Advertisement
Published Oct 30, 2021
Instant analysis: UCF 49, Temple 7
Dante Collinelli
OwlScoop.com Staff Reporter

Temple lost 49-7 to UCF Saturday afternoon, dropping its record to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in American Athletic Conference play. The Owls trailed by 21 points at the end of the first half and were unable to overcome that deficit.

“Obviously, when you beat yourself against a good football team like that, the score is going to reflect what it did today,” head coach Rod Carey said after the game.

The Owls’ offense struggled throughout the game, especially in the first half. They totaled 162 total yards but made several mistakes on key plays inside UCF territory, including a fumble and a failed fourth-down conversion.

Temple’s offense finished the game with 297 yards, with 130 coming on the ground, and D’Wan Mathis finished completing 16 of 31 passes for 121 yards and zero touchdowns.

Backup quarterback Justin Lynch came in for mop-up duty with 28 seconds left and threw Temple’s only touchdown of the day to Jose Barbon from 27 yards out.

The Knights utilized the running game to eat up the clock and grind down the Temple defense. They finished with 430 total yards, with 201 coming on the ground. Isaiah Bowser led them in rushing with 89 yards and scored one touchdown.

UCF Quarterback Mikey Keene doubled his passing touchdown output for the season, as he threw five touchdown passes and netted 229 yards.

Here are some other key moments and takeaways from the game.

TURNING POINT

Saturday’s turning point came with 3 minutes and 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter when Temple was at the UCF 26, down 14-0.

Mathis found Jordan Smith in the middle of the field on third-and-12, and he made several defenders miss trying to pick up the first down, but was hit from behind by UCF linebacker Tatum Bethune, who forced a fumble that Quadric Bullard recovered at the Knights’ 12-yard line.

UCF then proceeded to drive down the field and score a touchdown when Keene, who had at least eight seconds to throw in the pocket, hit wide receiver Brandon Johnson for a touchdown making the score 21-0.

This came just a few plays after Temple safety Jalen Ware had intercepted Keene, but he fumbled the ball on the return and allowed UCF to recover the ball at the Temple 23, setting the Knights up with great field position.

“We gotta put out the fire,” cornerback Cameron Ruiz after the game. “We got the interception. We got unlucky. Things happen. They don’t go our way. We just gotta put out the fire.”

But the Owls did not put out the fire and were outscored 35-7 after those two fumbles.

Those string of plays turned the tide of the game against the Owls. Things were still in Temple’s grasp, but those two costly mistakes exemplified what Temple’s season has looked like so far.

The Owls are capable but just can’t seem to stay out of their own way and execute in big moments.

TEMPLE’S OFFENSE NEEDS SOME CREATIVITY

The Owls’ offense didn’t have its worst game of the season statistically, but there was just something unique about Saturday’s performance.

Temple couldn’t find a rhythm for a good chunk of the game, and when it did, the Owls either fumbled or got stopped on fourth down.

Temple’s leading rusher was Ra’Von Bonner with 35 yards, and Temple’s leading receiver was Barbon with a measly 46 yards — 27 of which came on the garbage-time touchdown pass from Lynch.

The Owls’ offense likes to scheme receivers open on pick plays, use bubble screens, or jet passes to get the ball in their playmakers’ hands. The problem is there is no deception. No creativity. They’ve become predictable in the passing game, making the life of opposing defenses much easier.

Mathis was forced to pull the ball down when his first read wasn’t open a lot on Saturday. This either led to a sack or forced Mathis to make a Superman-type play where he avoided a rusher and made a throw down the field.

Mathis told reporters post-game he “doesn’t have the luxury” of changing plays at the line of scrimmage even if he sees they are in a bad look. Mathis added that he “doesn’t really have the luxury” of going to Carey and offensive coordinator Mike Uremovich about tweaking things in the offense.

In the running game, Temple isn’t doing anything to fool or challenge the defense. Most of their runs are pounding Edward Saydee into the middle of the line on inside zone plays.

The Owls’ offensive line doesn’t create enough movement up front for this to be the primary way they run the ball. When Temple did try something different and run a pitch play where they pulled right tackle Issac Moore, it allowed Malik Cooper to pick up 20 yards early in the first quarter.

There is an argument to be made that Temple doesn’t have good enough personnel to get more creative on offense, but when you’re trailing by 20-plus points and getting run out of your own stadium in the second half, there is no excuse to not try and shake things up.

Instead, Temple continued to run uninspired bubble screens and bang their head into a brick wall in the running game.

TEMPLE IS NOT A WELL-COACHED TEAM

There is plenty of blame and excuses to go around for Saturday’s blowout loss. The Owls are banged up with a number of key players injured.

However, all of Temple’s issues are consistent trends throughout all of their games this season, no matter who is healthy.

“We have to coach them better,” Carey said. “We have to play better. We gotta get these young guys going, with the amount of reps that they’ve had and understanding situational football.”

When your team consistently shows up not ready to play — they’ve been outscored by 60 points in the first quarter — and gets blown out pretty much any time they play a competent team, that’s coaching.

Temple fumbled the ball three times in key situations Saturday, including the two that turned the tide of the game, with the last one coming in the third quarter when Saydee fumbled at his own 13-yard line, setting up UCF with great field position.

Well coached teams do not turn the ball over like that.

UCF scored on the next play, making the score 35-0 and taking all of the air out of Temple’s sails. Whether they had any left at that point is debatable.

After that, it was obvious Temple had checked out. The defense missed a number of tackles, failed to communicate and cover on the back end, leading to several big passing plays, and the offensive line gave up a number of pressures and sacks without much fight.

The Owls also had a number of costly penalties in the game. They committed eight penalties for 63 yards.

Well-coached teams don’t let games spiral when a couple of breaks don’t go their way. Temple has let games against Rutgers, Boston College, Cincinnati and USF all become relatively uncompetitive this season after a couple of mistakes.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN GOING FORWARD?

Temple isn’t a good football team. That’s no secret. However, following the team’s come-from-behind victory against Memphis, there was some hope the Owls could finish the season strong.

Since then, they’ve been outscored 135-24 and lost three straight games.

It’s not just that they lost those games, but it is how the Owls have lost those games. Outside of the first half against USF — arguably the worst team in the conference — they were not competitive in any of those games.

After Saturday’s game against UCF, it is hard to really find a bright spot on this team. Coming into the week, it was the passing defense. But with injuries to three starters in cornerback Keyshawn Paul and safeties Amir Tyler and M.J. Griffin, they, too, struggled.

Mathis showed some signs of life in this game, but the structure around him is so bad there’s not much he can do at times. The offensive line is struggling in both the running and passing game, receivers are struggling to get open and catch the ball when it hits them in the chest.

Learning he can’t change plays at the line and doesn’t have much input on the offensive doesn’t exactly bode well for the offensive potentially improving either.

Temple must win three of its next four games to become bowl-eligible this season, but that is not what Owls fans should be worrying about right now.

Instead, they should be worried about the direction of the program.

Temple
2025Commitment List
Updated:
temple
FOOTBALL
Scores / Schedule
footballfootball
3 - 8
Overall Record
2 - 5
Conference Record
Upcoming
Temple
3 - 8
Temple
North Texas
5 - 6
North Texas
-11, O/U 64.5
Finished
UTSA
51
Arrow
UTSA
Temple
27
Temple
Temple
18
Arrow
Temple
Florida Atlantic
15
Florida Atlantic
recruiting
2025Team Rankings
recruiting Team Rankings