After managing just 14 points and 509 yards of total offense in losses to No. 16 Oklahoma and Navy in the season’s first two weeks, Temple’s offense finally showed some signs of life in last Saturday’s 28-20 loss to Coastal Carolina.
Some of the credit goes to Rutgers transfer Evan Simon, the redshirt junior who replaced Forrest Brock at quarterback after Brock sustained what head coach Stan Drayton called a wrist contusion during the Navy loss.
A Simon-led offense doubled Temple’s touchdown total on the season and had 314 yards of total offense. Simon completed 17 of his 25 passes for 185 yards to go with two touchdowns and an interception, a deflected pass at the line of scrimmage that turned into a pick-six.
Players like wide receiver John Adams and left guard Eric King said Tuesday that they admired Simon’s command of the offense and the huddle, but Drayton refused to name a starter ahead of Saturday’s 2 p.m. game against Utah State, calling it a “day-by-day” process.
“We’re going to play the guy that's ready to play and that has the best week of preparation between the two,” Drayton said Monday during his weekly press conference.
Utah State comes to town to play Temple coming off a 38-21 loss to No. 12 Utah. The Aggies held a four-point lead late in the second quarter before Utah scored a touchdown in the final minute of the first half and never looked back.
After facing a triple-option offense for the last two weeks, the Owls will now take on a more traditional outfit with Utah State, one that could benefit from the return of its starting quarterback Spencer Petras, who went down with an ankle injury in the season opener against Robert Morris and subsequently missed the Aggies’ last two games against USC and Utah. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Friday evening that Petras will return Saturday against Temple and make the 33rd start of his career.
Saturday’s kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN+.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE
Whether it’s Simon or Brock at quarterback Saturday, they’ll be facing a Utah State defense that has experienced its share of struggles through three games. The Aggies come in at 120th in the country in total defense, allowing 453 yards per game. They have also given up 33 points per game, which puts them at 118th nationally in scoring defense.
Utah State does still have some talent on the defensive side of the ball. Safety Jordan Vincent leads the Aggies in total tackles with 35 on the season, while inside linebacker John Ross Maye has 25 stops, two of which have been for a loss. Fellow linebacker Clyde Washington, a former Temple commit out of South Jersey's Lenape High School who flipped to Purdue and played his first four college seasons with the Boilermakers, has chipped in 20 tackles for the Aggies.
Senior Miguel Jackson, a 6-foot, 290-pound Charlotte transfer, was a very good scholastic player in the WPIAL at Pine-Richland High School, where he was the program’s all-time sack leader with 36. He had 3.5 sacks as a defensive end at Charlotte before moving inside to play defensive tackle this season at Utah State.
When speaking with reporters Tuesday, King pointed out that the Aggies' defensive line doesn’t have a lot of size, but they appeared fast, and that was a point of emphasis in scouting them ahead of the matchup.
“Utah State has some twitched-up D-linemen,” said King, a redshirt freshman from New Jersey’s Saint Peter’s Prep who started and played every snap at left guard last week for Temple in his first career college game. “[They're] not very very big, just very twitched up, fast and they’re good with their hands, so I’m anticipating that all week in practice.”
Temple’s rushing attack saw some life against Coastal Carolina, gaining a season-high 129 yards. Maryland transfer running back Antwain Littleton Jr. had 76 of those 129 yards on 12 rushing attempts.
Utah State’s rushing defense has struggled so far this season, allowing more than 5.0 yards per carry and 202 rushing yards per game. If the Owls want to open up the passing game for whoever is under center, they could and should have the opportunity to establish the run.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE
After being the weak link in the Navy loss, Temple’s defense bounced back a bit against Coastal Carolina to keep the Owls in the game.
Defensive coordinator Everett Withers’ group allowed Coastal Carolina just 287 yards of total offense and 21 points, with the other seven coming on the tipped pick-six from Simon.
Temple linebacker D.J. Woodbury Sr. added last week to what has already been the best statistical season of his career, finishing with 15 tackles and a sack. He has continued to establish himself as a top defender in the American Athletic Conference, sitting at second in total tackles with 28 and first in solo tackles with 19.
Utah State’s offense has also struggled to find success this season under interim head coach Nate Dreiling, the youngest FBS head coach at 33 years old. The Aggies' former defensive coordinator took over once Utah State placed former head coach Blake Anderson on administrative leave in July. The Aggies sit at 115th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 19 points per game.
How much of that has come from Petras’ absence? Saturday could offer more clarity.
On one hand, Petras has 32 career starts in his back pocket, but he hasn’t played since getting injured on a second-quarter scramble against Robert Morris in the opener. He completed 10 of his 15 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown before he got hurt, but he also threw two interceptions against what is now a 1-2 FCS team.
Petras had 11 rushing touchdowns to his credit in his four seasons at Iowa, but he’s not a mobile quarterback, something Utah State has seen in his backup, Bryson Barnes, over the last two-plus games. Barnes had 36 rushing yards and a 1-yard touchdown run against Utah, and he reeled off a 63-yard touchdown run against Robert Morris in relief of Petras.
After facing three straight dual-threat quarterbacks to start the season in Oklahoma’s former 5-star recruit Jackson Arnold, Navy’s Blake Horvath and Coastal Carolina’s Ethan Vasko, Temple could potentially benefit from going up against more of a pocket passer in Petras.
The Aggies’ rushing attack has had some success with well-traveled senior running back Rahsul Fasion, who played at Lackawanna College, Marshall and Snow College before landing at Utah State. A Pottstown native and the cousin of former Temple linebacker and eventual Super Bowl champion Rian Wallace, Faison has 251 total yards and averages 82.3 yards per game.
The Aggies have sustained drives with an offense that sits at 55th in the FBS with 418 yards of offense per game. Finishing off those drives, however, has been the issue. Utah State’s red-zone offense is tied for 108th in the FBS.
Any day now, Temple needs to force a turnover, something the Owls have yet to do through three games. In fact, Temple has forced just five turnovers in the program’s last 17 games. The Owls are dead last among all FBS programs with a turnover margin of minus-11.
Maybe this is the week where Cam’Ron Stewart or Tra Thomas could get to a pocket passer like Petras for a strick sack.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON SPECIAL TEAMS
Temple placekicker Maddux Trujillo has been as good as advertised since transferring in from Austin Peay with the reputation of having a strong leg. He’s converted four of his five field goal attempts. His lone miss this season, a 54-yarder, came last week against Coastal Carolina, but he later responded by making a kick from that same distance.
Utah State placekicker Elliot Nimrod is 3-for-6 on field goals this season with a long of 50 yards, and one of his misses was blocked.
Robert Freeman IV is Utah State’s return specialist on both kickoffs and punts with season-long returns of 16 and 21 yards on punts and kickoffs, respectively.
