Tuesday practice report
After last season’s 28-13 season-opening loss to Army at Lincoln Financial Field, former Temple coach Matt Rhule said his team was “manhandled.”
The Black Knights, who finished 8-5 last season, ran for 329 yards and controlled the time of possession.
This Saturday, the Owls have a shot at revenge.
Ahmad Bradshaw, Army's starting quarterback, has only attempted 30 passes in seven games this season. But he has the eighth-most rushing yards of any FBS player in the country.
Bradshaw, a senior, leads the second-best rushing offense in all of FBS college football with 378.5 yards per game.
Senior safety Sean Chandler, who faced Army in last season’s rout in Philadelphia and then later beat the triple option in the American Athletic Conference championship game against Navy, knows the challenges of facing a dynamic ground game.
“It’s very difficult,” Chandler said of defending the triple option. “Everybody just has to do their jobs at stay disciplined. It’ll be very difficult if you don’t do that.”
Sophomore middle linebacker Shaun Bradley said Temple has used multiple players to simulate Bradshaw and the Army triple option. The Owls have used freshman quarterback Todd Centeio and senior defensive back Cequan Jefferson as scout team quarterbacks.
Bradley, who’s third on the team in tackles with 40 (including six tackles for a loss), was awarded No. 1 for Army week by coach Geoff Collins during a team meeting before Tuesday’s practice.
“It means a lot,” Bradley said. “It means that maybe my hard work is paying off a little bit. Other than that, I’m just going to keep doing what I was doing.”
In addition to his duties as the starting MIKE linebacker, Bradley also received two carries at running back against UConn because Temple is down to two available scholarship running backs. A product of South Jersey’s Rancocas Valley High School, Bradley mostly played offense, especially tailback, before arriving at Temple.
“I love it,” Bradley said of playing tailback. “I like running the ball a lot. I just get an excitement, especially when you don’t play it as much.”
Bradley will be the second linebacker to wear the No. 1 jersey this season, joining redshirt sophomore Chapelle Russell.
Redshirt freshman Quincy Roche stood on the sideline last season and watched Army run all over Temple. While he has yet to face a triple option offense at the college level, he saw much of it during his high school career at New Town High School in Maryland.
“A lot of the seniors, a lot of the older guys that have played (Army) before have been prepping me and telling me some of the things that are going to happen,” said Roche, who’s tied for third in The American with five sacks in seven games. “They’re trying to explain to me how fast it’s going to be.”
In an attempt to simulate the chop blocking that Army utilizes, Temple held its usual “cut ‘em up Tuesday.” The only difference was that the offense, instead of the defense, could cut block this week.
“They’re going to get blocked at different angles and spots they haven’t seen this year,” Temple coach Geoff Collins said during his weekly Tuesday press conference at Edberg-Olson Hall.
Collins estimated that he played three triple option teams per season when he was defensive coordinator at Western Carolina University from 2001 - 2005.
“We even have some tapes from those days in the system,” Collins said with a chuckle.
Marchi, Randall go down with injuries during practice
When practice opened up to reporters late Tuesday morning at Chodoff Field, there was no sign of two starters – quarterback Logan Marchi and safety Delvon Randall.
Marchi, who suffered an ankle injury in preseason camp, was spotted on campus Monday walking in a boot. Temple’s training staff often uses boots for precautionary measures to prevent swelling.
But Collins seemed confident that Marchi will be able to play this week against Army.
“He just got tweaked at the later part of practice and had to (leave practice),” Collins said.
Collins, in his final media availability of the week, said he still needed to talk with director of athletic training Al Bellamy to learn more about Marchi’s injury.
When asked about the specifics of Marchi’s injury, Collins called it a “lower extremity” issue.
If Marchi is unable to play, Collins said that redshirt junior Frank Nutile would get the starting nod.
“I’d expect that Logan will be ready to go,” Collins said.
As for Randall, Collins seemed to think the junior safety will also play against Army. Sophomore safety Benny Walls received work with the first-team defense while Randall was out.
McHale fills in at LT
Leon Johnson, the starter at left tackle for all seven games this season, went down with what Temple coach Geoff Collins described as an ankle injury on the second play of Saturday’s 28-24 loss to UConn at Lincoln Financial Field.
Johnson, a redshirt senior who started in all 14 games at right tackle last season before moving to the left side to replace Dion Dawkins (now with the Buffalo Bills), was on the practice field Tuesday in full pads. He was a spectator during the open portion of practice.
This is not the first health issue for Johnson. The Bound Brook (N.J.) High School product underwent three surgeries to his hip, groin and shoulder during the course of the offseason. He was forced to miss all of spring practice and a chunk of preseason camp as he recovered from the injuries.
While Collins is hopeful Johnson will be back in time for Saturday’s trip to Army, the former Florida defensive coordinator said he was pleased with Johnson’s primary replacement in redshirt junior James McHale.
“He did really good,” Collins said. “He competed, he fought. He played very little up until this point. The next thing you know, he’s out there playing the entire game. He’s gotten so much better from the first day of spring practice to now.”
McHale, who originally picked Temple over offers from Syracuse, Buffalo, Florida International and UMass, said he has been preparing with the first-team offense during practice this week.
“Leon is getting healthier and healthier every day,” McHale said. “I have to just keep focus, preparing like I am the starter, regardless of if he comes back or not.”
Temple expects to have a “clearer picture” for Johnson by Wednesday or Thursday, as Collins said on a conference call with reporters Monday.
Collins said redshirt sophomore Jovahn Fair, who has missed the last four games due to an unspecified injury, is also working to return for Army. Redshirt freshman Vince Picozzi, a former walk-on from nearby Lansdale Catholic, has served as the replacement for Fair.
Notes
Senior defensive end Sharif Finch will miss the first half against Army after being called for targeting in the third quarter of Saturday’s loss to UConn. Finch will be available for the second half, according to NCAA rules.
“It’s a next man up mentality,” Collins said.
True freshman receiver Jadan Blue was named Offensive Scout Team Player of The Week. Casey Williams, a freshman linebacker, received Defensive Scout Team Player of The Week honors. Linebacker Jeremiah Atoki won the honor for special teams.