Without starting quarterback E.J. Warner and with a defense that missed 21 tackles, Temple dropped to 2-5 on the season and 0-3 in American Athletic Conference play with a 45-14 defeat at North Texas last weekend.
The Owls will now look to turn the page when they take on conference foe SMU in a nationally televised primetime game at home Friday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN at Lincoln Financial Field.
Quincy Patterson got the start at quarterback for the Owls in Warner’s absence against the Mean Green last Saturday and will start against SMU if Warner isn’t cleared from concussion protocol. Warner got the “day-to-day” designation from second-year head coach Stan Drayton when he spoke with reporters Monday at his weekly press conference.
Patterson, who is in his second season at Temple after spending his first three seasons at Virginia Tech and his fourth season at FCS program North Dakota State, had a rough performance throwing the football in the North Texas loss, completing just 12 of 30 passes for 105 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions for a quarterback rating of 18.4. The only bright spot for Patterson was his run game, as he rushed 24 times for a team-high 113 yards and a touchdown.
As for the run game, Temple was able to gain 242 yards and two touchdowns against the nation’s worst rushing defense. Apart from Patterson, the Owls’ leading running back was redshirt sophomore Darvon Hubbard with 11 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown.
But Temple’s defense struggled all day and allowed a score on seven of North Texas’ 11 drives in the game.
As for the Owls’ next opponent, SMU is 4-2 on the season and 2-0 in American Athletic Conference matchups. Their two losses came against Big 12 Conference programs in then-No. 18 Oklahoma in Week 2 and TCU in Week 4.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE
If Patterson gets the start Friday night, he obviously must cut down on his mistakes and be a better decision maker. All three of his interceptions last Saturday took place on North Texas’ half of the field, killing any momentum the Owls offense had at the time.
The SMU defense Temple will face Friday night is much better than what the Owls saw six days ago. The Mustangs are allowing just 17 points per game, which is tied for 15th in the FBS. SMU has allowed just 183.5 passing yards per game (19th in the FBS) and grabbed three interceptions on the season – one from graduate safety Jonathan McGill, one from junior safety Cale Sanders Jr., and one from 286-pound redshirt senior defensive tackle Kori Roberson Jr. McGill’s interception was a pick-six in SMU’s 31-10 win over ECU last Thursday.
Five players in SMU’s secondary have at least 15 total tackles, and they’re all safeties - redshirt sophomore Isaiah Nwokobia (second on the team with 34), McGill (27), senior Bryan Massey (18 and one forced fumble), graduate Chris Adimora (17), and sophomore Ahmaad Moses (16).
As for Temple’s receivers, they had a quiet afternoon on a day in which Patterson completed just 12 of his 30 throws. Amad Anderson’s two catches for 22 yards were team highs, and tight end David Martin-Robinson, who had eight catches for 112 yards and a touchdown against UTSA, had just two catches for 17 yards. Walk-on wide receiver John Adams, who caught 10 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown against UTSA, saw his snap count go down because redshirt sophomore Zae Baines returned to action after missing the UTSA game due to injury.
On the offensive line, true freshman Kevin Terry made the first appearance of his career last weekend when center Rich Rodriguez had to leave the game, forcing Bryce Thoman to move to that spot from left guard and Luke Watson moving inside to left guard from left tackle to fill his spot. If Rodriguez can’t play Friday night on a short week, Terry would likely get the first start of his career. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Clearwater Central Catholic graduate surrendered one quarterback hit, two quarterback hurries and three quarterback pressures against North Texas.
If Warner misses his second-straight game and Temple offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf wants to try to take some pressure off Patterson by running the ball, it will be much tougher against SMU. After facing the nation’s worst rushing defense at North Texas last weekend, the Owls will take on a Mustangs defense that is allowing 127.8 rushing yards per game, which ranks them 49th among all FBS programs in that statistical category. Patterson could once again be the Owls’ leading ball carrier if he gets the start Friday night. He ran for 113 yards on 24 carries at North Texas, becoming the first Temple quarterback to top the 100-yard rushing mark since former Owl Chris Coyer did it in 2011.
If Warner is cleared to play, Edward Saydee (33 carries, 86 rushing yards, two receiving touchdowns), Hubbard (48 carries, 222 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns) and true freshman Joquez Smith (59 carries, 280 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, one receiving touchdown) would get a heavier share of the workload.
That running back unit will look across the line to see a familiar face in linebacker Kobe Wilson. After leaving Temple via the transfer portal following three seasons with the Owls, the redshirt junior has had an immediate impact at SMU, posting a team-high 37 tackles to go with one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Defensive tackle Kori Roberson Jr. (18 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and defensive end Nelson Paul (15 tackles, team-high three sacks) could also pose problems for Temple’s offensive line.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE
Defensive coordinator Everett Withers’ unit is performing at a historically-bad rate right now when compared to past Temple teams. The Owls have not forced a turnover in five straight games, the longest stretch in the program’s history, and they have also allowed the opposing quarterback to throw at least three touchdown passes in four straight games, which is tied for the longest stretch in program history.
After surrendering 45 points to North Texas in last weekend’s loss, Withers’ defense has allowed more than 40 points in four consecutive games. Losing defensive linemen Allan Haye, Demerick Morris and K.J. Miles to season-ending injuries has obviously hurt that group and had an effect on the play of the linebackers and the secondary, but Temple has to be much better if it wants to upset SMU Friday night and turn its season around. Drayton was rightfully fixated on one particular number when he met with reporters Monday, lamenting the fact that his defense missed 21 tackles in the North Texas loss.
There were a few small defensive bright spots last weekend. Dominick Hill, who has converted to safety the last two games, led the team with 12 total tackles. Linebackers Jordan Magee and Layton Jordan combined for a sack, while linebacker Diwun Black had two sacks and linebacker Jacob Hollins had a sack of his own. But a defense that’s long overdue to create a turnover missed two chances to do so last week. The Owls forced two fumbles at North Texas but seemed caught in slow motion afterward and didn’t recover either one.
Looking at their matchup against SMU Friday, the Mustangs are 38th in the FBS in points scored per game (33.3), while Temple is tied for 120th in the FBS in points allowed per game (35.7). Take away SMU’s 69-0 rout of FCS program Prairie View A&M, and the Mustangs are averaging a more pedestrian total of 26.2 points per game against FBS opponents.
Starting at quarterback for SMU will be 6-1, 220-pound redshirt sophomore Preston Stone, who has completed 113 of his 198 passes for 1,467 yards, 14 touchdowns and five interceptions, while rushing 35 times for 93 yards and a touchdown. He's also been sacked eight times.
Stone has a group of good receivers to throw to, as six of them have at least 150 receiving yards and five of those six have at least two touchdown catches. His weapons include fifth-year wide receiver Jordan Kerley (223 yards and two touchdowns), fifth-year wide receiver Jake Bailey (220 yards), sophomore tight end RJ Maryland (206 yards and three touchdowns), junior wide receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. (204 and three touchdowns), sophomore wide receiver Jordan Hudson (178 and two touchdowns) and senior wide receiver Key’Shawn Smith (154 yards and two touchdowns.)
All of them will pose a threat to a Temple defense that is allowing 231.7 passing yards per game (77th in the FBS). Hill, fellow safeties Alex Odom and Tywan Francis and cornerback Jalen McMurray will have their hands full.
The Owls are one of the five worst teams in the FBS at stopping the run, currently sitting at 126th out of 130 FBS teams in rushing yards allowed per game at 206.7. North Texas racked up 220 yards on the ground last Saturday. Missed tackles, poor gap discipline and communication issues were once again the culprit, part of the same story that’s been told week after week this season.
SMU is 61st nationally among all FBS programs in rushing yards per game (157.7) and has gotten contributions from senior Jaylan Knighton (358 yards and two touchdowns), redshirt junior LJ Johnson Jr. (161 yards and one touchdown) and redshirt junior Camar Wheaton (148 yards and two touchdowns).
When asked about SMU’s offense Monday, Drayton praised Stone’s deep-throwing ability and said Knighton “really hits the seams and has a fifth gear that's different than what we've seen so far, in my opinion.”
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON SPECIAL TEAMS
SMU sophomore kicker Collin Rogers has made 24 of 25 extra points, but Temple could be in luck if it somehow finds itself in a close game against the Mustangs Friday night. Rogers has converted just 6 of his 10 field goal attempts and has missed from 49 yards twice, 36 yards and 38 yards. He did, however, make a 50-yard field goal in SMU’s 31-10 victory at ECU last Thursday.
Temple placekicker Camden Price has also been inconsistent, converting 4 of his 7 field goal attempts. He’s missed one attempt in the 30 to 39-yard range and is just 1 of 3 on kicks from 40 to 49 yards with a long of 40 yards.
