One week ago, K.C. Keeler used an idiom “digging out of a hole” to describe Temple football’s situation with five games left.

With now four left, only one idiom applies to the program and the season: Backs are against the wall.

Truly.

Because everyone was pretty excited around here to break the string of five-straight 3-9 seasons under Rod Carey and Stan Drayton with last year’s 5-7 season. That 5-7 mark represented progress despite closing out the season with four-straight losses, two by a point to Army and Navy.

There was reason for much optimism around here that the next logical step should have been six wins.

That’s possible only if the Owls win the next four and it’s hard to see that happening based on what we’ve seen so far in this 2-6 season.

The defensive line, which was supposed to be a strength, has not been with the exception of the USF game and that one is more and more looking like an outlier.

Ajani Sheppard has shown flashes of brilliance, particularly against USF and Toledo, but reverted to being a less-than-mediocre quarterback in a 17-9 loss at ECU on Saturday. That was some of the worst forward passing we’ve seen in our nearly half century of being a Temple fan.

For Temple football to take a step forward and not return to its maddening sideways pattern it must completely reverse what happened at the end of last year with the end of this season.

That starts at Navy (3:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network) on Saturday.

It’s a lot easier to lose four straight than it is to win four straight but that’s what the Owls must do now or some people (not us) will be asking the question what are we doing here?

Took five steps sideways from 2020-2024 and a step forward in 2025.

Taking another step sideways after that promising step forward would be a bitter pill to swallow.

There are a couple of things in play as to the reason why. The Owls were feeling pretty good about themselves after Rhode Island and Penn State and through all but the final two minutes of the Toledo game, which SHOULD have been a 48-28 Temple win instead of a 49-48 Temple loss. (There was a bogus holding call on Grayson Mains that would have upped that lead to 48-28.) After that game, we wrote that was the kind of loss that could turn an 8-4 season into a 4-8 one and that looks like the more likely outcome than 6-6. Football is as much mental as physical and a team that beats Toledo by 20 plays with a lot more confidence against Army and UConn than the one that blows a 14-point lead with 1:11 left. It looked like the Owls played those Army and UConn games wondering what could go wrong and that’s no way to play.

The swagger is gone.

Let’s hope we are wrong.

The Owls still have something to play for, but they will run out of time with the next defeat.

We haven’t seen this team play with their backs against the wall in a long while and finishing this season with four wins after closing out last year with four losses would certainly be progress.

Nothing less will.

Friday: Navy Preview

Late Saturday Night: Navy Game Analysis