More questions than answers from Mathis, Owls

D’Wan Mathis was nearing the end of his session with reporters Saturday following Temple’s unsightly 49-7 loss to UCF before a crowd of less than 20,000 fans at Lincoln Financial Field. He was asked to talk about how it seems opposing defenses are starting to adjust to and limit what he does well.

“Yeah, I mean, they’ve got coordinators just as well as we’ve got coordinators,” Mathis, who completed 16 of his 30 attempts for just 130 yards, responded. “They called the right call, and we’ve just got to figure out a way to make a play.”

When the redshirt-freshman Georgia transfer was asked about the potential for making changes or anything that could change with play calling, Mathis said, “That’s not my job. It’s not my job to call plays. It’s my job to go out there and execute what’s called. So as long as Coach U is (offensive coordinator Mike Uremovich) calling whatever he calls, I’m just going to try to make it work.”

When the follow-up came about whether or not Mathis sees anything at the line of scrimmage that he can check out of, Mathis said, “Yeah, but I don’t have the luxury of checking … There’s only certain plays where we got checks and certain plays we don’t.”

For context, that’s not uncommon. Most college quarterbacks don’t have free rein to check out of what they see pre-snap whenever they want, and there are certainly occasions in modern college football offenses where answers to pressure or certain looks are built into whatever the concept is so that the quarterback doesn’t need to check out or get a play change from the sideline.

“Honestly, I do see it, though,” Mathis continued, referring to pre-snap looks. “I see a dude coming. I’ll see six up (at the line of scrimmage). I saw the two off the edge, actually. I was trying to make the first guy miss and then get to the dart (the running back). I knew I was going to use the dart as my hot (route).”

Mathis was likely referring to the fourth-and-2 play on Temple’s first series when the Owls had driven down to the UCF 29-yard line but came up empty when Justin Hodges sacked Mathis on a blitz.

“Once again, we got a sack, took a loss,” Mathis said. “And then I think they did the same thing later on in the game, I think, when we were backed up. We were coming out of our end zone, going back this way, and they sent 12 (Hodges) off the edge again, and the dart didn’t get there in enough time. But it is what it is, though.”

Then Mathis was asked what his relationship is like in terms of being able to go to head coach Rod Carey and Uremovich to tell them what he’s seeing pre-snap and if they can make changes.

“I don’t …,” Mathis began. “I mean, sometimes, but I don’t really have that luxury.”

That’s something a little different.

Carey spoke first on Saturday as he always does, before Mathis, so he didn't have a chance to comment on Mathis' view of pre-snap philosophies. More context could be provided and nuanced on Carey’s end by the time he talks to reporters during his weekly Monday press conference if he’s asked about Mathis’ remarks or chooses to talk about it, and Mathis will likely be asked about it more if he’s made available during Tuesday’s weekly player availability.

But it was an answer worth noting on Saturday.

To be fair to Mathis, he didn’t carry the tone of a player who seemed intent on going after the coaches while absolving himself of any poor play. Earlier in his postgame session with reporters, he laid blame at his own feet and maintained that his mistakes are not always the most obvious or visible ones.

“As a quarterback, a lot of things that I do wrong get overshadowed,” he said. “Whenever a receiver drops the ball, everybody sees it. But if I was in the pocket, and I didn’t see a dude coming across who was wide open, chances are you might not see that. So I just always try to keep the guys encouraged. No matter what the situation is, guys are going to make mistakes.”

That answer, however, came when Mathis was asked about dropped passes. He wrapped by saying this.

“I’m not saying that we’re going to be perfect,” Mathis added, “but dropped passes and things like that, that’s out of my control. I just try to do what I can to keep the team on the field.”

Mathis went just 8 of 24 passing for 61 yards and an interception in the season opener at Rutgers before leaving the game with an injury. He returned three weeks later for a tune-up against FCS opponent Wagner and went 22 of 32 for 292 yards and two touchdowns. He followed it up a week later with an even more impressive performance that saw him complete 35 of his 49 throws for 322 yards and three touchdowns to go with 53 rushing yards.

Since then, during the Owls’ three-game losing streak that has seen them get outscored by 135 to 24, Mathis has also struggled, completing 44 of his 78 throws (56 percent) for 424 yards and just one touchdown while throwing three interceptions and getting sacked 10 times.

There was another moment from Mathis earlier in his postgame session with reporters. He was asked about Carey’s remarks about looking to get true freshman backup quarterback Justin Lynch more involved in the game plan and potentially seeing as many as 10 to 15 snaps a game, and how he would feel about taking a step back to watch on those occasions.

Again, for more context, it’s not uncommon for backups to have packages in game plans to get reps and use their skills.

“Whatever I’ve got to do to be a good teammate right there, keep him going,” Mathis said. “I know he’s a young guy. Whatever I can teach him or whatever we’ve got to do. I’ve just got to step up. Whatever my role is, keep playing my part.”

Lynch, who went 1-1 as the starter in Mathis’ absence, came in for a play on the first series and gained two yards on a first-and-15 run following a Joseph Hooper false start penalty, and he eventually went 3 of 6 passing for 46 yards and the Owls’ only touchdown in late-game mop-up time.

Another reporter reinforced that Carey said there was no quarterback controversy, but that Lynch brings something a little different. How, Mathis was asked, do he and Lynch differ when it comes to being mobile quarterbacks?

“If I’m being honest, I can run the ball just as well as Justin,” Mathis said, “So I really don’t know, honestly. Whether he’s doing that to take hits off of me, I don’t know. I haven’t talked to Coach Carey about it yet. I can talk to him and see what he says.”

This stuff can sometimes come out in the wash when teams are losing like Temple is. Nothing is going right for the Owls. Mathis spoke in an even tone throughout his conversation with reporters. At most, he sounded a little frustrated and confused. Human nature is what it is.

The question moving forward, of course, is whether or not the team and the program can hold it together and win three of their next four games to get bowl eligible. And even if they do, how they get there will also matter.

Based on what Temple put on film Saturday and what Mathis had to say about some of it after the game, there are far more questions than answers at this point.