Navy week: Headed for a dubious record

Current Charlotte DC Ryan Osborn explains how to stop the triple option four years ago. He held this Navy team to 14 points.

Say what you will about Everett Withers’ performance in his last two DC jobs.

He’s consistent.

Say what you will about Everett Withers' performance in his last two DC jobs.
He's consistent.
Withers in 2023 ….

As the Florida International DC only two short years ago, his team gave up 39.7 points per game in a dozen games for a grand total of 476 points. As DC for Temple in 2023, his unit has given up 38 points a game with four left.

Maddeningly consistent.

He’s on the verge of breaking a dubious mark: With four games left, Owls have to give up “only” 43 points a game for this team to pass that one in futility.

If you think that’s not possible, the trend for Temple has been downward. All talk of a bowl game is out the window. It would take a minor miracle for this team to finish 3-9 for a third-straight year.

Temple TUFF is becoming a distant memory.

The Owls have given up more than 40 points per game in five-straight games and their tackling will be put to the test by Navy this Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field (2 p.m., ESPN+).

This is historically bad territory for Temple. The Owls haven’t given up 40+ points a game in five consecutive games since Ron Dickerson’s 1994 season. That’s hard to do because it also includes Bobby Wallace’s last season (0-11) and Al Golden’s first season (1-11).

…. Withers in 2021

This will be the first time Withers has faced a triple-option service academy team in a long time. He did not face one at FIU nor did he face one in his prior three years as head coach at Texas State (2016-18).

It might help to go over 2016 Temple film for a primer. In the opening game that season, the Owls fell to Army, 29-13, going with their usual 4-3 defense. They left the “A gap” open and the Army fullback gouged them for over 100 yards.

They finished that season with a 34-10 win over an even better Navy team in the AAC championship game, going to a 5-2 taking away the Navy fullback by putting a nose guard over the center and stringing the Navy offense from sideline to sideline where the Owls could use their superior speed. Both Averee Robinson and Freddy Booth-Lloyd alternated at nose guard for the Owls on that glorious championship afternoon.

Phil Snow adjusted from the lesson of the opener and applied a fix to the closing game plan.

Does anyone here think Withers has the knack for defensive adjustments that Snow had? Do you even think he spends the requisite hours in film study in his current and past jobs?

The numbers certainly don’t reflect that.

In fact, they are headed in a historic Southerly direction and head coach Stan Drayton is giving every indication that Withers will be able to do the same damage to Temple that he did to FIU by refusing to fire him.

FIU recovered from the Withers’ Era. It’s not entirely clear that Temple will be able to do the same.

Friday: Navy Preview

Late Saturday Night: Navy Analysis

5 thoughts on “Navy week: Headed for a dubious record

  1. Mike, please help me through the fight/night.
    Issue : we always enjoy seeing the Navy games, and Army also.
    My wife says she is done with Temple for the rest of this year, I am almost there.

    So will we go to see Navy instead of Temple now on Saturday ?
    Damn this is not good, I still recall beating Navy down there for the championship , 6- 8 years ago, well it was as good as beating PSU at home.
    ALSO, please note, I want to refine my comment posted as to the new AD where I may have not been clear enough about the use of the ‘brother’, which can be several meanings. I wanted to point out AJ made the easy pick, as in a member of his own Texas unit staff brotherhood, who probably would have been let go down there.

    Also, Pennridge for me also with Middle and Upper Bucks as my youth areas. Quakertown and Souderton were the true rival enemies for us. Those Football games there used to draw 7-8+ thousand for those games. people standing everywhere.
    In the band, so I went to all the games of the old Buxmont and beyond.

    Oh the joy of those simple times.

    Years ago we had a stupid saying like ‘ Teddie Bowbetty from Upper Black Eddy’.

    • Not going. When you fire a lousy 3-9 coach, the next year you should be at least 4-8 and the year after that you should be competing for a bowl game. You don’t go from 3-9 to 3-9 and then to 2-10. When they put a product on the field that is reflective of this great university as a whole, that’s when I will return. All due respect to Navy, I go to see Temple win. That’s my only satisfaction. This season is a disgrace.

  2. Best way to prep for the triple option is practice without a ball. Dive man hits the dive, QB man hits the QB, pitch man hits the pitch man. That will ensure discipline. Doesn’t matter though at this point.

  3. https://theamerican.org/stats.aspx?path=football&year=2023

    Is it possible TU is actually worse than the 2-6 record? Run through the AAC stats.., geez.

    Navy is the top rushing team, TU is the worst at stopping the run.

    TU has only 1 int through 8 games,

    TU is the most penalized team in the conference. I get the talent gap but there is no excuse for being the most penalized team in the conference.

    • It’s not the amount of penalties but the kind of penalties. No excuses for 12 men on the field and they’ve had one of those in every game but the Norfolk State one (and they could have beaten that team with 10 guys). The only stat I care about is 0-4. If Temple had a dozen personal fouls and was 4-0 I’d be more than OK with that.

Leave a comment