Forrest Brock told reporters that the initial snaps of Friday’s scrimmage were determined by a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, but the redshirt junior knows he has a legitimate chance to start in Norman, Oklahoma against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Aug. 30 season opener.
The Topanga, California native and Santa Monica Community College product also knows what Temple’s coaches are looking for from their starter.
“They’re looking for consistency,” Brock said after Friday’s practice at Chodoff Field. “Being safe with the ball and not making dumb plays. We all have to kind of cancel out that one play where we’re like, ‘Why’d you throw it there?’ Other than that, just consistency.”
Watch Brock's full post-practice interview here.
Although it was one small sample size where little else was going well around him, Brock’s one stretch of playing time in a Temple uniform last season didn’t go well. After a Quincy Patterson-led offense couldn’t produce any points in the first half, Brock started the second half with the Owls down 24-0 to SMU and went just 7 of 15 for 60 yards and an interception in what became a 55-0 blowout loss.
In the two spring practices open in full to the media, Brock threw the ball well, but Temple head coach Stan Drayton and offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf stopped short of naming a starter after April’s Cherry and White game and looked at adding to the position via the transfer portal, although they ultimately did not. So Brock will be competing with Rutgers transfer Evan Simon and redshirt freshman Tyler Douglas for the right to start the opener, while preferred walk-on Patrick Keller and true freshman Chris Dietrich try to make the most of their August snaps, too.
Former Temple quarterback E.J. Warner threw for 41 touchdowns and more than 6,000 yards in his two seasons with the Owls before leaving for Rice via the transfer portal, but he wasn’t mobile. Brock said he, Simon and Douglas, by contrast, can make plays with their feet and that there will be more run-pass options in the playbook this season.
There is some pressure that comes with having to be picture-perfect day in and day out as well as emerging as a team leader, but Brock is trying to keep things simple.
“Just have to play well,” said Brock, who passed for 2,006 yards and 16 touchdowns and scored three more on the ground at Santa Monica Community College during the 2022 season. “If you play well, everyone will agree that you're that guy and they’ll want you to lead them.”
“Off the field I'm always talking to almost all the guys,” Brock added when asked about team bonding off the field. “We’re all really close. I think our locker room this year is a lot closer than we were last year, so I think we have a good thing going.”
Despite his miniscule FBS experience, Brock is confident in his abilities.
“Fast decision making,” Brock said, “and I’ve got legs. If there’s nothing down the field, I can get five [yards] easily.”
The atmosphere at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium will be the loudest and largest Temple sees this season, and the Owls are 42-point underdogs as of now against a Sooners program that went 10-3 last year and finished 15th in the final AP Poll of the season. Oklahoma is currently 16th in the first Coaches Poll released Aug. 5 as the program enters its first season in the SEC.
If Brock takes the first snap on Aug. 30, he believes he’ll be ready for the noise.
“What are we, 25 days out? Get some film-watching. I'm excited,” he said. “I've been waiting for this my whole life. Just have to be loud, you know? It’s going to be a loud game, so just making sure I'm talking clearly to the offensive line and the receivers and making sure they all know what they're doing.”