ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In a game that featured its fair share of exciting moments for a pair of struggling football teams, there was E.J. Warner on the game’s last play, running for his life and trying to take the game into a second extra stanza.
But it ended there.
On fourth-and-11 and scrambling to avoid pressure, Temple’s true freshman quarterback heaved a throw into the end zone intended for wide receiver Zae Baines that instead landed in the arms of Navy cornerback Dashaun Peele, and the Owls’ hopes of landing their first American Athletic Conference win came to a deflating thud in a 27-20 overtime loss to the Midshipmen Saturday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
The Owls, now 2-6 and winless in conference play, trailed by 10 in the first quarter and again last in the third quarter to tie the game at 20-20 late in the fourth behind a 20-yard touchdown pass from Warner to mercurial wide receiver Amad Anderson with 9 minutes, 45 seconds left in regulation and a 22-yard Camden Price field goal with 1:08 to go in the fourth quarter.
Anderson, who earlier muffed a punt that helped set up Navy’s first touchdown, hauled in a 40-yard pass from Warner on third-and-10 on a remarkable, one-handed catch that got Temple down to the Navy 5-yard line, where the Owls ultimately couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone and instead settled for the Price field goal that forced overtime.
Like last week against Tulsa, Temple found itself losing a winnable football game, especially considering the Owls held Navy (3-5, 3-3 in the American Athletic Conference) to 224 total yards – all on the ground – and just 3.1 yards per play. The loss also came on a night when Temple knocked Navy’s staring quarterback Tai Lavatai out of the game in the second quarter after holding him to 12 yards on five carries.
But it was Navy’s backup quarterback, 5-foot-9, 176-pound junior Xavier Arline, who won the game for the Midshipmen. After Temple won the overtime coin toss and deferred, Arline scored from 23 yards out on second-and-8 to lift Navy to its 27-20 lead before Warner and the Owls came up short on their possession.
Temple played the game without its first-year head coach, Stan Drayton, who was battling a viral illness all week. His chief of staff Everett Withers coached the team, and the former college head coach and veteran assistant called Arline’s game-winning run a missed assignment on Temple’s end and said it came on a play Navy had been setting up.
“They did a nice job,” Withers said. “When you play triple-option offenses, they eventually work through a sequence of plays that will eventually get to the play they like the best, and we started seeing some of the mid-line quarterback follow stuff later in the game. They lost their starting quarterback, and this guy was a better mid-line runner and did a nice job of that late in the game.”
Temple middle linebacker Jordan Magee, who recorded 12 tackles in the loss, appeared to be sealed off by two Navy offensive linemen on Arline’s touchdown run.
“Navy did a good job running their play that was designed for the quarterback lead,” Magee said. “So they just opened up the hole and scored.
Warner finished 24 of 48 passing for 268 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. A Temple offensive line that had only allowed four sacks all season surrendered four sacks, including two in a critical fourth-quarter drive that stalled out deep in the Owls’ territory, and Warner wasn’t helped by five dropped passes.
“Anytime you drop balls,” Withers said, “that hinders your offense.”
Turning point
Speaking of that …
Temple had just closed the gap to 13-10 at the 13:49 mark of the third quarter when outside linebacker Layton Jordan stepped in front of a pitch toss from Arline intended for Maquel Haywood, knocked it down, and recovered it in the end zone. It was Jordan’s third defensive touchdown of the season, which set a program record for the most defensive touchdowns by a Temple player in a season and a career.
The Owls firmly had momentum on their side at that point and appeared poised to take control of the game, especially after they forced the Midshipmen to go three-and-out on the ensuing possession.
When Temple took over at its own 18-yard line, Warner moved the Owls upfield and into Navy territory after converting on fourth-and-1 from the Temple 39 on a 12-yard pass to tight end David Martin-Robinson. Four plays later, facing fourth-and-5 from the Navy 44, Warner hit James Della Pesca right in the hands on a throw that would have been enough for a first down, but the sophomore tight end dropped the ball.
Navy responded with a 12-play, 56-yard drive capped by Anton Hall’s 16-yard run that helped lift the Midshipmen to a 20-10 lead with 51 seconds left in the third quarter.
Yes, Temple came back to tie the game and force overtime, but the Owls would have been in position to keep that previous drive going and potentially tie the game there or take the lead had Della Pesca caught the football.
“We needed that possession, we needed to continue that possession,” Withers said, “and it didn’t happen.”
Drayton set to return soon
Withers indicated after Saturday’s game that Drayton could be back on the sideline with his team in time for next Saturday’s game against USF at Lincoln Financial Field.
“I talked to him before the game. He’s feeling a lot better,” Withers said of Drayton. “Hopefully we’ll get him back in the building on Sunday. He’s been able to get some rest and been able to keep some food down, so he was in a lot better spirits and I was able to talk to him at halftime today.”
Another week, another offensive line combination
With center Adam Klein, right guard James Faminu and versatile offensive lineman Rich Rodriguez all out with injuries, Temple started its eight different offensive line combination in as many weeks.
Isaac Moore, the only Temple player to start each of the first eight games at the same position, started at left tackle, and Jimto Obidegwu started at left guard. Wisdom Quarshie moved over to center, Bryce Thoman played right guard and Victor Stoffel played right tackle, where he has now started the last three games.
Again, the line allowed five sacks, including two on consecutive plays midway through the fourth quarter to Peele and Jacob Busic that stomped out Temple’s momentum after the Owls had closed the gap to 20-17 on Warner’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Anderson and then forced Navy into one of six three-and-outs on the evening.
Stat stuff
Amad Anderson finished with eight catches for 114 yards and a touchdown and Zae Baines caught three passes for 56 yards, including a 35-yard reception, with the Owls playing without an injured Adonicas Sanders. … Running back Edward Saydee tallied 117 all-purpose yards with 61 yards on 14 carries and six receptions for 56 yards. … Wide receiver Jose Barbon was targeted 11 times but only connected with E.J. Warner three times for 12 yards. … Linebacker Yvandy Rigby led Temple with a career-high 16 tackles, and fellow linebacker D.J. Woodbury’s 10 tackles were also a career-best.
Postgame audio
You can listen to postgame interviews here.
