With three games left in Temple’s season, the Owls have officially been eliminated from bowl contention. This season now marks the fifth consecutive in which Temple will not be competing in a postseason game.
Coming off a 52-6 drubbing at Tulane, there are not many reasons for optimism left for Temple, but head coach Stan Drayton is making sure his team does not quit.
“You can't claim to be ‘Temple TUFF’ if you can't take a hit in the mouth and turn around the next day and get up and get back in the fight,” Drayton said. “You're fake if you don't. We took a hit in the mouth. Most great players, most great teams, take hits and they grow and build from it and we took quite a few this year. We're a young football team and we're building and we're growing from it.”
With two wins in their next three games, the Owls would surpass the 3-9 mark that Drayton has been unable to overcome in his first two seasons. Next up for Temple: Saturday’s home game against Florida Atlantic, the lone winless team in the American Athletic Conference.
FAU is coached by Tom Herman, Drayton's boss at Texas when Drayton was the Longhorns' running backs coach and Herman was the program's head coach.
This time around, Drayton's Owls are favored to win, and Saturday represents the perfect “get right game” for Temple. But will Temple show it actually hasn't quit?
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. EST and will air on ESPN+.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE
Temple put up its worst offensive performance of the season against Tulane. The Owls gained just 158 yards from scrimmage, 75 of which coming from running back Terrez Worthy on a late touchdown run. Quarterback Evan Simon was limited to just 56 passing yards and sacked six times.
An offensive line that has struggled all season lost its one consistent piece in center Grayson Mains, who was carted off the field against Tulane and will be doubtful to play against FAU, Drayton said Monday.
Luckily for Simon and the offensive line, FAU has recorded just 11 sacks this season, a mark that’s tied with Temple for last in the AAC. Defensive lineman Jacob Merrifield leads the pass rush for FAU with 2.5 sacks and defensive end Chris Jones has added 6.5 tackles for loss.
FAU’s middle-of-the-pack scoring defense has allowed 32 points per game. Safety CJ Heard leads the FAU defense with 68 total tackles, which puts him at seventh in the AAC. Linebacker Jackson Ambush is second for FAU with 55 total tackles.
FAU has found success defending the pass, giving up a respectable 210 yards per game through the air. It is against the run where FAU has struggled.
FAU’s rushing defense ranks 125th in the country, having allowed 218 yards per game on the ground. In Temple, FAU will face an Owls rushing offense that averages less than 100 yards per game.
Worthy’s late touchdown against Tulane gave Drayton and company something to work with heading into FAU. While it ultimately did not affect the outcome, Worthy showed Drayton he’s a guy who won’t quit and could be in line for a big game against a poor rushing defense.
“One thing I can't say is that, as bad as it looked, I’ll have to really look hard at the film to see if there's anybody quitting,” Drayton said, “And [Worthy] did not quit. It was well blocked and he was able to be explosive on the edge, and that's what we're trying to do with that kid, is to try to get him in space. That’s where he's very dynamic, and he showed off his speed. It was good to see.”
Temple also hopes to welcome back leading receiver Dante Wright, who has not played since Temple’s Oct. 19 win against Tulsa when he left early in the first quarter with an injury. Drayton listed Wright as “probable” for the second straight week, leaving hope for his return.
WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE
Temple’s defense looked like a bright spot in the middle of the season, holding the offenses of UConn, Utah State and Tulsa at bay. The secondary was playing well and the run defense was showing tangible growth.
The last two weeks have been about as bad for Temple’s defense as possible.
Temple has allowed more than 50 points to ECU and Tulane, the first time they have given up 50+ points in back to back weeks since weeks two and three of the 2006 season, Al Golden’s first season as head coach.
“We have to execute better,” said defensive tackle Latrell Jean. “We have to execute our calls better, that’s really what it is. It’s just consistency. We stopped UConn and then we stopped Tulsa but then we went to ECU and didn’t stop ECU. We have to stay consistent when it comes to stopping the run.”
FAU does not boast an elite rushing offense, but a solid attack that is capable of doing damage. FAU has rushed for more than 100 yards in all but one game this season and averages 116 rushing yards per game. CJ Campbell Jr. leads the rushing attack with 524 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
FAU has had issues at quarterback all season. Cam Fancher had been the starter all season before he left the game with an injury and was relieved by Kasen Weisman. Weisman was solid in relief of Fancher, throwing for 188 yards and two touchdowns. He also offers a dual-threat ability, as he rushed for 41 yards last week.
The main target for whoever is playing quarterback will be wide receiver Omari Hayes. The redshirt sophomore leads FAU with 35 receptions for 498 yards. Campbell also presents a receiving threat out of the backfield, as he is FAU’s second leading receiver with 266 yards.
This game represents a reunion with several of his former teammates for Jean, who transferred to Temple in the offseason after five seasons for FAU. Jean has emerged as a defensive leader for Temple and is excited to face his former squad but knows he has to stay tunnel-visioned on the task at hand, taking down his old team.
“Extra emotions? No,” Jean said. “I’m excited to play against my old team, my old teammates, but I can’t get too high and I can’t get too low. I got to treat it as a regular game. I don’t want to go in there with my emotions all out of whack. To me I’m going to treat this as another game.”
SPECIAL TEAMS
FAU utilizes two kickers, Morgan Suarez and Carter Davis. Suarez handles the extra points, where he is perfect on the year and has made 6 of his 8 field goals. Davis has attempted five field goals on the season and has only made two. However, both of his makes are from 50-plus yards. Temple kicker Maddux Trujillo did not see any action against Tulane.
Punter Logan Lupo has been one of the best punters in the conference for FAU, averaging 45 yards per punt, which is second in the conference. Temple punter Dante Atton is on the opposite end of that, sitting dead last in the AAC with 39 yards per punt.
Neither team has been able to make much of anything happen in the return game. FAU wide receiver Milan Tucker handles kick returns and ranks last in the AAC in average yards per return at 18. Hayes is the punt returner for FAU and has 63 return yards on 10 attempts.
For Temple, Worthy has continued to handle kick returns and averages 20 yards per return. Wide receiver Tyler Stewart has taken the punt returns with Wright out, and has returned three for 10 yards.
