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Gameday preview: UCF

At a Glance

Temple at UCF

Saturday, Nov. 14

7:30, The Bounce House

TV: ESPNU

Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

Head Coaches

Temple - Rod Carey

Career Record: 61-39 (second season at Temple)

UCF - Josh Heupel

Career Record: 26-6 (third season at UCF)

Key Players

Temple

QB Re-al Mitchell

RB Tayvon Ruley

WR Jadan Blue

WR Branden Mack

DT Dan Archibong

DE Arnold Ebiketie

CB Christain Braswell

UCF

QB Dillon Gabriel

RB Greg McCrae

RB Otis Anderson

WR Marlon Williams

LB Eric Mitchell

DB Richie Grant

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE

Temple is coming off its third straight loss, with each one featuring a second-half collapse while fielding a shorthanded and under-experienced team.

Second-year head coach Rod Carey continues to say he won’t let injuries and COVID-related absences be an excuse for his team’s poor play.

“I don’t want to get too much into it because I’m not going to use it as an excuse. None of us are,” Carey told reporters during his Zoom media availability on Monday. “But there’s certainly that element that if we let people start making excuses or we make excuses for ourselves, then we failed in keeping the morale high and keeping us attacking. We have a lot to move forward with.”

The Owls were without starting quarterback Anthony Russo the last two weeks due to an injury to his AC joint in his right throwing shoulder. That left backups Trad Beatty and Re-al Mitchell in charge of the offense against Tulane and SMU. Russo was able to return to practice this week, but his status for Saturday’s game is still unknown.

If Russo can’t go, Re-al Mitchell would get the start and true freshman Matt Duncan would be the backup.

Beatty started under center in both losses, recording his first two career starts at Temple. Carey’s game plan in both outings was to bring Mitchell in soon after with the hope that one could outplay the other. With the drives split 4-2 in Beatty’s favor and a 13-10 lead nearing halftime against the Mustangs, the redshirt sophomore pocket passer got hurt on a sack for a loss and would return to the sideline in street clothes for the second half. Carey said he is out and unable to play this week.

In the loss to SMU, senior running back Tayvon Ruley was promoted to a starting role in the backfield after Re’Mahn Davis opted out of the season and entered his name in the transfer portal earlier in the week.

Graduate receiver Randle Jones is the other big piece the Owls’ offense will be missing on Saturday after suffering an undisclosed injury in the loss to SMU.

On the flip side, tight end David Martin-Robinson is expected to return and see significant snaps after missing two straight games in the COVID protocol due to coming in contact with someone who tested positive.

This reeling Temple team will have its hands full with a 4-2 UCF team that is coming off wins over Tulane and Houston.

Defensively, the Knights have forced 16 turnovers through six games, good for second in the nation in turnover margin. One path to a Temple victory would be by way of ball security. Limiting turnovers will be crucial for the Owls to remain competitive.

Redshirt senior safety Richie Grant has been the heart and soul of UCF’s defensive prowess. His season-high in tackles came in the 51-34 win over Tulane with 11. Grant entered the 2020 season on watch lists for the Bednarik, Nagurski and Thorpe awards.

“Defense has probably been the key to their success,” Carey said. “Over the course of the last so many years, looking back on it, they really have been able to neutralize opposing team’s offenses, which gives their offense more opportunities and you give them more possessions so the odds are that they score more and this year they’re doing that at a great rate. So that will be the challenge.”

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE

Temple has had similar defensive struggles in each of its last three losses.

After limiting offensive production through the first two quarters against Memphis, Tulane and SMU, the wheels started to fall off in the second half, exposing the inexperience on that side of the ball.

The defense is also dealing with its fair share of injuries. Linebacker Yvandy Rigby is expected to make his return this Saturday but missed the last three games with an ankle injury. Cornerback Freddie Johnson, who suffered a hamstring injury against Tulane, will likely not be available against UCF.

The linebackers room has been hit the hardest by injuries. Isaiah Graham-Mobley continues to nurse an ankle injury and has been removed from Temple’s two-deep depth chart. According to Carey, there is no clear timeline for his return. Audley Isaacs is out for the season with a torn PCL and sprained ACL. And Jordan Magee will not be available against UCF while in the COVID-19 protocol.

A shorthanded depth chart has given some true freshmen meaningful reps they likely would not have otherwise gotten. Freshman safety Alex Odom at safety and freshman linebacker Kobe Wilson have been two notable guys who have made the most of their opportunities on defense.

Odom has recorded eight total tackles between his two appearances against Tulane and SMU. Wilson, on the other hand, has notched five total tackles across three games against Navy, USF and SMU.

The depleted and inexperienced defense has been a major hitch for the Owls this season, but Carey has given it a positive spin.

“We have a lot to move forward with,” Carey said. “Getting our young guys these valuable reps at this time is going to pay dividends in the future. I know it will. So we have got to go ahead and push forward without using any of this as an excuse.”

Despite being short handed, Temple has been able to hang its hat on the development of another pass-rusher in redshirt junior defensive end Arnold Ebiketie. In Temple’s loss against SMU, Ebiketie recorded another sack, his fourth in five games this season. He now has 20 quarterback pressures this season, which is fifth-most in the American Athletic Conference.

UCF has allowed 14 sacks this season through six games. The Knights are allowing 2.5 sacks per game, which ranks ninth in The American. If Temple can apply pressure in the interior to Knights sophomore quarterback Dillon Gabriel, it should be able to disrupt UCF’s rhythm offensively.

This week, the challenge for Ebiketie and his teammates will be to keep UCF’s up-tempo offense off the field and limit its productivity. The Knights have scored 30 or more points in 42 of their last 44 outings, which currently ranks ninth in the nation while averaging 45.0 points per game.

“Everybody knows how fast their offense is. Probably one of the fastest in the nation, but that’s fine,” graduate defensive tackle Dan Archibong said on Tuesday. “Really, the key to winning the game is, first of all, you gotta get lined up. So we made it really easy on defense this week. So we really just gotta get lined up and on film, you’ll see a lot of people, they won’t be lined up and that’s when they get a big play on them or something like that. So we simplified the defense a little bit so we can play it faster and not get caught in situations where we’re kinda out of place.”

Gabriel currently leads the nation in passing yards per game with 417.7 and has thrown 21 touchdown passes. The sophomore signal-caller has already etched his name into the UCF record books for most passing yards in a single game (601 yards against Memphis on Oct. 17) and longest pass completion with a 91-yard touchdown from a screen pass to Ryan O’Keefe in the same game.

The southpaw quarterback also has his fair share of weapons surrounding him.

Senior Marlon Williams and sophomore Jaylon Robinson currently rank first and seventh in the nation for receiving yards with 840 and 709, respectively. The two lethal threats on the outside have stepped up in a major way with the Knights’ top target Tre Nixon missing the last five games due to a shoulder injury. The redshirt senior receiver returned to practice this week but is unlikely to be available for Saturday.

The path to a Temple victory would have to include keeping UCF’s high-octane offense off the field, limit third-down conversions and keep them in check for a majority of the game.

“Their offense is pretty self-explanatory. They can go fast, they can go slow. They throw it and they run it. And they’re very good,” Carey said.

OWL-THER NOTES

Temple brought 51 scholarship players to the SMU game and is expected to have 50 against UCF due to COVID-19 protocol and injuries. … Branden Mack needs 75 receiving yards to move into sixth place in program history and 88 yards to move into fifth place. Additionally, Mack needs five receptions to move into sixth-place all-time in receptions. … Jadan Blue needs 53 receiving yards to move into 17th place in Temple history, while he needs five catches to move into third place all-time in that category.


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