Three games into the season, we know this about the 2024 Temple football Owls:

They giveth but they don’t taketh away.

Job 1:21 pretty much describes Stan Drayton’s team over not just three losing games but over the last 15 games.

The Lord giveth but also taketh. On the other hand, Drayton’s football teams only giveth and that was on full display in a 28-20 home loss to a good Coastal Carolina team.

Better than the first two games, but not good enough.

Drayton, like Job, is probably too good a man to deserve this fate but seems to be resigned to building a team that turns the ball over a lot but almost never steals it from the bad guys.

Temple was 134th and dead last in both turnover margin and also dead last in forcing turnovers a year ago.

This year is 2023 redux in that Temple hasn’t forced a single turnover but has given it away nine times.

This trend cannot continue or Temple is on the way to another 3-9 season.

Probably worse.

The problems are pretty identifiable. On offense, the line is not giving the quarterback enough time to throw the ball and he’s forced into fumbles or interceptions.

That was again on full display in Evan Simon’s Pick 6. Simon tried to get rid of the ball fast enough, but the rush was on him and his arm was hit, resulting in an interception return for a touchdown.

On defense, Everett Withers plays a “vanilla” system that gives up yardage but is not designed to take the football away.

Weird because take away the two takeaways the Owls coughed up deep in their own territory and had Maddox Trujillo made both his field goals (he made one), Temple wins the game, 23-14.

That doesn’t work in a sport that puts a premium on turnovers. Look at the NFL stats. Teams that win the turnover battle over the last decade have won 86 percent of NFL games. Could not find a similar stat across 134 FBS teams (that number has fluctuated over the last decade).

Still, football is not rocket science. If Temple starts taking it away more than giving it, the Owls have a legitimate shot at salvaging the season.

A couple of things can change those dynamics but the Temple brass has to be willing to change. On defense, send more guys that they can block on passing downs, getting to the quarterback and forcing both strip fumbles in the backfield and interceptions caused getting rid of the ball under pressure.

On offense, forget about E.J. Wilson and make Antwain Littleton the featured back, running downhill to create more makeable second and third down options.

Langsdorf has shown he’s willing to change the scheme to fit his players.

Withers is obviously unwilling to do that.

That leaves CEO Drayton to step in and make necessary decisions moving forward.

OC Danny Landsdorf has proven to be more flexible and might be talked into a run/first, pass/second offense, particularly with a game manager like Simon at the helm. A third-and-3 swing pass to Dante Wright would definitely work better than a third-and-7 Pick 6.

Either way, Drayton is the CEO and has to put his foot down.

In this case, two feet.

Otherwise, like Job, a higher power will come in and give the bad guys more than Temple is willing to take away.

At the end of the season, Drayton will not be blaming that higher power, only himself for not making the hard CEO calls he has to make starting now.

Monday: The Road Forward

Friday: Utah State Preview