Gameday preview: Tulane
AT A GLANCE
Temple at Tulane
Saturday, Oct. 31
Noon., Yulman Stadium
Television: ESPN+
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
HEAD COACHES:
Temple
Rod Carey
Career record: 61-37 (second season at Temple)
Tulane
Willie Fritz
Career record: 25-31 (Fifth season at Tulane)
KEY PLAYERS
TEMPLE
QB Anthony Russo
RB Re’Mahn Davis
WR Jadan Blue
WR Branden Mack
DE Arnold Ebiketie
LB William Kwenkeu
SAF Amir Tyler
Tulane
QB Michael Pratt
RB Stephon Huderson
RB Cameron Carroll
WR Duece Watts
LB Dorian Williams
LB Marvin Moody
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE
Temple is slated for its second consecutive road game, this time at Tulane with an opportunity to climb back to an even record.
The Owls are coming off a 41-29 loss to Memphis in which they held a halftime lead with multiple second-half opportunities to jump out to a commanding lead. On two occasions they cut the deficit to five with touchdown passes from Anthony Russo to Jadan Blue. One for 32 yards in the third quarter and again for eight yards in the fourth quarter.
But they could never complete the comeback.
The shootout saw Russo set a program record with 63 pass attempts. He connected on 41 one them for 387 yards and four touchdowns. The flip side of his high volume performance was his three interceptions, each a slightly different mistake.
His first pick came midway through the second quarter on an out route to Branden Mack, who slipped on the turf. The graduate quarterback put the ball where it needed to be, but it fell right into Jakobi Francis’ hands after Mack stumbled. That one was no fault of Russo’s.
Opening the second half, Memphis drove 47 yards down the field on 13 plays but was held to a field goal, bringing them within two points. Russo’s second interception of the day came on the first play of the ensuing drive. It was about an eight-yard overthrow to Blue along the sideline that again went right into the defensive back’s hands -- this time courtesy of Rodney Owens. Postgame, both Blue and Carey said in hindsight he should have kept running after the ball.
Russo’s third and final interception of the day was again to Blue on a slant that was a touch behind his target bouncing off the redshirt junior receiver’s shoulder pads and into the waiting hands of Owens for his second pick of the day.
Despite Russo’s six interceptions through three games, head coach Rod Carey isn’t ready to turn the keys over to backups Trad Beatty or Re-al Mitchell.
“I’ve been pleased with how Russo has bounced back from turnovers,” Carey said during Monday’s Zoom media availability. “Certainly not happy with the turnovers and with some of these there’s enough reasons to go around for turnovers [against Memphis], so I’m not ready to do that.”
Carey mentioned earlier in the season he’d ideally like to just stick to one quarterback. Mixing in packages in the red zone or on 2-point conversion attempts, both of which have been Russo’s kryptonite in the first half of this shortened season, does not seem to be part of the plan for now.
Tulane’s defense forced five turnovers in a 49-31 loss to Houston earlier this month. That figure was the most by a Tulane defense since Nov. 26, 2016, against Houston. The Green Wave also rank fourth in The American and 29th in the nation in turnover margin at .67. Junior Macon Clark logged two of those interceptions against Houston, including a 67-yard pick-six.
It’s also noteworthy that Tulane’s red zone defense ranks 10th in the conference. Closing out possessions inside the 20s has been the biggest barrier for offensive coordinator Mike Uremovich’s offense, but Saturday could be a chance to turn things around.
Blue and Randle Jones led the way receiving for Temple in the loss with 13 receptions for 115 yards and 12 receptions for 118 yards, respectively. Each recorded a season-high in the loss.
“He’s a stud,” Carey said. “And where that comes from is…. the way he plays in the games, he plays that same speed in practice. We’re trying to get everyone on our team to look at that and take notice because that’s how he’s getting the results he’s getting.
“It’s not about all of a sudden showing up, he’s showing up every day. He’s blocking, he’s route running, he’s catching the ball with more consistency. All of those things are a product of how he’s working every day.”
As for the backfield, running back Re’Mahn Davis has taken a majority of the load with at least 20 carries through the first three games. The true sophomore also posted a season-high in yards on the ground with 113.
Needless to say, despite the turnovers, Saturday’s loss was the most explosive performance thus far for Temple’s offense. However, the Owls expect to be short-handed on that side of the ball against Tulane.
Carey offered injury updates while speaking with reporters on Monday.
Davis is fine and will be good to go after tweaking his knee late in the fourth quarter against Memphis. Russo, whose shoulder got banged up against Memphis, got an MRI early in the week and is a game time decision. He did not practice this week, but the team has a walkthrough Friday which may offer more clarity for the coaching staff.
In the event Russo is not available to suit up Saturday, Beatty or Mitchell will start in his place.
Tight end David Martin-Robinson will be out a few weeks due to COVID-19 protocol.
“Nothing we can really do about that,” Carey said. “He will be down for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, he doesn’t get it and we can get him back as soon as we can."
The next tight end on the depth chart is redshirt junior Darius Pittman. He is also expected to miss Saturday’s game with an ankle injury suffered against Memphis. Pittman had his ankle rolled over in the second quarter of last Saturday’s loss, reaggravating the injury that held him out of Temple’s first game against Navy.
Carey admitted his team is “pretty thin” at the tight end position.
“They play more 12 personnel, one back with two tight ends than really anybody we’ve played up to this point,” Tulane head coach Willie Fritz said. “We’ve been working on that quite a bit. People get into 12, it’s a more running game and then they take their shots so we’ve got to be prepared for it.”
Temple will likely have to adjust from that style lacking at the tight end position.
Fritz added that Temple was by far the biggest and most physical team they faced all last season. He spoke highly of Russo’s ability to get the ball to the right spots as well as Temple’s depth in the backfield.
On average, the Green Wave’s defense allows 150.8 yards rushing per game, good enough for fifth-best in the American. Perhaps their biggest strong suit comes from forcing teams backwards upfront. They’re the eighth-best team in the country when it comes to tackles for loss and second-best in the conference averaging 8.8.
Tulane’s front seven will be matched up against a Temple team that went eight-and-a-half quarters without allowing its quarterback to be sacked. Russo saw his first real pocket pressure getting sacked twice in the loss.
Vince Picozzi graded out the highest along Temple’s offensive line with a score of 83.7 playing right guard instead of left tackle, according to Pro Football Focus. Carey also mentioned how he is “pessimistically optimistic” about Adam Klein returning from a leg injury suffered in Temple’s win over USF. He was unavailable last week against Memphis.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE
Temple’s defense, which has given up an average of 36.6 points per game thus far, will likely be short-handed on the road against a Tulane team averaging 36 points per game.
Perhaps the biggest blow to the defensive unit will be playing without Isaiah Graham-Mobley. The graduate linebacker hurt his right foot against USF and Carey described his return as an “uphill battle.” It will likely take a few weeks for him to return at full strength, according to Carey.
Against Memphis, George Reid took 79 snaps in place of an injured Graham-Mobley, according to Pro Football Focus. At the BUBO position, Audley Isaacs started in place of Yvandy Rigby, who missed Saturday’s game with an ankle injury. Isaacs added himself to the injury report going for a fumble recovery. He got an MRI on his knee early in the week.
Tulane’s offense has been the sixth-highest scoring in the conference and allows only 2.83 sacks per game. Quarterback Michael Pratt has started four of six games played, winning just one of them. The Green Wave’s signal-caller has thrown for the most touchdowns among freshmen in The American.
The other looming threat in Tulane’s offense is redshirt sophomore running back Cameron Carroll who currently ranks ninth in all of FBS football in total touchdowns with eight. Accompanying him in the backfield is Stephon Huderson. The senior back is ranked eighth in the conference in rushing yards per game with 66.2. Carroll and Huderson could make life difficult for a depleted Temple front seven.
Temple currently leads the nation in fewest passing yards allowed per game with 114.5 yards per game. Take that with a grain of salt because the Owls have played just three games, among the fewest in college football. That includes Nav, which threw the ball just twice for a total of 48 yards.
Linwood Crump was named Temple’s defensive player of the week for his forced fumble, four pass breakups and solo tackle against Memphis’ high-octane offense.
“That’s a pretty big game for me,” Crump said. “I knew it was going to be a big game when [cornerbacks] coach [Melvin] Rice was preaching that everyone was saying it was going to be a big game for the pass so we had to defend the pass. I just let the game come to me.”
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON SPECIAL TEAMS
After struggling on kickoffs and an inability to consistently connect on field goals through the first three games, Carey has decided to start true freshmen kicker Rory Bell in place of Will Mobley.
“And certainly, it doesn’t all fall on Will’s shoulders and I let him know that,” Carey said. “But it is a production-based issue so I’m going to put Rory in there and see if we can get better production…. Kickoffs and field goals he’ll handle and then we’ll go from there.”
Punter Adam Barry will be the placeholder on field goals for Bell.