Temple beat Navy 32-18 last Saturday to earn its first American Athletic Conference win of the season. The Owls now have an overall record of 3-6 and a conference record of 1-4 and can still become bowl-eligible if they can win their last three games.

After missing two games with symptoms brought on by a concussion, sophomore quarterback E.J. Warner made his return and didn't miss a beat, completing 27 of 33 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns. He did throw two interceptions, but it was otherwise a clean performance.

Now Temple will look to make it two wins in a row when it takes on South Florida Saturday in Tampa. The Owls picked up their lone conference win last season against the Bulls, beating them 54-28.

A road win Saturday would be Drayton’s first as a head coach.

“We’re trying to gain momentum here late at the end of the season and it just so happens to be on the road,” Drayton said at his weekly press conference Monday. “We need to have the mindset that no matter where the game is played, we believe we can win a football game. So it's huge. I think it would do a lot for our confidence level to get down there and win away. … We haven't done that since I've been here, so we're excited about that opportunity.”

Kickoff Saturday is set for noon at Raymond James Stadium, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE

It certainly wasn't a complete four-quarter performance from Temple against Navy, but the Owls did enough to win.

In Temple’s first play of the second half, graduate wide receiver Amad Anderson Jr. caught a short pass, found a hole and accelerated for a 74-yard gain. However, he fumbled on the play, squandering what would've been a huge momentum boost for Temple as the Owls would have had a chance to take a 24-0 lead. Shortly after, Navy punted and Anderson Jr. muffed the punt, giving the ball right back to the Midshipmen.

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Zae Baines had a breakout game, catching seven passes for 132 yards. Graduate tight end Jordan Smith had two touchdown catches, while single-digit graduate tight end David Martin-Robinson and redshirt junior wide receiver Dante Wright each had one touchdown catch.

Looking ahead, Temple’s offense should be able to find success against a USF defense that sits at 128th of 130 FBS teams in scoring defense, allowing 37 points per game.

If Warner can clean up the interceptions, he should be able to attack a USF secondary that is allowing 305.7 passing yards per game, which is 129th in the FBS.

USF has six interceptions on the year. Sophomore defensive back Jaelen Stokes and junior safety Logan Berryhill each have two, while graduate cornerback Braxton Clark and redshirt freshman defensive back Tavin Ward have one apiece.

Temple’s run game once again struggled last week, racking up just 46 yards on 27 carries against Navy. USF’s defense is allowing 153.6 rushing yards per game, but the Owls running backs have shown time and time again that they aren't an effective group.

Drayton said USF utilizes a lot of pre-snap movement on defense.

“We can't false step against all the movement we’re going to see,” Drayton said. “They’re moving around so much that it's hard to really sit there and narrow in on one guy on that defense and say that’s the matchup we’re going to be able to create all game long. It’s just not a reality. But we're gonna do what we do best, and we have to block them. That's the number one thing we have to do both in the run game and the pass game.”

USF has two linebackers and two defensive linemen with 25-plus tackles. Senior Jhalyn Shuler (59 tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble) and junior DJ Gordon IV (38 tackles and 2.5 sacks) are the linebackers, while junior Rashad Cheney (29 tackles, 0.5 sacks) and senior Jonathan Ross (28 tackles and two sacks) are the defensive linemen.

They will be key in the Bulls’ pursuit to hold Temple under 100 yards rushing for the eighth time this season. The only games in which Temple reached the 100-yard rushing mark were against FCS opponent Norfolk State (290) and against North Texas (242), when backup quarterback Quincy Patterson was responsible for 113 of them.

True freshman running back Joquez Smith is still the leading rusher for the Owls, despite having just 311 rushing yards on a team-high 68 carries. Temple will once again rely heavily on Warner’s arm, especially against the nation’s second-worst passing defense.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE

Against Navy, Temple’s defense was able to snap its five-game streak of allowing 40 or more points. The game got dicey at one point, with the Midshipmen finding the end zone to make the score 17-15 after Warner’s second interception of the day set them up at the Owls’ 44-yard line.

Perhaps the most impressive feat performed by Temple’s defense was holding Navy to 144 rushing yards. Although that may seem like a large number, it was a major accomplishment considering the Midshipmen were averaging 205.1 rushing yards per game coming in.

The Bulls are averaging 194.8 rushing yards per game, which is good for 21st in the FBS. They pose a major threat to an Owls defense that is 123rd in the FBS in rushing yards allowed per game (199.6.)

The Bulls like to use a two-man rotation in their run game, switching between starting quarterback Byrum Brown, who leads the team with 674 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns, and senior running back Nay’Quan Wright, who is second on the team with 621 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.

Temple will need single-digits Jordan Magee and Yvandy Rigby, as well as Diwun Black and Tra Thomas, to make their presence felt once again. They played a major role in containing Navy’s run game, especially Magee, who had a team-high 11 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss to go along with one sack.

Those four players, along with the rest of the defensive linemen and linebackers, could take advantage of a USF offensive line that has allowed 32 sacks on the season, which is less than only 10 teams in the FBS. Temple’s defense only has 13 sacks on the season, so if there was ever an opportunity to get things going in that department, it might be this week.

Graduate defensive lineman Jerquavion Mahone, who finished with eight total tackles against Navy, believes Temple’s defensive line will find success this week because of the way USF plays.

“They're just like a normal zone team,” Mahone said at player availability on Monday. “They have some counters and stuff like that, but I think the d-line will play better because this is what we like; teams that do zone and counters and stuff like that.”

Temple’s secondary caught a break last week facing a run-heavy Navy team, but the Owls still struggled at times defending the pass. Navy quarterback Xavier Arline completed 6-of-14 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.

USF, of course, is a much different animal, and the Bulls are led by a true dual-threat quarterback in Brown. The Bulls are 43rd in the FBS in passing yards per game, and Brown has completed 194 of 305 passes for 2,222 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions, which gives him a quarterback rating of 138.8. He also has the aforementioned 673 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.

Single-digit cornerback Jalen McMurray, safety Tywan Francis, safety Dominick Hill and the rest of the Owls’ secondary will have their hands full trying to contain a talented group of wide receivers. There are four Bulls wideouts with more than 300 receiving yards and multiple touchdown catches. They are Atkins (639 and 4), Cherry Hill West High School graduate Naiem Simmons (530 and 4), Michael Brown-Stephens (344 and two) and Khafre Brown (305 and 3.)

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON SPECIAL TEAMS

Temple kicker Camden Price made his only field goal attempt of the game against Navy, a 42-yarder to give the Owls a 10-0 lead with 3:18 to go in the first quarter.

The Owls had a bad day in the return game, with Amad Anderson Jr. muffing a punt and giving Navy great field position which led to a touchdown. Shortly after, Sam Martin fumbled a kickoff, but fortunately for the Owls, they were able to recover the football.

Sophomore John Cannon, USF’s placekicker, is a perfect 34-for-34 on extra points, but he's just 6-for-9 on field goals. His three misses have come from 49 yards against FAU and 45 yards and 39 yards against UConn.