth in the conference in scoring defense, having allowed an average of 32 points through four games.
Memphis is also last in the American in passing defense after allowing an average of 298.8 yards per game through the air, and the Tigers are tied for seventh in the league with four sacks.
The one thing Warner has been gaining from the moment he stepped on the field in week two to replace D’Wan Mathis against Lafayette is confidence. It has come as he continues to play behind a mostly-young offensive line, save for veterans Adam Klein, who switched to center Saturday, and senior left tackle Isaac Moore.
He was pressured frequently Saturday, including the sideline throw he made to Sanders and his touchdown toss to Stewart in the second quarter. He was sacked once in the first half and narrowly avoided a safety on the play.
The 50-yard scoring bomb to Sanders came with the benefit of a clean pocket.
“I came in, and I’m not the biggest guy,” said Warner, who is listed at 6-feet, 190 pounds on Temple’s official roster. “So I’m just trying to come in with all these big guys moving super fast. Just getting more experience on the field has kind of helped the game slow down and just helped me stay in there, be comfortable and make the plays I need to.”
Follow Max Dinenber on Twitter at @DinenbergMax.
Front page photo by Don Otto.