Gameday preview: Memphis

Following a 28-0 win over UMass last week, Temple heads into American Athletic Conference play with a 2-2 record as the Owls travel to take on the 3-1 Memphis Tigers Saturday with a noon kickoff on ESPNU.

This will be the eighth all-time meeting between the conference rivals, with neither team having posted consecutive wins in the series. The Owls took the 4-3 lead with a win in Temple’s homecoming game at the Linc last year.

The Tigers are coming into Saturday’s game with a 3-1 record and a 1-0 AAC record. Memphis started the year with a 49-23 loss at Mississippi State before reeling off three straight wins, including a 37-13 win over Navy to pick up their first conference win.

Memphis is coming off a disappointing 2021 season in which it finished seventh in the conference with a 6-6 season and a 3-5 year in the AAC. Temple, meanwhile, never won again after beating Memphis last season and finished with a 3-9 record, which led to Rod Carey’s dismissal and the eventual hiring of Stan Drayton.

Memphis’ offense is led by sophomore quarterback Seth Henigan, who has already thrown for 1,081 yards with eight touchdowns and just one interception. Memphis averages 433 yards per game and 37 points per game, so this will be Temple’s toughest test yet this season for a defense that has started to round into form.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE

True freshman quarterback E.J. Warner encountered some adversity last week in throwing two early interceptions before recovering to land his first win as a starter, finishing 11 of 22 passing for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Backup Quincy Patterson out-snapped Warner by three in the second half after seeing no action in the first. He was 3-for-3 for 33 yards and had 10 carries for 52 yards with a touchdown and a fumble. With Temple’s struggles running the football, Drayton made a second-half adjustment to go with a two-quarterback system. That seemed to pay off, as the Owls looked much better in that second half. It’s an approach Drayton and offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf could look to take again Saturday at Memphis.

Once again, the Owls struggled to run the football. After seeing three running backs get their opportunity, redshirt sophomore Darvon Hubbard led the room with 14 carries for 51 yards, while Edward Saydee only had three carries for 8 yards and Jakari Norwood had three carries for zero yards. As of now, it seems the coaching staff trusts backup quarterback Patterson and Hubbard to get the run game going to try to take some pressure off Warner and an offensive line that still isn’t giving him a whole lot of time to throw the football.

Georgia Tech transfer Adonicas Sanders posted four catches for 101 yards and a 50-yard touchdown reception last week. The Warner-to-Sanders connection has been strong since Warner took over as the starter. Meanwhile, Jose Barbon has been going in the opposite direction. In the last two games combined, Barbon has three catches for 20 yards, but he remains a viable option for Warner as he continues to learn in the offense and distribute the ball. Former starting quarterback D’Wan Mathis had nine snaps at wide receiver last week and Drayton said Monday he will be looking to earn more playing time as the season goes on.

After missing the first three games of the season, redshirt junior tight end David Martin-Robinson came back against UMass and impacted the game with three catches for 54 yards, including a 33-yard reception on a fourth-down conversion deep in Temple territory. His return adds to a tight end room that includes an improving Jordan Smith.

There was more movement to the Owls’ offensive line last week, as single-digit right tackle Adam Klein moved to center against UMass, but that move didn’t necessarily mean more stability for the offense. Warner took his first sack of his career, and the run game continued to struggle. Warner is a pocket passer, so the offensive line needs to improve on its protection to avoid Warner getting hit in the pocket. Keep an eye on whether or not Richard Rodriguez returns this week to play center, which would mean Klein would move back out to right tackle.

Statistically speaking, Memphis' defense isn't anything impressive. The Tigers are ninth out of 11 teams in the American in scoring defense, having allowed 32 points per game, as opposed to Temple's 15, and they're dead last in passing defense after allowing an average of nearly 299 yards per game through the air.

But Memphis is tied for fifth nationally in turnover margin at plus-7. The Tigers have picked off five passes and recovered four fumbles, and they used two pick-sixes from defensive lineman Jaylon Allen and linebacker Xavier Cullens in beating North Texas 44-34 last week.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE

Single-digit defensive lineman Darian Varner led the charge for the Owls’ front three in week four. He had three tackles, including two for a loss. Now facing a Memphis team that can hurt the Owls throwing the ball, the front three will need to create pressure on their own to make Henigan uncomfortable.

Temple’s linebackers continue to improve. Layton Jordan showed off another element of his game last week by dropping into coverage and snagging a one-handed pick-six in the third quarter that helped give the Owls a 21-0 lead. Kobe Wilson leads the team with 25 tackles, while single-digit Jordan Magee has 24 tackles and Jacob Hollins and Jordan have 19.

Temple’s secondary also took a step forward last week and will face arguably its biggest task to date, even if Memphis doesn’t have dynamic players this season that would compare to someone like former Tigers standout Calvin Austin. Sophomore safety Alex Odom earned AAC Honors this week for his play against UMass. He led the team with nine tackles and got the Owls’ first forced turnover of the season with an interception in the second quarter. Cornerback Jalen McMurray continues to be the most consistent player in the secondary as he continues to prove his tackling and coverage skills.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON SPECIAL TEAMS

Sophomore kicker Rory Bell has only attempted two field goals this season but has missed both, including a miss last week against UMass. Drayton said Monday that he still has confidence in Bell, who made a 55-yard field goal last season at Cincinnati. By comparison, Memphis’ Chris Howard has hit all six of his field goals this season, including a long of 47 yards.

Temple’s Mackenzie Morgan continued his success punting in week four with three punts for 140 yards, an average of 46.7 yards per punt.

Although his three blocked punts against Lafayette will be hard to replicate, De’Von Fox could give Temple a lift on the road Saturday if he can get after one of Joe Murphy’s punts.

Once again, the Owls struggled last with getting things going in the return game and even turned the ball over. Amad Anderson Jr. got his punt returning job back last week and only had two returns for 25 yards. On one UMass punt, the ball dribbled off of Zae Baines’ foot and was recovered by the Minutemen. Heading into conference play, the team will need some energy in the return game and to not turn the ball over with simple mistakes.

KEY MATCHUPS

Memphis’ wide receivers and tight ends vs Temple secondary

Temple has faced mostly run-first teams to start and has not seen this deep of a group of pass catchers this year. Again, while there’s no one playing at the level of former Memphis star wideouts like Austin or Antonio Gibson, Memphis does have five players in the passing game with more than 150 yards receiving, and tight end Caden Prieskorn has a team-high 15 receptions, four of which have gone for touchdowns.

While cornerback Jalen McMurray has been the clear standout for the Owls, the second cornerback spot has still not been earned by one particular player. It remains to be between Dominick Hill, Elijah Clark, Cameron Ruiz and Corey Palmer. They’ll need to be better this week while continuing to get help from players like Odom at safety.

Memphis cornerback Quindell Johnson vs. Temple wide receiver Adonicas Sanders

Redshirt senior Quindell Johnson is one of the Tigers who stands out the most on a defense that hasn’t really put up great numbers so far. He was second team all-AAC last season and leads the Tigers with 35 tackles and two interceptions this season and also has a fumble recovery. Sanders has been the bright spot on the offense for both of Warner’s starts, so it will be interesting to see if Johnson draws Sanders as his primary assignment Saturday.

E.J. Warner vs. a road atmosphere

This will be Warner’s third career start and his first on the road. Memphis has drawn an average of 27,911 fans in its first two games, so it’s not as if the Tigers draw like an SEC program. Still, Warner is a true freshman quarterback playing behind an offensive line with two very inexperienced guards in Bryce Thoman and Wisdom Quarshie and another inexperienced starter in right tackle James Faminu. Warner recovered from two early mistakes at home last week.

Can he do the same on the road this week if those mistakes present themselves again?