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Published Aug 30, 2023
Position preview: Special Teams
Kyle Gauss  •  OwlScoop
Assistant Editor
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@kylegauss

Temple's special teams units made some strides in 2022, especially in the field goal department, but continued to be sluggish in other crucial areas. Some key contributors return that, coupled with some notable transfers, could help the Owls bounce back in 2023.

Returning Players: Camden Price, Amad Anderson, Sam Martin, Andrew McIlquham

Key Departures: Mackenzie Morgan, Rory Bell (Cincinnati)

Newcomers: Dante Atton, Chris Van Eekeren, Dante Wright, EJ Wilson

2022 Recap

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Starting with the positive, Temple’s field-goal kicking drastically improved in 2022 after a lackluster 2021. Rory Bell started the season as the incumbent kicker but, after missing his first two attempts of the season, lost the job to Miami (FL) transfer Camden Price. Price took full advantage of his opportunity and made 13 of 14 field-goal attempts down the stretch.

Bell, meanwhile, saw his kickoff average drop from 60.3 yards per kick in 2021 to just 56.9 yards and six touchbacks in 2022. As a team, Temple ranked just No. 90 in the nation in kickoff return defense at 21.5 yards per return.

Weber State transfer Mackenzie Morgan, an Australia native, handled the punt duties in 2022 and finished the season with a respectable 40 yards a punt. Morgan’s ability to rugby style punt helped Temple limit returns and, as a result, the Owls finished No. 26 in the nation in punt return defense.

From the “offensive” perspective of special teams, Temple lacked explosivity in 2022. The Owls were No. 123 in punt return average at 3.5 yards per game last season and No. 124 in kickoff returns at 16.4 yards per return.

To be fair, the kickoff return game did get a bit of a shot in the arm when Sam Martin took over the primary return duties against Cincinnati. After failing to record more than 70 kickoff yards in a game over the course of the team’s first 10 games, Temple averaged 122 kickoff yards per game in the last two games that saw Martin take over the primary job. Martin’s 138 kickoff yards against East Carolina were the most by a Temple player since Isaiah Wright had 148 yards against Duke in the 2018 Independence Bowl.

Temple’s punt return unit struggled for the fourth straight year, as the Owls returned just 13 punts for 45 yards over the course of the entire season.

2023 Preview

Bell transferred to Cincinnati as a walk-on but Price is back for one more season on North Broad Street and should have a firm grasp on the placekicking duties. Price’s field-goal accuracy of 92.7 percent was the best in the American Athletic Conference last season and, barring a setback, he should be able to provide some much-needed stability to that aspect of the special teams unit.

“Cam Price returns as a seasoned veteran, both from his time at his previous institution and with the year he had for us last year, which has been well recognized recently,” Temple specials teams coordinator Adam Scheier told reporters earlier this offseason. “With Cam, you know you hate to say that the guy’s a gamer, but he goes in there and he makes kicks. He's got a level of confidence when he walks between those white stripes that's really rare and second to none when it comes to kicking.”

While Price will handle the placekicking duties, he will concede kickoff duties to Purdue transfer Chris Van Eekeren. Over the last two seasons, Van Eekeren recorded 55 touchbacks on 94 kickoffs for the Boilermakers. Temple, meanwhile, has had just 19 touchbacks since Jacob LaFree graduated after the 2019 season.

At punter, Scheier dipped back into Australia for the addition of freshman Dante Atton, who will also punt rugby style. The difference between Morgan and Atton, however, is that while Morgan came to Temple with years of collegiate experience, Atton has never taken a snap in an American football game. In spite of that lack of experience, Temple coach Stan Drayton is confident in Atton’s ability to hit the ground running.

“He’s got some ice running through his veins a little bit,” Drayton said. “He’s got a lot of confidence…I don’t sense any nervousness coming out of him so that makes me feel pretty doggone good.”

According to Drayton, Temple will start the season off with Martin on kickoff returns and Anderson back on punt returns. While those two will get the first whack at returns, Temple also added two transfers during the offseason in Colorado State transfer wideout Dante Wright and FIU transfer running back EJ Wilson.

Wright, who should also factor in heavily in the passing game, returned 32 punts during his time as a Ram to the tune of 217 yards. Wilson, meanwhile, returned 17 kickoffs for 392 yards at FIU, including a 100-yard return as a freshman in 2020. While Martin and Anderson will get first the first whack at returns, the addition of Wright and Wilson should provide Temple some flexibility in the event that they falter. Cornerback Jalen McMurray could also factor into the rotation, as could Corey Cuascut-Palmer.

“The returners piece will sort itself out,” Scheier said. “There are guys that have the leg up on the competition right now that are getting the bulk of the reps but there are some young guys that have a lot of ability as well.”

Atton will also serve as Temple's holder. TCU transfer Andrew McIlquham will handle long snapping duties for the second straight season.

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