Instant analysis: Navy 38, Temple 14

Temple’s disappointing 2021 season came to an end Saturday with a 38-14 loss to Navy at Lincoln Financial Field before a sparse crowd of 16,708 fans.

A season that once looked like it had a chance of turning around back on Oct. 2 when the Owls completed a come-from-behind win over Memphis instead ended with a seven-game losing streak. Temple finished 3-9 overall and 1-7 in American Athletic Conference play.

“We are disappointed with the game,” third-year head coach Rod Carey said. “I think if the offense helped more the defense was good enough to win today as well. I’ve certainly felt that past couple of weeks. Offense didn’t do enough.”

Temple only trailed 17-7 at the end of the first half thanks to sloppy play by the Midshipmen. The Owls forced two fumbles, and Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai missed three open receivers down the field who probably would have scored.

Temple’s offense went scoreless in the first quarter for the 10th straight game but ended its four-game first-half scoreless streak after Ra’Von Bonner scored on a one-yard touchdown with 8 minutes, 30 seconds left in the second quarter.

Freshman quarterback Justin Lynch made his fifth start but was replaced by Mariano Valenti after he took a hit near the sideline of the north end zone. Lynch returned to the game but was replaced by Valenti again midway through the second quarter.

“[Lynch] was just not seeing it,” Carey said about the quarterback change. “He was not doing it. I don’t know whether it was moving too fast for him, I don’t know if it was his eyes were too low, but things that we had done in practice all week long and giving him the exact look he got in the game … it just wasn’t happening.”

To its credit, Temple’s defense had a decent day against Navy’s triple-option, allowing 251 rushing yards on 59 carries.

The Midshipmen did, however, start to wear the Owls down after Temple gave up just 78 rushing yards in the first half. Carlinos Acie led the Midshipmen in rushing with 86 yards on 10 carries.

Here are some key plays and takeaways from Saturday’s game.

TURNING POINT

Saturday’s turning point came with 10:40 remaining in the first quarter when Navy backup quarterback Xavier Arline faked the handoff and hit running back Chance Warren on a wheel route for a 15-yard touchdown, making the score 14-0.

Given how badly Temple’s offense has played this season, making a 14 point comeback against a team that runs clock like Navy does seemed unlikely.

Temple had some momentum when defensive end Layton Jordan broke through the Navy offensive line and deflected a pitch, which safety Alex Odom recovered at the half-yard line with 8:30 left in the second quarter.

That led to Bonner’s touchdown run, which with Rory Bell’s extra point made the score 14-7. However, Navy went on to score the next 10 points in the game to extend its lead to 24-7 before Temple finally answered again late in the third quarter.

Running back Tayvon Ruley scored on a four-yard touchdown with 47 seconds left in the third quarter to help close the gap to 24-14, but it was too little, too late for the Owls.

Navy ended up finishing the Owls off with 9:04 remaining in the fourth quarter when fullback Isaac Ruoss plowed into the end zone for a six-yard touchdown, extending the Midshipmen’s lead to 31-14.

QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL

As mentioned above, Temple played two quarterbacks Saturday. Lynch started the game and continued to struggle as has all season.

He finished the game completing 5 of 8 passes for 25 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Lynch added eight yards on the ground, including two first-down carries.

Valenti played most of the game and ended up completing 10 of his 14 passes for 73 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Valenti made a nice throw along the right sideline to wide receiver Amad Anderson for a gain of 17 yards with Navy linebacker Diego Fagot bearing down on him. However, that drive got off track when Valenti tripped and fell out of his drop, resulting in a third-and-long.

Temple’s offense remained the simple and uninspiring unit it has been all season under Valenti. The young quarterback looked frazzled throughout the game as he tried to hand the ball off to an empty backfield multiple times.

It’s unclear if those screw-ups were on the running backs or Valenti, but either way, that stuff shouldn’t be happening at this point in the season.

He also fumbled the snap when trying to take a kneel down to end the first half.

Valenti is the third-string quarterback. Expecting him to come in and set the world on fire isn’t fair to anyone, especially given how bad Temple’s offense has been this season, regardless of who is playing quarterback.

The return of D’Wan Mathis to the program potentially gives Temple a quarterback of the future, but someone has to be the backup next season. Mathis has an injury history, making Saturday’s game a tryout for both Lynch and Valenti.

Carey’s reasoning for benching Lynch doesn’t bode well for him either. A player getting the same looks they got in practice during a game and still being unable to execute isn’t a good sign, no matter how young they are.

Lynch appears to be the better runner right now, but Valenti’s arm looked a little stronger on Saturday.

Both Lynch and Valenti can get better, but early returns are not encouraging.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN GOING FORWARD?

The nightmare is finally over. There is no need to recount the numerous embarrassing stats from this season, like Temple’s bottom-of-the-country offense, or their bottom-of-the-conference run defense.

The past couple of weeks have been about identifying future pieces for the Owls. Offensively, those have been slim pickings, but the defense has a number of young players worth being excited about.

Linebackers Kobe Wilson and Jordan Magee, who left today’s game on crutches, should be solid players on the second level. Odom, Jalen Ware and M.J. Griffin, who didn’t play in today’s game, all look like at least starting-caliber safeties.

Odom and Ware combined for 14 tackles and one tackle for loss in today’s game.

No matter what happens with the future of the program, Temple’s focus must be on developing young players. Recruiting is important, but Temple is rarely in play for recruits who can change a program around in their freshman seasons.

Getting Mathis back is huge. He didn’t play overly well in his seven-game stretch this season, but he’s clearly the best quarterback on the team.

The Owls have to hope offensive linemen like Wisdom Quarshie, Richard Rodriguez, Bryce Thoman and Jimto Obidegwu improve this offseason so Mathis can have a functional running game.

The same development will be needed from Temple’s running backs like Edward Saydee, Malik Cooper and Trey Blair. Saydee is a solid power back, Cooper can provide speed, and Blair is a solid receiver.

That has the inklings of a solid, productive backfield. All of that is just projection though. Marked improvement will be needed if that backfield is going to come to fruition.

There isn’t much to take away from this game besides more of the same. The only thing worth taking away from this season is that Temple is going in the wrong direction as a program.

Carey’s first season ended with an 8-5 record. Since then, Temple has gone 4-15 overall and 2-13 in AAC play. There are plenty of excuses and play to go around, but it takes a village to play this badly for this long.

Temple hasn’t been competitive in a lot of those losses either. They’ve lost by at least 20 points 13 times in the last two seasons.

The quickest way to turn things around is to develop the young talent and small bright spots from the past two seasons.

“Everyone’s buying 100 percent in,” sixth-year linebacker William Kwenkeu, one of several seniors honored before the game, said about what the team needs to improve. “Obviously, the past two years haven’t been what we wanted. It is one thing to hear about it, but it is another thing to live it… So, everyone’s buying in, and a huge shift in mindset with how we approach everything as a team. I believe in the core that we have and the potential that we have. I think it is coming soon, what the people want.”

There is, of course, the looming question about whether Carey and this staff will be back next season. Carey, who has three years remaining on a six-year contract, was not asked about his future Saturday, nor did he talk about the subject, only mentioning that he and his staff have a rebuilding plan in place and that it starts Sunday.

“I have that laid out,” Carey said. “We’ve talked about that as a staff. That is starting really tomorrow. I just don’t wanna get into that right now. This game is about Navy and the seniors. I want to keep the focus on that.”

Whether or not they’ll get to set that plan in motion remains to be seen.