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Published Nov 29, 2024
Gameday guide: North Texas
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John DiCarlo  â€¢  OwlScoop
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While the search for the program’s next head coach is the bigger story swirling around them, Temple has a football game to play Saturday when the Owls close out their regular season against North Texas. Kickoff is set for noon on ESPN+.

Temple has not won more than three games in a season since 2019, when the Owls went 8-5 in Rod Carey’s first season on North Broad Street. They’ve gone 13-41 since then, starting with the 1-6 COVID-shortened season in 2020 that began to signal things were headed in the wrong direction in a hurry under Carey.

So while names like Sam Houston State head coach KC Keeler, Syracuse defensive coordinator and former Temple defensive line coach Elijah Robinson and Marshall head coach Charles Huff have emerged as potential replacements for the departed Stan Drayton, interim head coach Everett Withers will try to get the Owls over the three-win hump for the first time in five seasons with a win over a 5-6 North Texas team that was once 5-1 before losing its last five.

Even so, beating the Mean Green won’t be easy for Temple. There’s a reason, after all, why the Owls are engaged in their third head coaching search in six years.

Temple will honor 20 players prior to kickoff Saturday for Senior Day, including wide receiver Dante Wright, placekicker Maddux Trujillo, linebackers D.J. Woodbury and Tyquan King, defensive end Diwun Black and tight end James Della Pesca. King, along with fellow senior day honorees like James Faminu, Ben Osueke, Cole Sprague and Tra Thomas, could return next season since they have remaining eligibility.

When Temple is on offense

Quarterback Evan Simon enters Saturday’s game having thrown for 1,764 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s proven he can make plays when given good - or even adequate - protection, but that hasn’t been the case behind a mostly-young offensive line that hasn’t really shown much improvement as the season has progressed. While center Grayson Mains has been out with an injury since the loss at Tulane and forced backup Chris Smith into the lineup, Withers said this week that the tackles have mostly been the source of the Owls’ offensive line struggles. Tackles Diego Barajas (played all 72 snaps), James Faminu (49 snaps) and Melvin Siani (23 snaps) were part of an offensive line that surrendered six sacks in last week’s 51-27 loss at UTSA.

Sacks aren’t always the fault of the offensive line, but they’ve usually been the culprit this season.

If Simon get some time to throw, there’s no reason why Temple can’t score and throw the ball on a UNT defense that has allowed 36 points per game and allowed 260 yards per game through the air, along with 22 passing touchdowns. Wide receiver Dante Wright caught five passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns last week, including a 61-yarder. He could replicate that type of success again Saturday – if Simon gets a moderately clean pocket from which to throw.

UNT also has the American Athletic Conference’s fourth-worst rushing defense in the league, but Temple running back Antwain Littleton is doubtful to play this week, Withers said, after going down last week with a high ankle sprain. He got the bulk of the work at UTSA, collecting 64 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries before leaving with his injury, so that will mean more snaps for Terrez Worthy. Although he got just 28 yards on nine carries last week, he remains the team’s best home-run threat, having gained 423 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

Linebacker Jaylen Smith is UNT’s leading tackler with 90 stops on the season. The senior recorded 16 tackles, including 10 solos, in last week’s 40-28 loss to ECU. The Mean Green have tallied 20 sacks this season, so they’re not as dangerous a pass rush as that of the UTSA group that got six sacks on Temple last week and leads the league with 36.

When Temple is on defense

Here’s where the Owls are likely to get into trouble.

Temple is closing out its season by facing two of the league’s top three passers. UTSA’s Owen McCown carved them up last week for 220 yards and one touchdown through the air to go with a 75-yard rushing touchdown. Saturday, they’ll line up against UNT’s Chandler Morris, who leads the American with 3,594 yards and 30 passing touchdowns. The 6-foot, 190-pound Texas native was good enough out of high school to sign with Oklahoma before playing his next three seasons at TCU before hitting the portal and landing at UNT. He had 10 carries for 71 yards and scored on a 49-yard run against Memphis, so he’s an occasional threat to run as well.

A Temple secondary that has struggled for the last several weeks might have its hands full with UNT leading receiver DT Sheffield, who has reeled in 62 catches for 775 yards and 10 touchdowns. The 5-10, 170-pound junior has been relatively quiet over the last three games, catching just 11 passes for 85 yards in that span, but he caught a combined 17 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns in consecutive games against Memphis and Tulane, so he’s proven he can rise to the occasion against good competition.

Temple can count on steady play and tackling from linebackers D.J. Woodbury and Tyquan King and cornerback Jamel Johnson, but if they don’t get some pressure on Morris and get better play in the secondary from Johnson’s supporting cast, it’s going to be a long day.

Special teams

While Temple has one of the best kickers in the country in Maddux Trujillo, UNT redshirt freshman Kali Nguma has struggled a bit. He missed a 29-yard try last week and had a 51-yard attempt blocked. Two of his four misses this season have come from inside 30 yards.

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