Instant analysis: Rutgers 61, Temple 14
PISCATAWAY, New Jersey -- Temple opened its season with a 61-14 loss on the road against Rutgers Saturday at SHI Stadium. The Owls’ offense got off to a brutal start with the Scarlet Knights taking a 26-0 lead with just under 11 minutes left in the second quarter, and it only snowballed from there.
Temple turned the ball over three times in the first half, giving the Scarlet Knights short fields, which they capitalized on by scoring three touchdowns. Rutgers finished with 21 points on five Temple turnovers for the game.
Georgia transfer D’Wan Mathis made his first start as an Owl but struggled mightily before leaving with an apparent ankle injury in the third quarter. Mathis finished the game 8 of 24 for 148 yards, one interception and one rushing touchdown that got Temple within 26-14 with 12 minutes, 2 seconds left in the third quarter.
After the game, third-year Temple head coach Rod Carey said he had “no idea” yet about the status of Mathis’ injury. Mathis was relieved at first by Mariano Valenti before true freshman Justin Lynch finished out the game. He, too, struggled and threw a pick-six that Max Melton returned for a touchdown that spotted Rutgers a 39-14 lead.
Carey, in speaking briefly with reporters following the game, described Saturday as "as bad as we could have possibly played."
Here are some other key takeaways and moments from the game.
TURNING POINT
The turning point in this game came early, as redshirt-freshman wide receiver De’Von Fox fumbled a kickoff return early in the first quarter while Temple was trailing 12-0. Rutgers had just scored a touchdown off of an interception that hit Temple tight end Darius Pittman square in the chest.
Six plays later, Johnny Langan punched in one of his two touchdown rushes on the day, making the score 19-0. The Owls shaved the lead down to 26-14 early in the third quarter courtesy of Mathis’ touchdown run, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
The momentum was never really in the Owls’ favor on Saturday, but allowing Rutgers to score back-to-back touchdowns off self-inflicted mistakes allowed the game to feel out of reach way earlier than expected.
OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES
The Owls’ offense looked out of sync right from the start Saturday. The team’s opening possession ended in a safety after protection quickly broke down around Mathis on what appeared to be a designed rollout to the right.
Temple finished the first quarter with seven total net yards and finished the game with just 261 yards overall.
Temple’s struggle was a full-unit failure, with miscues coming from all over the offense. Mathis wasn’t accurate down the field and missed a couple of open receivers. The offensive line struggled to pass block early and gave up easy penetration in the running game throughout the game.
Temple’s receivers— one of the team’s deepest position groups— were unable to find consistent separation, forcing Mathis to make a lot of tight-window throws. A 38-yard toss from Mathis to Randle Jones was one of the few highlights of the day. That was Jones’ only catch of the afternoon, and Jadan Blue caught just one pass for nine yards.
Even the simple things were difficult for the Owls’ offense. Early in the second quarter, Temple finally got themselves to a third-and-short situation after a scramble from Mathis. However, they were called for a false start pushing them back to a third-and-5, instead of a third-and-1.
On the ensuing play, center C.J. Perez snapped the ball low, throwing off the timing of the play, ultimately leading to a sack fumble, recovered by former Owl Ifeanyi Maijeh.
Temple’s offense appeared to gain some momentum early in the second half when Mathis led the Owls on an 81-yard touchdown drive. But Mathis got hurt on his rushing touchdown and then got knocked out of the game on the next drive, leaving Lynch to take all but one of the remaining snaps.
Lynch was thrown into a bad situation, but he looked shaky in his limited reps. He finished the game with zero completions on three attempts and threw a pick-six on his first collegiate attempt. He did add 39 rushing yards on six carries, but zero completions won’t cut it if he has to play next week.
OFFENSIVE BRIGHT SPOT
Temple’s offense struggled throughout the game, but one of the few bright spots was redshirt-freshman running back Edward Saydee. Saydee finished the game with 12 carries and 57 yards before leaving with an injury in the third quarter.
Saydee also scored Temple’s first touchdown of the season when he made a sharp lateral cut to juke out three Rutgers defenders.
Temple’s coaching staff praised Saydee’s vision and decisiveness throughout fall camp and it showed up Saturday. Assuming Saydee’s injury isn’t serious, he looks like a legitimate bell-cow back with his lateral agility and powerful running style pairing nicely with Temple’s zone-heavy scheme.
THERE IS SOME HOPE FOR THE DEFENSE
Yes, Temple gave up 61 points, but the defense actually played pretty well at times considering the circumstances. Between turnovers and special team’s gaffes, Temple’s defense was pinned back in their own territory for most of the first half and several times during the second half.
The Scarlet Knights managed to coast to a rout despite the fact that its offense managed just 4.5 yards per play and pedestrian numbers from quarterback Noah Vedral, who went 15 of 27 passing for 138 yards and a touchdown.
Admittedly, the wheels did start to fall off in the second half when it was clear the defense was tired, and Rutgers started leaning on the running game. However, in the first half, when Rutgers started on their side of the field, Temple’s defense forced four punts and only allowed 39 total yards.
Another somewhat bright spot was the play of Temple’s secondary. They only allowed 145 passing yards during the game. Most of those yards came after the catch, as Rutgers ran bubble screens and quick hitches throughout the game.
Tackling was a problem across the board, however, and one of the worst missed tackles of the game came from cornerback Keyshawn Paul, who whiffed trying to tackle Bo Melton on a short pass, who turned upfield and scored a 40-yard touchdown making the score 33-14 with 8:05 left in the third quarter.
It’s not much, but assuming they aren’t forced to play as much as they did today, Temple’s defense showed they are better than 61-14 final said.
But safety and defensive team captain Amir Tyler wasn’t in the mood to make excuses after the game, and the team’s lack of effort and physicality, in his eyes, bothered him.
“Us not bringing any physicality to the game,” Tyler said when asked about the most disappointing aspect of his unit’s performance. “Rutgers came out there and executed the game plan. They did less things than we thought they would do in the game plan, and they executed by being more physical and having more effort. And effort always wins, regardless of missed assignments.”
WHAT DOES THE LOSS MEAN MOVING FORWARD?
It is too early in the season to go into full panic mode despite a relative no-show in week one, but there are some legitimate concerns. If Mathis and Saydee miss extended time with their injuries, it could hamper the Owls’ offense even more than what we saw today. And starting tight end David Martin-Robinson also left the game with an injury as well.
The coaching staff clearly likes Lynch, but he doesn’t look ready to play collegiate football right now. Replacing Saydee is a little easier given the team’s running back depth, but he was far and away the best back on the field today.
Another big concern is the team’s struggles, once again. on special teams. Rutgers returner Aron Cruickshank had 113 return yards with a long of 57 yards. One of his longer returns came after a penalty forced the Owls to re-kick the ball for having too many men in the backfield.
The Owls were also called for a penalty on special teams for having two players with the same jersey number on the field at the same time (George Reid and Connor Noble), which can’t happen. Carey took responsibility for the mistake, put it on the coaching staff and called it fixable. We'll see if it gets fixed.
The Owls have a cupcake game on the road against Akron next week, which should give them a chance to get back on track.
But if the offensive miscues, special teams gaffes and injury bug follow them there, then it might really be time to panic.