Coming off a lopsided 51-3 loss at No.15 Oklahoma last Friday, Temple has to put the ugly defeat in the past and snap into conference mode.
Week two has typically not brought an American Athletic Conference game for Temple. Outside of the Covid-shortened 2020 season when the Owls’ schedule consisted of only conference opponents, Temple has not played a week two conference game since 2015.
Saturday, Temple will take on Navy in an early-season conference clash. The Owls head into the game as 14-point underdogs after Navy beat FCS opponent Bucknell, 49-21.
The Owls’ lone conference win last season came against Navy at Lincoln Financial Field, a 32-18 victory behind a big performance from quarterback E.J Warner. But Warner transferred to Rice, and Forrest Brock will instead be leading Temple under center for a second consecutive week.
Temple has not won a road game under third-year head coach Stan Drayton, and the Owls’ last conference road win came at UConn on Nov, 30. 2019. To put that into perspective, UConn left the American Athletic Conference following that season and has spent the last four seasons as an independent.
Saturday’s kickoff from Navy-Marine Corps Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE
Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong for Temple on offense last week did go wrong. The Owls turned the ball over five times (the sixth turnover came courtesy of a Dante Wright fumble on a punt return) and had less than 200 yards of total offense. Quarterback Forrest Brock looked rattled for much of the first half in his first career FBS start. While the second half looked better offensively, with one drive even resulting in a field goal, Brock and the offense head to Annapolis with a lot to prove.
Now Temple will go from facing one of the nation’s top defenses with future pros like linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman to a Navy defense that is consistently one of the best in the AAC.
The Midshipmen have finished with a top-six scoring defense in the conference every year since they joined in 2015. Last season, Navy finished with the third-ranked scoring defense in the conference, allowing an average of 22.4 points per game, and the Midshipmen return a majority of their starters from a season ago.
Linebacker Colin Ramos leads the charge on the defensive side of the ball for Navy. The senior racked up 110 tackles, which was second in the conference, had eight tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles. Ramos’ production earned him a spot on the AAC first-team.
Alongside Ramos, the Navy defense returns safeties Mbiti Williams Jr. and Rayshaun Lane III and linebacker Luke Pirris, who had a fumble recovery against Temple last season. Those four were top five in tackles for Navy last season. The Midshipmen also return their two sack leaders in linebacker Justin Reed and Pirris, both of whom had 4.5 sacks a season ago.
After struggling to find offensive line consistency in Drayton’s first two Temple seasons due to injuries and a lack of quality depth and talent, the Owls enter week two prepared to start the same five players, which did not happen very often last year. Despite losing guard Luke Watson to a knee injury Drayton said will have him out for “a while,” redshirt freshman left tackle Kevin Terry, graduate left guard James Faminu, redshirt sophomore center Grayson Mains, graduate right guard Wisdom Quarshie and redshirt freshman right tackle Melvin Siani should be slated to start again and be tasked with creating running lanes for backs like E.J. Wilson, Antwain Littleton and Joquez Smith and time in the pocket for Brock, who went 12 of 25 passing for 128 yards and two interceptions last week while being sacked six times.
Only two of those sacks, Drayton said, came from breakdowns by the offensive line. Other issues like subpar adjustments from the wide receivers or Brock holding on to the ball too long were contributing factors.
“We got to get some chemistry up front,” Drayton said at his weekly press conference on Monday. “We moved guys around in the past because there was a lack of depth and talent. When you have depth and talent, you have to get some camaraderie up front.”
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE
Giving up 51 points is never considered a good performance by a defense, but the number on the scoreboard did not tell the whole story. The numerous turnovers allowed the Sooners to start four drives in Temple territory, putting the defense in a bad spot. The defense also held the Sooners to 1-for-12 on third down, leaving some things to like from an otherwise forgettable matchup.
At the end of the day, Temple’s defense looked like it belonged on the same field as Oklahoma. Navy head coach Brian Newberry took note of that right away and knows the Owls are better than what their week one scoreboard showed.
“We have to prepare for a really athletic team coming in here,” Newberry told reporters Monday over Zoom. “You watch them against Oklahoma and, athletically, they fit right in with Oklahoma. I think they've improved in a lot of areas of the program. They’ve got some good players. What they're doing schematically on both sides of the ball is good and I'm sure they're going to be a much improved team coming here for Week 2.”
Navy’s offense is going to look a bit different than it has in past years. Historically known for running the triple-option, the Midshipmen switched to more of a hybrid Wing-T.
The hybrid Wing-T that offensive coordinator Drew Cronic has installed is still based on the triple-option. But while the triple-option has almost no passing involved, the wing-T features more play-action passing, creating a new sense of misdirection. The effects of the new offense were on display last week.
Quarterbacks Blake Horvath and Braxton Woodson combined to go 10 of 19 passing with 173 yards and three touchdowns. Those are average passing numbers to a regular team, but not for Navy.
The early recipients of the increased passing attack were slotbacks Eli Heidenreich and Brandon Chatman. Heidenreich had five receptions for 74 yards and a score while Chatman only had one grab, but it turned into a 42-yard touchdown.
Even with more of an emphasis on passing, the Midshipmen are still a run-first team, as Navy averaged five yards per carry on 53 rushing attempts in the Bucknell win. Fullback Daba Fofana returns to the backfield where he has been a significant piece the last two years and scored the Mids’ first touchdown last week on a 49-yard run.
The other half of Navy’s fullback duo is Alex Tecza. Tecza returns after starting eight games last season and averaging six yards per carry. The junior fullback led the Midshipmen in carries last week and also scored a touchdown.
“They run the original football play, Wing-T, everything like that,” Temple defensive tackle Latrell Jean said. “This is a whole different week to prepare for us. We have to prepare to stop their run. That’s what they do, they run the ball. They run it downhill. Their O-line is coming off heavy. That’s going to be smash-mouth football. Their whole scheme is just back to the basics.”
It’s often said when preparing for and scouting Navy, but eye discipline will be everything for players like Jean, who notched a sack last week, linebackers D.J. Woodbury and Eric Stuart, and safeties Andreas Keaton and Javier Morton.
SCOUTING SPECIAL TEAMS
Nathan Kirkwood returns as Navy’s starting placekicker. The senior, who went 6 of 9 on field goals last season with a long of 45 yards, was not called upon to kick a field goal last week, but he did miss the extra point after Fofana’s opening touchdown. Navy punter Riley Riethman is one of the best punters in the conference, having been named first-team all-AAC last season with a punt average of 44.8 yards.
Heidenreich returned the two punts against Bucknell while slotback Isaiah Bryant handled the majority of kickoff return duties despite not appearing in any games last season. Bryant showcased some pop in his returns, picking up 83 yards on three bring-backs.
Temple kicker Maddux Trujillo accounted for the Owls’ only points against Oklahoma. The Austin Peay transfer knocked in a 49-yard field goal in the third quarter, showing off his strong leg that drew plenty of praise in camp.
The Owls didn’t get anything going in the return game last week, as evidenced by Dante Wright’s punt return fumble that was recovered by Jaren Kanak and returned 21 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Temple certainly can’t turn over the ball six times again and expect to beat Navy, and the Owls can’t cough it up again on special teams.
Front page photo by Zamani Feelings
