How Temple’s offense looks like the Super Bowl winner

The Kansas City passing offense and Temple’s are so similar it’s uncanny.

Everyone has a blind spot.

For me, it’s the rear-view mirror on the driver’s side. There’s about a four-foot gap where I can’t see anything coming up on the left.

I’ve learned to deal with it by not getting into the left lane on a super highway.

For Stan Drayton and Temple football, though, that blind spot apparently is the running game.

The Owls didn’t put a premium on getting a big-time back in here and it MAY cost them at least one game, maybe more, in 2023.

Everyone remembers the 3d-and-1 call at midfield against ECU, which was a pass.

Obviously, Drayton and company had no confidence in a running back getting the first down and the “tush push” quarterback sneak that the Eagles do so well is not in the Temple playbook.

Had the Owls gotten the first down there late in the fourth quarter, they might not have scored–although after scoring 46 points that’s not a given–but they almost certainly would have been able to run out the clock and win the game.

No worries.

Temple and Kansas City don’t run similar passing games, they pretty much run the exact same offense.

We thought Drayton would go out and get a big-time back in the transfer portal and that just hasn’t happened.

With only one open portal window left (after spring football), it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. You are not going to get anyone better than Edward Saydee or Joquez Smith at this point. Let’s hope Saydee takes a leap forward. If Owl fans noticed one thing about recent running backs like Bernard Pierce and Jahad Thomas, they never let the first guy tackle them. Hell, that goes all the way back to Paul Palmer and even before him.

Notice how Paul Palmer never lets the first tackler bring him down in this game against Alabama

Too many times, Saydee let the first guy tackle him.

That needs to change this season if the Owls are going to double their win total.

Imagine if the Owls had the quarterback “tush push” in this playbook with someone like 330-pound Freddy Booth-Lloyd pushing E.J. Warner ahead for a yard.

Obviously, Drayton will go into the 2023 season rolling the dice on the same offense that (mostly) worked in the second half of the 2022 season.

That’s great if you want to put up points but not so great if you need to get a yard on 3d and 1.

We’ll see.

What we do know is that the Temple offense we saw in the second half very much resembled from a schematic standpoint the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense that baffled the Eagles so much in the Super Bowl.

Simply, it’s a short passing game that neutralizes the pass rush.

That was enough to win the Super Bowl.

Will it be enough to get a 3d and 1 at midfield next year at ECU? Or at Rutgers in Game Two? Or really any other game?

That’s a question that will probably be the difference between six and eight wins for the Owls this season.

Friday: Other Schedule Storylines

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4 thoughts on “How Temple’s offense looks like the Super Bowl winner

  1. good luck imitating the KC offense w/o Mahomes level talent

    how ironic.., the best RB position coach in college football, now HC, has the least talented backfield in the conference.., smh

    look at the reality from 2022

    https://theamerican.org/stats.aspx?path=football&year=2022

    from last in conference to where?, and with whom? hard to vision progress without dominant L/R tackles and an RB who can make you miss

    TUFB won 3 games with the worst running game in conference.., is the East Carolina game the new formula for scoring points?

    fun to watch how the 2023 team will evolve

    • This offense would help with a more mobile quarterback but E.J. has “functional” mobility and does a pretty good job with his feet of moving to see passing lanes. His arm and head make this offense work. Yet the reality is that ECU beat us because they had Keaton Mitchell running the ball and we had nowhere near the KM type running back. Wish Drayton (ironically a great running back) would have addressed this issue earlier. Is it too late? Probably. Don’t see any really great running backs transferring at this point.

  2. Two predictions:
    1. UTSA will enjoy immediate success in the AAC. Watch out if they upset Houston in the first game of the year. Regardless, this will be Traylor’s last year at UTSA.
    2. This will be Schiano’s last year at Rutgers if Drayton and the Owls can pull an upset.

    Spring Practice will highlight what we know.
    * The DL has more talent than the OL.
    * RB, RB where are you? smh
    * 3rd and 4th down with a yard to go equals Kenny Patterson under center. If not, TUFB needs bigger and better talent at the Center and Guard positions.
    * The kids from CSU will start.

    • Last point especially. The safety (Francis) started 21 games at CSU. No chump starts 21 college football games. Dante Wright is going to be a superstar. Hell, he was the freshman of the year a couple of years ago so “going” can be changed to “is.” Love the progress Baines and Amad Anderson made last year. Anderson’s catch at Navy was one of the top five catches in Temple history. Dandridge is coming in as well. Plus, no team in America has two better tight ends than DMR and Smith. We’re going to beat Rutgers at Rutgers.

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