Gameday preview: Duke
After a 10-month wait, Temple is finally back with a new head coach and culture.
The Owls travel to Durham to take on the ACC’s Duke Blue Devils Friday night. Kickoff at Wallace Wade Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.
This game will also represent a battle of two brand new head coaches in Temple’s Stan Drayton and Duke’s Mike Elko, a New Jersey native who played college football at Penn.
With the Owls and Blue Devils both coming off 3-9 seasons in 2021, both new head coaches are facing rebuilding efforts and will get a good indication of where things stand in that process Friday night.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE
Redshirt sophomore D’Wan Mathis, who started seven games last season, competed for the job again in spring drills and then outlasted North Dakota State transfer Quincy Patterson during preseason camp before being named the opening-week starter last week by Drayton.
Last season, Mathis threw for 1,123 yds with a 59.5 completion percentage to go with six passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and four interceptions in seven games. Under a new offensive coordinator in Danny Langsdorf, whose resume includes stops at Colorado (2020-21), UNLV (2020), Fresno State (2019), Oregon (2018), Nebraska (2015-17) and stints in the NFL with the Giants and Saints, Mathis will be learning another new offense but could potentially have some better and more experienced playmakers on his side.
Drayton said the Owls could "maybe" play two quarterbacks against Duke, and it's possible there could be a few packages available to Patterson should Temple's running backs get off to a slow start.
Drayton reached to the transfer portal to bring in former Georgia Tech receiver Adonicas Sanders, who impressed the Owls’ staff enough to earn a single digit after an impressive preseason camp. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound South Carolina native caught 29 passes for 362 yards and three touchdowns last season with the Yellow Jackets. More important, he caught two passes, including the game-winning touchdown reception, in Georgia Tech’s 31-27 win over Duke last season.
“He’s got it. He’s a real guy,” Drayton said of Sanders last month. “I mean, he’s a tough nut, comes to work every single day. I love the way he catches the tough ball, you know? People are pulling his jersey off and he finds a way to catch the football. I mean, he’s a Temple tough guy.”
Sanders should get some help from graduate wide receiver Jose Barbon, who caught 40 passes for 440 yards and two touchdowns a year ago. Redshirt junior Amad Anderson Jr., who is also listed as a starter on the depth chart heading into Friday’s opener, caught 24 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns last fall and was featured on some jet sweeps and push passes, although it’s unclear how much of that we’ll see in Langsdorf’s offense. Ian Stewart, a Michigan State transfer with size at 6-3, 210 pounds, is another pass-catching target to keep an eye on.
Two other single-digit Owls are on the offensive line, with graduates Adam Klein (right tackle) and Issac Moore (left tackle) protecting the perimeter and trying to give Mathis the opportunity to get the ball to Temple’s playmakers. They’ll have to provide some guidance to an otherwise young and untested interior of the offensive line in redshirt-sophomore center Wisdom Quarshie, redshirt-sophomore right guard Jermaine Donaldson and redshirt-freshman Houston transfer James Faminu at left guard. Faminu played sparingly with the Cougars and Donaldson will be seeing his first game action since coming to Temple as part of the 2019 recruiting class. Quarshie rotated in at both guard positions last season and now takes over at center. Klein could back him up or move to that spot should Quarshie struggle there Friday.
At running back, Temple doesn’t yet have a clear lead back. Redshirt sophomore Edward Saydee is coming off a year with 323 yards and three touchdowns, and he will compete for touches with two transfers in Darvon Hubbard (Texas A&M) and Jakari Norwood (Illinois), a player Drayton seems high on entering the season. Redshirt freshman Trey Blair could also get some work in the backfield.
“Our running backs are a group that has improved especially this fall camp,” Drayton said, “and with the addition of Jakari Norwood. He has brought another dimension to that group.”
Drayton said redshirt-junior tight end David Martin-Robinson would be a “game-time” decision heading into Friday night’s game.
Across the line of scrimmage, the Owls will be looking at a Duke defensive unit that has to rebuild after finishing dead last in the nation in total defense in 2021, as the Blue Devils allowed 518 yards and 40 points per game.
Duke, which is likely to run a 4-2-5 base formation under Elko, has one of the ACC’s better linebackers in Shaka Heyward, who recently made the Senior Bowl watch list. He was a third-team all-ACC linebacker last season and has collected 9.5 sacks in his career.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE
There are three single-digit Owls on the defensive side of the ball in sophomore defensive end Darian Varner, redshirt-sophomore linebacker Jordan Magee and redshirt freshman cornerback Jalen McMurray.
After playing in just four games last season, McMurray turned in impressive performances during spring ball and preseason camp to earn his No. 7 jersey, beating out redshirt freshman Daiyaan Hawkins and incumbent Keyshawn Paul at one of the cornerback spots.
Magee finished fourth on the team last season with 54 tackles and will return at one of the inside linebacker spots, where he will be teamed up with junior college transfer Jacob Hollins, while outside linebackers Layton Jordan and another JUCO transfer in Tra Thomas will take on some pass-rushing responsibilities in new defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot’s system.
Varner tied former Owls linebacker William Kwenkeu for the team lead in sacks last season, albeit with three, and has shed about 20 pounds to move outside to defensive end.
Graduate cornerback Cameron Ruiz, a starter last season, showed up at third on the depth chart Monday, but he has been recovering from what Drayton called a significant leg injury that cost him all of spring football. He is healthy now and will play Friday, Drayton said.
Duke’s offense will be led Friday by quarterback Riley Leonard, who locked down the starting job about midway through preseason camp. A 6-4, 212-pound sophomore who played in seven games last season and started one of them, Leonard completed 37 of his 62 passes for 381 yards and one touchdown and threw one interception. He can run it a little bit, too, having tallied 47 carries for 173 yards and two touchdowns last season.
Although he lost out to Leonard in the quarterback position battle, Jordan Moore will still be utilized in Duke’s offense, most likely as a wide receiver. And after losing Mateo Durant and his 1,244 yards to the NFL, Duke will now rely upon Jaylen Coleman, Jaquez Moore and Jordan Waters in what is likely to be a committee approach at running back.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON SPECIAL TEAMS
Returning placekicker Rory Bell fended off some competition from Miami transfer Camden Price to keep his starting spot for now. Bell converted just 9 of his 16 field goal attempts last season but did knock home a 55-yarder at Cincinnati. And the Owls have a new punter in rugby-style kicker Mackenzie Morgan, an Australia native who transferred to Temple after stops at N.C. State and Weber State.
Amad Anderson will return as Temple’s punt returner, and Jakari Norwood, Malik Cooper and Jalen McMurray will all get a shot at rejuvenating what has been an otherwise stagnant kick return game for the Owls.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
1. A battle of first-time head coaches in Temple’s Stan Drayton and Duke’s Mike Elko. Which team will manage its opening-week emotions better and respond well to sudden change should adversity arrive in the form of turnovers, miscues and other tough breaks?
2. Temple’s D’Wan Mathis vs. a rebuilding Duke defense. Elko got the Duke job because he was one of the better defensive minds in college football, but the Blue Devils are still trying to revamp one of the nation’s worst defensive units. This is the beginning of a new opportunity for Mathis to start to prove he can thrive under better coaching and prove he can be as good as the 4-star, top-150 ranking he once had coming out of Michigan’s Oak Park High School that originally landed him at Georgia.
3. Temple cornerback Jalen McMurray vs. Duke wide receiver Jalon Calhoun. This is McMurray’s first regular-season, on-field opportunity to prove that Temple’s coaches did the right thing by awarding him a single digit. If he is indeed matched up against Calhoun, he’ll be covering the Blue Devils’ top returning wideout. Calhoun led Duke with three receiving touchdowns last season and caught 56 passes for 718 yards.