Takeaways from Temple's Cherry and White Game

Fans, alumni, and former players filled the bleachers and sidelines Saturday at Edberg-Olson Hall and Chodoff Field for Temple football’s first spring game in more than three years. New head coach Stan Drayton brought the game back almost immediately after he was hired to help infuse the program with new energy after last year's 3-9 season.

The offense and defense participated in a mock game that pitted the first-team defense against the second-team defense and the second-team offense against the first-team defense.

The defense ended up winning by a score of 64-54, earning points for things like three and outs, interceptions, fumbles, and making tackles for a loss.

“What an unbelievable day,” Drayton said after the game. “This is why I love college football, the pageantry, the band and the fans, and the support that I felt out here. Proud to be a Temple Owl, really … we are definitely heading in the right direction, and I just can’t get enough of the atmosphere that was out there.”

Here are some key takeaways from the game.

The offensive is still a work in progress

The offense did not actually score 54 points today. They were awarded extra points for explosive plays — a run of more than 12 yards or a pass longer than 18 yards — and were given multiple chances to tie the game during two-minute drills.

Temple’s first- and second-team offenses largely struggled in all facets Saturday, as they only scored three touchdowns while spending essentially the entire day playing from behind.

D’Wan Mathis was the starting quarterback Saturday, and he wasn’t on top of his game for most of the afternoon. He threw two interceptions (with one in the red zone), had multiple fumbles and missed several open receivers.

Some of that is to be expected given Mathis is learning an entirely new offense for the second time in two years. However, he left a ton of passes short in the game, forcing his receivers to come back to the ball and make difficult catches through contact.

Being uncertain with a new offensive is expected. Underwhelming arm talent wasn't.

“I feel like D’Wan Mathis is a guy that can definitely help this football team,” Drayton said. “He made some really good throws, and he had some guys make some really tough catches for him today. The more and more he continues to play and every little bit of success he gets helps to add to his confidence level. He’s definitely starting to put the pieces together as far as knowing what he’s doing.”

Drayton mentioned Mathis was a hair ahead of the other quarterbacks in learning the scheme, but also mentioned they “have some potential to add some depth” at quarterback.

Mathis did throw two touchdown passes on the day. The first was on a slant route to wide receiver De’Von Fox, who broke multiple tackles on his way to the end zone, and the other was to wide receiver Amad Anderson, who made an impressive adjustment while falling to the ground near the front pylon.

The third touchdown was a pass from Mariano Valenti to tight end Jordan Smith, who high-pointed the ball and then dragged his defender into the end zone.

Up front, Temple’s offensive line struggled to both protect the quarterbacks and create running room. They, too, are learning a new system, but offensive line play has a lot to do with communication and physicality. The Owls line still has some progress to make in that area.

Not only that, but the snaps from today’s starting center Wisdom Quarshie caused a lot of problems. There were a ton of bobbled, low and errant snaps, which threw off the timing of the play and the offense as a whole.

The running back position didn’t create a ton of big plays either. They didn’t have much help from the offensive line, but Drayton himself said that group needs to get better before the start of the season in August.

“That is one position that needs to get better,” Drayton said. “I don’t think they are comfortable back there yet. I think there is some discipline with their eyes. They are not reacting very well to it at times. I’ll tell you this, outside of running the football, the one thing I did see improvement from that unit is protection.”

Edward Saydee, Darvon Hubbard and Iverson Clement all saw first-team reps Saturday, but none of them established themselves as the clear No. 1 option.

The lone bright spot for Temple’s offense was the pass catches. The aforementioned Fox and Anderson got open consistently and made several difficult catches for first downs throughout the day.

Tight end David Martin-Robinson sparked the first-team offense when he had back-to-back explosive plays while they were still getting shut out. Martin-Robinson’s performance is building off a strong spring.

Temple fans shouldn’t overreact to the play of the offense Saturday — it’s April.

However, it does seem like Temple’s offense still has largely the same problems it had last season -- struggles on the offensive line, inconsistent quarterback play and no clear option in the backfield. Not to mention, all of Saturday's errors came against the second-team defense.

There is plenty of time to fix it, but it’s definitely worth noting.

Defensive dominance

On the flip side of things, the defense performed incredibly well Saturday. They were certainly helped by some offensive miscues, but they made a ton of plays on their own.

The defense got off to a good start, forcing three and outs and causing turnovers that allowed them to jump out to a 10-2 lead.

“Our first defense continues to get better,” Drayton said when asked what his biggest takeaway was. “Not only that, you see our second defense against the one offense go out there and have a pretty darn gone good day, which means we are starting to build some depth.”

Temple’s defense line dominated from start to finish. Defensive tackles Xach Gill and Jalen Satchell lived in the backfield, while defensive end/outside linebacker Layton Jordan recorded several would-be sacks.

The Owls' inside linebackers were flying around the field making plays, too. Starters Kobe Wilson and Jordan Magee both made multiple impact plays, including fumble recoveries and tackles for loss. Backup Yvandy Rigby also accounted for a number of sacks and tackles for loss throughout the contest.

The secondary had a nice performance as well. Besides all the fumbles mentioned earlier, they picked off Temple’s quarterbacks three times.

The first was an INT by safety Chauncey Moore, who skied into the air to high point a pass into double coverage from Mathis. The second was a similar play by safety Jalen Ware, who jumped up to intercept an errant pass over the middle from Valenti.

The last interception was by outside linebacker/safety Muheem McCargo in the red zone against Mathis. The offense tried to run a play-action fake with a corner route to Smith on the left side of the end zone. McCargo saw it earlier, flipped his hips, and closed the throwing window for the interception.

There were also a ton of would-be sacks that came from blitzes. New defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot is known for sending pressure from all over the field, and it looks like that will be a fixture of Temple’s defense this upcoming season.

It’s probably fair to chalk up a lot of the defense’s success today to them being ahead of the offense, something Drayton noted after the game. Despite that, it’s also fair to be hopeful about some of the individual performances from players like Satchell, Wilson, Ware and Rigby.

Depth chart takeaways

As much as Drayton wants to downplay who started Saturday and who didn’t, it is an undeniable fact that the players who started Saturday have an early edge for starting spots in the fall.

A lot of the surprises on offense were the product of injuries. Expected starting right tackle Issac Moore did not play Saturday but was on the sideline with pads. That forced Adam Klein to kick out to right tackle and likely forced Bryce Thoman to start at right guard.

Drayton said postgame he’s hoping all the movement the offensive line has experienced this spring will help their development moving forward.

There is no clear starter at the running back position, but Saydee and Hubbard definitely received the most carries Saturday.

On defense, walk-on Sylvester Mathis starting at outside linebacker and defensive end qualifies as a surprise. If the spring game is any indication, Temple might’ve found a diamond in the rough with Mathis. He was disruptive as both a pass rusher and run defender in Saturday’s contest.

Expected starting cornerback Cameron Ruiz was out with an injury, leading to Jalen McMurray, Dominick Hill and Nate Wyatt filling in. One of those players will likely have to fill in as a slot cornerback at some point, so keeping an eye on their progression in the fall is important.