Temple football: The rest of the recruiting story

Terrez Worthy is going from a field with (sometimes) no yard lines to the best stadium in the NFL.

Watching the Super Bowl on Sunday night was a study in contrasts, the old versus the new.

At least at the quarterback position.

Patrick Mahomes’ 25-22 overtime win for the Kansas City Chiefs over Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers represents a win for new school football, where the quarterback who is mobile and can complete any pass beats the immobile one who can do the same.

That’s already happened in college football. The championship quarterbacks in each conference can move and throw. The middling teams don’t have that guy.

Temple will be making that same transition in the 2024 season with Clifton McDowell, a mobile quarterback who can make any pass, replacing E.J. Warner, an immobile quarterback who can do the same.

Forget what Pravda is telling you about Evan Simon winning the Temple quarterback position. That ain’t happening. Just remember you read it here first. McDowell is a poor man’s Patrick Mahomes. Simon is a homeless man’s Brock Purdy.

What about the rest of the story, though?

Temple’s cloudy kicking situation just became sunny and bright with the addition of Maddox Trujillo.

Football is a 22-man game, not a one-or-two-man one.

The small picture is that Temple improved the passing game by moving the pocket and the running game by replacing Edward Saydee and Darvon Hubbard with a pair of JUCO All-Americans and a Big 10 running back.

The rest of the story is the bigger picture.

The only known photo of a current Temple recruit blocking an extra point.

Temple bulked up both lines and increased its depth while doing so.

For a deeper dive, this is a pretty good place to start but there are a couple of players who stick out.

A high school player from New Jersey, a defensive lineman named Giakoby Hills, is 6-5, 270 with four blocked kicks. The athletic ability to block that many kicks is impressive and Temple has not blocked an important kick since a 6-5 wide receiver named Deion Miller blocked a field goal that would have given UConn a win over Temple a dozen years ago. The best kicker in the country then, Brandon McManus, then made one to give the Owls a 17-14 win.

Speaking of kickers, the days of kicking the ball out of bounds–which have been four dark years–are seemingly over with the addition of Austin Peay kicker Maddox Trujillo, who made 38 of 53 field goals and 96.2 percent of his extra points. If he does those percentages at Temple, he will be second only to Don Bitterlich in both categories and better than the best kicker in the nation in 2012, McManus.

There are plenty more “worthy” of mention but we will end this with a guy named Worthy. Terrez Worthy was the most valuable player for Maryland in the 2022 Big 33 game against Pennsylvania, giving Temple its third MVP from a Big 33 game (Adrian Robinson and Jalen Fitzpatrick were the others). Both of those guys did great things at Temple and, if Worthy, who is 5-11, 190 with breakaway speed does the same, Temple will have its best running back since Ryquell Armstead.

All good things on paper.

Now let’s see them do it on the field.

Friday: New Coaches

5 thoughts on “Temple football: The rest of the recruiting story

  1. The Worthy jump cut reminds of Jahad Thomas.

    Two things we have learned about Drayton. He is a slow learner. This recruiting cycle should have been his first, or his second and not his third. During the UTSA game week, he made admirable comments about their roster and how it was built. The light finally came on. Is it two years to late? Teams like USF/UTSA, etc., are now light years ahead.

    Second, he is stubborn. His excuse for hiring Withers last season was he didn’t want to change systems or terminology. Now, 2024 will see a new defensive scheme/terminology but he still keeps Withers.., smh.

    The line between stubborn and stupid is super slim. His personality has put the 2024 defense squarely on the line. Hint: Withers can’t coach and maybe the worst DC in the AAC.

    • Withers is his blind spot. Stan had potential to be a great coach and he let personal friendships get in the way. At least this is how I think this ends. All great Temple coaches have had to make tough decisions regarding personal friendship. Matt Rhule had to replace Satterfield with Glenn Thomas and go fullback/halfback and ditch the spread. Bruce Arians had to fire his first OC and take over the job himself. Al Golden was HC and Special teams coach his first season because he didn’t like how that third of the team was working. I think Stan would rather lose and game than lose a friend. Nice guys finish last.

    • As far as Worthy goes, 349 yards on just 19 carries in a single game last year is mind-boggling. I don’t care if it was in JUCO ball. That’s a lot of long runs.

  2. I am a season ticket holder and watched every Clifton McDowell game including attending the FCS Championship game against South Dakota State. Montana’s success was largely due to their defense and special teams. There were times when Special Teams and the Defense scored more or at least as much as the offense. McDowell deserves his accolades but his ability to execute is patchy. And, when he did meet a formative defense he and the offense didn’t deliver. The best example is the championship game. But there are others.

    I am not surprised he transferred. He is a wondering soul. He couldn’t get the name right for the rivalry game between Montana and Montana State. Montanans are very gracious but it did say something about his engagement with his surroundings. And, he was going to get beat out next year.

    Keali’a Ah Yat is the son of a Montana legend. His father Brian Ah Yat is a Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer and All-America quarterback who led Montana to the 1996 1-AA national championship game.

    It was clear that Keali’a was next and I think McDowell knew it. Not because Keali’a was Brian’s son but Kelai’a is his father. His play as a true freshman (they limited his play to preserve his red shirt year) clearly was above and beyond McDowell’s.

    Nevertheless, give McDowell his due. Given his background who would have projected his success. Montana was on the cusp but needed a QB. Montana provided a context for McDowell to excel and he did. Good for him and good luck to the Owls.

    Kapp L. Johnson

    • dang, oh boy. Great insight, thanks.

      One thing is certain. TUFB hasn’t won a game w/Special Teams or Defense in the Drayton era. And they won’t in 2024 vs Oklahoma and an improved AAC.

      Another 3-9 season looks most likely. TUFB may even enter the game as underdogs in the three projected wins (UConn, Coastal, ECU).

      Which means they’ll finish the season w/six or seven straight losses. Drayton is toast.

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