Temple's special teams units struggle again in loss at Rutgers

There are three aspects to football: offense, defense, and special teams.

The last of the three can sometimes be undervalued, but it has hindered Temple in head coach Rod Carey’s first two seasons and did again Saturday in the Owls’ season-opening 61-14 blowout loss at Rutgers.

The unsightly loss was made up of a lot of issues, including a safety, a pick-six, injuries and poor tackling, but poor special teams play was a part of it. The Owls committed two key special teams penalties, allowed 168 return yards to Aron Cruickshank, lost a fumble on a kickoff return that led to a touchdown, and generated next to nothing in the return game.

Safety Amir Tyler was one of four starters who played on special teams units Saturday, along with linebacker George Reid, cornerback Keyshawn Paul and safety DaeSean Winston, who later left the game with an injury. The majority of the teams were comprised of backup safeties, cornerbacks and linebackers like M.J. Griffin, Alex Odom, Elijah Clark, Jordan Magee and Muheem McCargo.

When Tyler was asked about how the team could remedy its special teams woes, he implied that changes could be coming in terms of personnel.

“As (special teams) Coach (Brett) Diersen and Coach Carey said, next man up,” Tyler said. “So if you don’t finish your job or do your job the right way, we’ll get a guy in there that will. So until we find that strong core on special teams that can get in there and perform every day, we’ll be switching them in and out.”

It started on the first punt of the game.

On third-and-10 from the Rutgers 39-yard line, quarterback Noah Vedral dropped back and completed a 4-yard pass to Bo Melton, six yards short of the first-down marker. Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano sent punter Adam Korsak out to the field, and the second-team All-Big Ten selection dropped in a punt that Jadan Blue elected not to return and pinned Temple in at its 1-yard line.

Three plays later, out of the pistol, quarterback D’Wan Mathis was sacked from the right side by weakside linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi for a safety. And on the ensuing free kick following the safety, safety punt, Cruickshank gained 57 yards on his return to set up the Scarlet Knights on Temple’s 33-yard line, field position that eventually translated to a 25-yard Valentino Ambrosio field goal that staked Rutgers to an early 5-0 lead.

Later in the first quarter, Korsak pinned the Owls inside the 10-yard line again with a 67-yard punt that Blue downed at the 9. Without much room to operate, Temple gained nine yards on first down before Mathis threw an interception to Tre Avery, who was tackled at the Owls’ 2-yard line. On the next play, Rutgers brought in gadget QB Johnny Langan for a touchdown rush up the middle. That, coupled with Ambrosio’s PAT, extended Rutgers’ lead to 12-0.

Then things just got worse.

On the kickoff, Temple wide receiver De’Von Fox fumbled forward after a 20-yard return, and Jamier Wright-Collins recovered the ball at the Owls’ 28-yard line. Six plays later, Langan’s number was called again for a 1-yard touchdown carry that made it a 19-0 game just 45 seconds into the second quarter.

Although it might seem like an afterthought now considering the final score, Temple had climbed to within 12 at 26-14 at the 12:02 mark of the third quarter following Mathis’ 3-yard touchdown run. Rutgers went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, but Temple did as well on its next series, the one in which Mathis left with what appeared to be a lower-leg injury.

Then came another special teams miscue that benefited the Scarlet Knights.

On fourth-and-16 from the Temple 27-yard line, punter Adam Barry got off a 45-yard punt that would have put Rutgers at its own 28, but Diersen’s unit sent two players with the same No. 39 - Reid and tight end Conor Noble - out on the field, which prompted a 5-yard equipment violation flag and a re-kick. Barry’s next punt went just 33 yards and out of bounds, and the Scarlet Knights picked up 17 yards as a result.

Two plays, Vedral hit Melton with a quick throw, Paul whiffed on the tackle, and Melton turned it into a 40-yard catch-and-run touchdown that started the onslaught of 35 unanswered Rutgers points.

“The substitution issue (with Reid and Noble on the field at the same time) was a miscommunication on us and something we missed during the week on coaches,” Carey said, “so that one’s easily fixable. On some of the other ones (on kick coverage), we’ve got to get off blocks, and we’ve got to get the returner down on that. And then you can’t turn the ball over on special teams. So those are all things that we have to do better, and we’ll get back to work to do that.”

While Cruickshank is one of the best return specialists in the country (he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns last season), Temple did nothing to slow him down. And even when the Owls did, they couldn’t get out of their own way.

Although the game was well out of reach by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Owls hurt themselves with yet another gaffe on special teams. After a three-and-out, Barry managed a 44-yard punt, and backup running back Tayvon Ruley dropped Cruickshank for no gain on the return. That play, however, got wipe off the books due to an illegal formation penalty.

Cruickshank returned the ensuing punt 45 yards to the Temple 17. Four plays later, Aaron Young found the end zone from a yard out to keep the rout going at 54-14.

Front page photo: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports