Gameday preview: Navy

Following a 27-16 loss under the lights at Lincoln Financial Field last Friday night to Tulsa, Temple will continue to search for its first conference win of the season as the Owls travel to Annapolis to take on Navy at 3:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

The most interesting storyline to emerge for a 2-5 Temple team over the last 24 hours is that the Owls will be led on the sidelines by Everett Withers, the program’s chief of staff and a former college head coach and former NFL assistant. First-year head coach Stan Drayton has not been with the team all week due to a viral infection, according to a release the program sent out Friday afternoon.

“I’ve been fighting this infection all week,” Drayton said in the release, “but it was a stronger gut punch to find out that I cannot fight with my team on Saturday. I’ve spoken all week with [offensive coordinator] Danny [Langsdorf], [defensive coordinator] D.J. [Eliot], and [special teams coordinator] Adam [Scheier], and am very confident that they will execute the game plan that has been installed. There are few people I trust as much as Coach Withers, and I’m certain that he will have the team fired up and ready to battle.”

Withers has head-coaching experience from stints at Texas State (2016 to 2018), James Madison (2014-15) and as North Carolina’s interim head coach in 2011. Withers and Drayton worked together at Ohio State in 2012 and 2013 when Withers was a co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach and Drayton was the running backs coach, and they worked together again in 2020 at Texas when Drayton was the Longhorns’ associate head coach and run-game coordinator and Withers was an analyst.

Temple and Navy are tied up at 8-8 in a series history that dates back to 1988. Navy is currently on a two-game winning streak in the matchup, having closed out the 2021 season with a 38-14 win over the Owls in Philadelphia. Temple has gone 5-5 in Annapolis, including a 24-17 win in 2018 and of course the 34-10 win over a 25th-ranked Navy team in the 2016 American Athletic Conference championship game.

Navy brings a 2-5 record into Saturday’s game, with both of its wins coming over American Athletic Conference opponents in ECU in double overtime and Tulsa. The Midshipmen are looking to break a two-game losing streak after losses to SMU and Houston, which won at Navy 38-20 last weekend.

In addition to having the nation’s fourth-best rushing offense, Navy’s defense has been just as good defending the run, having allowed just 102. 4 yards per game on the ground, which puts the Midshipmen at 13th in the country in that statistical category. But Navy also allows 272 yards per game passing and gives up 26.14 points per game, placing it ninth and sixth in those statistical categories, respectively, in the American Athletic Conference.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE

Temple’s offense remained inconsistent against Tulsa, with freshman quarterback E.J. Warner throwing for 196 yards with a touchdown and an interception. After completing more than 73 percent of his passes (14 of 19) in his college debut against Lafayette, Warner has seen his completion percentage totals steadily decline in each game thereafter, with the exception of the Owls’ loss at UCF two weeks ago. He has not been helped by an offensive line that has not started the same five players in consecutive weeks and a rushing offense that is ranked 129th out of 131 FBS teams and averaging a paltry 80.3 yards per game.

And for an eighth straight week, the Owls will have another lineup of starting offensive linemen.

Center Adam Klein and guard James Faminu left last week’s game with injuries, and Withers said Monday that the team was waiting on MRIs on both players. It looked likely as of an hour before the game that Klein will not play and that Wisdom Quarshie will start instead at center. Richard Rodriguez did not make the trip and will not play Saturday, which likely means that Bryce Thoman or perhaps Jermaine Donaldson would play at that guard spot.

Edward Saydee logged 20 of the Owls’ 26 carries against Tulsa last week and gained 69 yards. Although those aren’t eye-popping totals, he does seem to have emerged as Temple’s lead option in the backfield, as Texas A&M transfer Darvon Hubbard got just one carry and Illinois transfer Jakari Norwood left the team prior to Friday’s game. Again, Saydee and the Owls will be going up against the conference’s top rushing defense, one that has allowed just five rushing touchdowns this season. Navy is led there by striker (the team’s linebacker-safety hybrid position) John Marshall, who has logged team-best totals of 51 tackles and 7.5 tackles for a loss, to go with three sacks.

Withers said wide receiver Adonicas Sanders, who did not play in the second half Friday, suffered a knee sprain in the loss to Tulsa. Withers said the Owls’ second-leading receiver (25 catches for 295 yards and a touchdown) is day-to-day and would be considered a game-time decision against Navy. In his place, redshirt junior Amad Anderson Jr. led the team with eight catches for 112 yards and a touchdown against Tulsa. After starting the year as the slot receiver to then being exclusively the team’s punt returner, he returned to his original role with purpose. Even if Sanders plays, Anderson could be a factor on offense, especially if he can get something going on reverses and push passes if Saydee and the running backs are held in check. Fellow wideout Zae Baines was targeted 10 times last Friday but didn’t record a single catch. He could benefit from more reps in practice this week should he be called upon again for more targets in the passing game. Navy safety Rayuan Lane leads its secondary with 44 tackles to go with a team-high four passes defended, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE

Navy, as always, runs a triple-option offense, led by sophomore fullback Daba Fofana, who leads the team with 475 yards rushing this season. Thirteen of Navy’s 19 touchdowns this season have come in the run game.

In addition to rushing for 297 yards and five touchdowns, Navy’s starting quarterback Tai Lavatai has thrown for 787 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions and has already attempted 29 more passes than he did all of last season. Even though the 6-foot-2 junior has only completed less than 47 percent of his passes, Temple’s defense does have to pay attention to and respect his ability to throw the ball.

Sophomore Darian Varner had the strongest game of his career with a 3.5-sack first half against Tulsa. He now has 6.5 this season, which ties him for the team lead with outside linebacker Layton Jordan. But now Varner and Jordan have to focus less on what they do best in rushing the passer and focus more on stopping the run and not allowing explosive runs.

Redshirt sophomore linebacker Yvandy Rigby led the team with 12 tackles against Tulsa, including three tackles for loss and a sack, while Jordan Magee, the team’s leading tackler, had nine tackles for the Owls Friday night. Jordan also had his second pick six of the season and remains the biggest playmaker on defense. All three players will be very busy in trying to stop a variety of Navy runs, including fullback dives and pitches.

Single-digit redshirt freshman cornerback Jalen McMurray got his first interception last Friday. The secondary won’t get as many opportunities in pass coverage Saturday, unless the Owls get an early lead and force Lavatai and Navy to throw more, but is crucial in Temple avoiding explosive run plays as the last line of defense.

McMurray spoke to OwlScoop.com after Monday’s practice in an interview you can listen to here.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON SPECIAL TEAMS

Camden Price made a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter but then missed a 49-yard kick in the third quarter that went low and wide left. It was Price’s first miss of the season with the Owls since taking over for Rory Bell.

Mackenzie Morgan has done plenty of punting for the Owls this season and logged eight for 330 yards with a 41.2 average per punt against Tulsa. Obviously, Temple doesn’t want to punt eight times in a game where offensive possessions might be few and far between against a Navy team that is fourth in the nation in time of possession. But when the Owls have needed him to flip the field this season, he has placed nine punts inside the 20-yard line.

KEY MATCHUPS

Temple inside linebacker Jordan Magee vs. Navy fullback Daba Fofana and quarterback Tai Lavatai

After Temple allowed 299 yards on the ground to Tulsa last week, including an 84-yard run by Deneric Prince in which he went up the middle of the defense untouched, the Owls are now tasked with containing Navy’s triple-option attack.

And while there are many aspects to it, things could get ugly for Temple if it cannot contain Fofana, who leads the Midshipmen with 425 yards, and Lavatai, who has a team-best five touchdowns on the ground. And while stopping the triple-option will obviously fall upon all 11 players on Temple’s defense, with the cornerbacks and safeties included, Magee could change the game out of the middle linebacker position by stopping Fofana and Lavatai on those dive runs on third and fourth downs that can otherwise keep drives going and break the Owls’ spirit on defense.

“So they have a dive with a QB run and a QB pitch to one of the wings,” Magee explained after Monday’s practice, “so it’s just really about being disciplined and being gap down.”

Temple’s offensive line vs. Navy defensive end Jacob Busic

Busic is Navy’s strongest pass rusher at this point in the season and leads the Midshipmen with five sacks and 5.5 tackles for a loss as well. He also has two forced fumbles and one recovery. While the ever-changing Temple offensive line has allowed just four sacks this season - the third-lowest total in the country - it hasn’t always provided the cleanest of pockets for Warner, who has been adept at getting the ball out of his hands when facing pressure. Depending upon where Busic lines up, left tackle Isaac Moore and right tackle Victor Stoffel will need to take Busic out of the game in order to create plenty of time in the pocket for Warner.

OwlScoop.com staff reporters Javon Edmonds and Johnny Zawislak contributed to this story.

Front page photo by Don Otto