Instant analysis: Tulsa 44, Temple 10
Temple was blown out for the sixth straight game, as the Owls fell, 44-10 on the road to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane Saturday. The loss drops the Owls to 3-8 on the season and 1-6 in American Athletic Conference play.
The Owls have been outscored, 261-45, during the losing streak.
“The guys did fight all the way through the game, which is a positive, but we need to do more offensively,” Temple coach Rod Carey told reporters after the game. “First half, there were probably five key plays, situational plays, that we did not execute on.”
Temple never really showed up on Saturday night, as Tulsa dominated from the jump. The Golden Hurricane scored on all but one possession in the first half and entered halftime with a 27-0 lead. The second half was not as lopsided, but Tulsa still outscored Temple, 17-10, the rest of the way.
Temple’s offense finished with just 289 yards on the day, including just 98 yards in the first half. For the first time in a month, the Owls did finally score before the fourth quarter when Justin Lynch scrambled out to his right and hit Amad Anderson in the right corner of the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown to make the score 34-10 in the third quarter.
Lynch finished the game with 151 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 22 of 37 passing.
Tulsa's offense offense recorded 498 total yards in the game and enjoyed an impressive performance from quarterback Brin Davis, who completed 18 of 30 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns. The Golden Hurricane added 201 yards on the ground, including 58 yards from leading rusher Deneric Prince.
Here are some other key moments and takeaways from today’s game.
TURNING POINT
The turning point in Saturday’s game came with 10 minutes and 6 seconds remaining in the first quarter when Davis hit JuanCarlos Santana for a 21-yard touchdown to put give Tulsa a 7-0 lead.
Temple sent a blitz from the left side, but Davis escaped the pocket out to his right and hit Santana in stride.
Given the way Temple had played on both sides of the ball in recent weeks, the game felt lost the instant the Golden Hurricane took the lead. Things only snowballed from there, as Temple’s defense gave up 20 more points in the first half.
Temple had a chance to turn things around a little bit in the second half when Cameron Ruiz stripped Shamari Brooks of the ball in the middle of a 40-yard run during Tulsa’s opening drive of the half.
The Owls drove 66 yards on the ensuing drive but settled for a 33-yard field goal from Rory Bell to make the score 27-3. A touchdown on that drive might have swung some momentum Temple’s way, but the field goal was deflating.
Tulsa drove right down the field on its next drive and scored off a Davis quarterback sneak, which was set up by a juggling 42-yard catch by Josh Johnson. That made the score 34-3 and all hope of gaining momentum was lost.
TEMPLE HAS A QUARTERBACK PROBLEM
As first reported by OwlScoop.com this week, starting quarterback D’Wan Mathis intends to enter the transfer portal and is likely done just seven games into his Owls career. This led Lynch to make his fourth career start today and things did not exactly go well.
“He is still on the roster at this point,” Carey said about Mathis after the game. “As far as further discussions... in the new world of college football, that is really up to him. We would certainly have discussions and go from there, but he’s still on the roster.”
Temple’s best offense for most of the game was jet motion passes to Randle Jones and David Martin-Robinson, which is quite literally the easiest pass for a quarterback to complete.
When Lynch was asked to push the ball down the field, he under threw a probable touchdown pass to Jose Barbon, leading to an interception in the first quarter. Tulsa then drove down the field and Zach Long knocked in a 44-yard field goal to make the score 10-0.
Outside of the win over Akron, Lynch has struggled all season. He came into Saturday's game having completed just 55 percent of his passes for 636 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions this season.
Lynch is only 18 years old and he’s had to step up for an injured quarterback multiple times this season. The framework around him has not exactly been pretty most of the time either. Temple’s offensive line has not performed well and the running backs have not produced much either.
Lynch has some legitimate excuses for his poor play. With that said, Lynch’s arm looks pretty limited right now, and Temple’s offense has been painfully simple to accommodate where he’s at as a true freshman.
Obviously, players can get better. But based on his play right now, there are questions about Lynch's ceiling. He can hurt teams with his legs — he entered Saturday's game with a team-high 288 rushing yards — but that is not going to cut it if he’s forced to be a starter next season.
To his credit, Lynch also showed some resiliency in the second half when he made an impressive, 23-yard touch pass to Anderson for his first touchdown since Oct. 30 against UCF.
Carey said after the game he saw improvement from Lynch, but if a couple of good decisions and throws is a marketed improvement, that’s not a great sign.
Temple’s other quarterbacks - Mariano Valenti, T.J. Pergine and Matt Duncan - have not played significant snaps in their collegiate careers.
Regardless of what happens with the future of the program, Temple will likely be looking at quarterback options for next season. Whether through the transfer portal or recruiting, Temple needs more experience and developmental upside in that room.
Mathis was Temple’s highest-rated recruit of all time. He was supposed to be the future and he’s gone now. It’s harsh, but Lynch has not done enough to secure the job outright either.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN MOVING FORWARD?
During his Monday press conference, Carey mentioned he believes the team has a young core of players he’s excited about. At this point in the season, the development of those players is really the only thing worth caring about.
On defense, those players probably include linebackers Kobe Wilson and Jordan Magee, along with safeties M.J. Griffin and Alex Odom. Defensive linemen Darian Varner and Demerick Morris have also flashed at times this season. Wilson and Magee each recorded a tackle for loss Saturday, while Griffin finished with six tackles.
While there are at least some bright spots on defense, Temple’s offense might be in for a full-scale rebuild at the end of the season. As mentioned above, the quarterback position is uncertain at best and a gaping hole at worst.
Outside of quarterback, there are a lot of question marks as well. Jones, Temple’s leading receiver won’t return next season. That leaves the Owls, as of now, with Jose Barbon, Jordan Smith, Anderson and Kadas Reams as the only returning receiving threats with any notable playing time.
Temple’s running back room has the same problem. Edward Saydee and Malik Cooper have shown flashes, but Temple’s rushing offense is the worst in the AAC.
The Owls’ offensive line is going to lose its best player in Michael Niese, along with starting center C.J. Perez. Guys like Wisdom Quarshie, Jimto Obidegwu and Richard Rodriguez will have to step up. Rodriguez and Obidegwu both started against Tulsa.
The problem with that is none of them have particularly played well this year. They will have to drastically improve in a short period of time.
Basically, nobody is playing well on offense this season, and they are going to lose more talent this offseason from graduation. That's not to mention the elephant in the room, which is that there will likely be transfers out that are impossible to predict at this stage.
Temple only has one game left. Despite giving up some gaudy numbers, that unit has had enough players flash that there is some hope. It’s crunch time for offensive players to put out good film for next season.
“I think the locker room is doing all right,” Adam Klein said. “It’s definitely hard. You've got to be an adult. You've got to move things along. Things in life are going to be hard, but you've got to keep pushing forward.”