As he prepares his team to host Temple Saturday in Annapolis for the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams, Navy head coach Brian Newberry sees an Owls team on film that looks different than the one that beat the Midshipmen last season.
Even in a 48-point loss to No. 16 Oklahoma Friday, Temple looked like it belonged on the same field with the Sooners, Newberry said.
Athleticism is what stands out most.
“We have to prepare for a really athletic team coming in here,” Newberry told reporters Monday over Zoom. “You watch them against Oklahoma, and, athletically, they fit right in with Oklahoma. I think they've improved in a lot of areas of the program. … They’ve got some good players. What they're doing schematically on both sides of the ball is good and I'm sure they're going to be a much improved team coming here for Week 2.”
A win at Navy on Saturday wound end a streak of road futility for Temple. The Owls’ sole conference win last season came against Navy at Lincoln Financial Field. They have not won on the road since a 45-24 victory at Akron in 2021, and their last conference road win came back in 2019 at USF.
Navy defeated FCS program Bucknell, 49-21, last Saturday to win its first season opener since 2019. A new hybrid Wing-T offense did feature 19 pass attempts and three passing touchdowns from the Midshipmen, including two from Blake Horvath in the second quarter.
The night before, Temple’s defense was put in some pretty challenging field position thanks to five turnovers committed by the offense and a sixth on special teams by Dante Wright that spotted Oklahoma seven more second-half points by the time the game had gotten out of hand. But the Owls did hold the Sooners to 1-for-12 on third down and tallied three sacks.
This week, however, Temple may not have as many opportunities to pin their ears back and go after Horvath or fellow quarterback Braxton Woodson, who went 3-for-7 for 65 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Even though Newberry’s offense committed to throwing the ball a bit more, it still called 52 running plays against Bucknell in Week 1.
Eleven different Midshipmen ran the football last week, with four gaining at least 30 yards. Veteran senior fullback Daba Fofana gained 82 yards, Brandon Chatman had 47 yards, Alex Tecza gained 40, and Horvath had 33 yards.
Navy’s switch from the standard triple-option offense to the Wing T features more misdirection, unusual formations and a diverse run game. Newberry broke down the difference between the two schemes Monday.
“We’re just a different offense in general,” Newberry began. “There are some similarities to what we did last year. Last year, we lined up in mostly double slot against these guys and tried to run some triple-option and didn't have a ton of success doing that. So, we’re a different operation this year. We’re basing off a Wing-T and have a little more balance in what we’re doing offensively. So those are the major differences.”
During the 2022 and 2023 seasons, former Temple quarterback E.J. Warner got the ball out of his hands quickly, allowing him to take fewer hits behind his often-injured offensive line. Temple’s offensive line surrendered six sacks at Oklahoma, but only two of them were the result of complete breakdowns by the front five, Stan Drayton said Monday.
Newberry was impressed with the Owls’ offensive line and quarterback Forrest Brock, despite what the stat sheet said.
“He throws it really well, he's athletic, and he does some stuff in the run game,” Newberry said of Brock. “I've been really impressed with him and the skill around him. The offensive line is big. There's a couple younger guys playing tackle for them, but they're big, long, and athletic. They got after us a little bit up front last year. I'm just really impressed with their overall athleticism and size, and I think their quarterback is a good player.”
Newberry has a history with Temple’s special teams coordinator and tight ends coach, Adam Scheier. They coached together at Lehigh in 2003.
They haven't spoken much over the years, but Newberry said he respects Scheier as a person and as a coach, calling Scheier “an excellent, excellent football coach, and one of the finest guys I know.”