Tag Archives: Antwain Littleton

07.07.24
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5 Newcomers who could make a difference

It’s “Manheim Central” not “Mana” heim Central but these are RU educated people, not Temple.

Not a single Temple fan is holding up 128 fingers (120 borrowed) and saying “we’re No. 128” but that’s what Athlon Sports has the Owls ranked for the upcoming season.

Evan Simon during a spring game for Rutgers.

Sobering indeed, especially considering there are only 130 FBS teams.

The numbers other than 128 aren’t all that encouraging, either.

Temple had the No. 1 passer in the league in yards per game (E.J. Warner) but he’s at another team in the same conference now.

On defense, Temple was last in forced turnovers.

SO, if a difference is to be made, it’s only logical that it will come from the newcomers and not the guys who are left behind.

Since there doesn’t seem to be a newcomer at the quarterback position other than Rutgers’ transfer Evan Simon, we’re going to have to be happy with what we have.

Thanks to Stan Drayton, we have no choice.

Here are the five newcomers who could be impact players for Temple this year:

One, running back Antwain Littleton. When I make an argument that the Temple running game is going to be the best it has been since Ray Davis, people ask me about the offensive line. I think the offensive is going to be at least as good as last year but, if you look at Littleton, at 6-1, 245, he’s an offensive line all by himself. Those aggravating times where we saw Edward Saydee lose balance on a 3d and 1 and fall short of a first down are probably over.

Two, quarterback Simon himself. If Forrest Brock, who was a large part of the reason Temple crapped the bed in a 55-0 loss to SMU last year, beats out Simon for the starting job, we will know what we suspected. Simon stinks. If, on the other hand, Simon clearly beats out Brock, maybe a horse racing analogy comes into play. Those of us who follow that sport know a Grade 3 horse who drops into an Allowance Optional Claiming race usually is a good bet. In this case, the Big 10 is a graded stakes while the AAC is an Allowance Optional Claiming race. Maybe those six interceptions against four touchdowns in the Big 10 translates to 12 and 4 on the good side in the AAC. Let’s face it. He’s not going to put up the numbers Warner did but I will take 12 and 4 over Warner’s 23 and 14 any day of the week. I don’t think we will see it but Drayton probably does and he’s getting paid a lot more than I am. For his sake, I hope he’s right.

That’s a heckuva troll job by Torey Richardson after this interception.

Three, cornerback Torey Richardson. The UTEP transfer actually stopped some top wide receivers at that level and, for Temple fans who had to hide their eyes on every first pass of the game last season, there is a real expectation that those long completions will now be long incompletions.

Four, safety Andreas Keaton. The Western Carolina transfer has a chance to be a difference-maker in the turnover equation. In three years with the Catamounts, Keaton started all 33 games and totaled 184 tackles, five interceptions, and 14 pass breakups. “The main thing with Temple was the relationships,” Keaton said. “Temple came easy. They showed me a great time. It seemed like a family. It just felt right… no bad vibes, everything was cool. There was a brotherhood. They do a great job doing that.” Matt Rhule left Western Carolina to come to Temple so if Keaton does as well, the Owls should be OK. “The players invited me with open arms,” he said.

Five, wide receiver Ian Stewart. Calling him a newcomer would be a misnomer, but he’s been plagued with injuries all of his career so he’s basically a newcomer. If he plays up to the single digit he’s been given, Temple might have the best wide receiver trio in the league with Dante Wright and Zae Banes. He’s going to have to stay out of the injury tent.

Is the talent enough to go from three wins to six?

Not according to the outsiders who objectively look at things. The insiders seem OK with the talent level and they will be the ones who either suffer the consequences or reap the rewards.

Friday: Hidden Genius

02.23.24
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Could Mike Locksley be big mad at Temple?

If this is true, it wouldn’t be the first time Maryland head football coach Mike Locksley was mad at Temple.

Way back when the Owls were a winning team in the last decade, Locksley opened his Maryland career with a 79-0 win over Howard.

He followed that up with 63-20 win over No. 21 Syracuse, then lost to Temple, 20-17. The post-game handshake with then Temple coach Rod Carey was particularly unenthusiastic.

That was in 2019, though, and this is now.

Locksley was recently quoted as saying his third-string running back demanded $100,000 to not enter the portal and that third-string running back appears to be at Temple right now.

Could Antwain Littleton II have been paid $100,000 by Temple to play for the Owls?

Certainly looks that way because there were two running backs who could be considered “third-string” and only one of them was taken by another team and that’s Littleton. The other “third-string” running back, Ramon Brown, is one of the still remaining 1,000 players in the transfer portal who have not found a team and probably won’t.

So it does not appear to be that Brown ever had the leverage (or even the stats) to make such a demand but Littleton, the more accomplished Big 10 running back of the two, did.

If Temple is paying Littleton $100,000, color me shocked but there are a couple of other possibilities at play here.

One, Brown could be the guy who demanded $100K. Two, Littleton demanded $100K and didn’t get it but bet on his NFL future by taking what would almost be a sure starting job at Temple.

Three, Temple head coach Stan Drayton could have found the $100K for Littleton.

Any of the scenarios work for me because Temple now has a starting tailback battle between an accomplished Big 10 back–more like a second-teamer than a third-teamer–and a JUCO back who was named first-team All-American in Torrez Worthy.

Significant upgrades over Darvon Hubbard and Edward Saydee, the Owls best two backs of the last two years.

That’s how you get better and that’s how you win more than three games.

Even with that good news for Temple, this singular situation highlights the Mike Francesa rant at the top of this post. When everyone in college football is free to move to the next team, college football is over as we know it.

Someone not named the NCAA (hint: Congress) has to rein this in and that probably won’t happen for another five or ten years.

Meanwhile, Temple has to remain above water and pay the piper.

Even if they upset a coach 100 miles down the road.

02.04.24
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Deep Dive into an upgraded position

Nothing is certain in the world of college football recruiting these days, but the signs are there that one thing Temple football had trouble doing the last few years is in the rear-view mirror.

That thing is getting a yard on third-and-short.

Yes, the Owls dabbled in the Eagles’ “Brotherly Shove” but that was a hit-and-miss proposition and not the money in the bank the Eagles cashed every time they needed a first down.

All indicators are Antwain Littleton II could be that needed ATM.

As a 6-foot-1, 265-pound running back for St. John’s High School in D.C., Littleton was his own personal Brotherly Shove.

The website “Sharpe Sports” went into a deep dive on the talent of Littleton (see above video), who made an impact at Maryland over the last two seasons. The only thing he did not do there was nail down the running back position all by himself.

That figures to change at Temple where he could be “The Man.” Littleton is now down to 235 pounds with the same amount of power and a little more speed and with him and quarterback Cliffton McDowell in the backfield, the Owls have a running threat needed to set up a downfield passing game.

Antwain Littleton after scoring a touchdown in win over SMU (2022).

They tried to force a running game with a short passing game for the first two years and that didn’t work. This might.

There were few things more maddening in the first two years of the Stan Drayton Regime than the inability of the Owls to get a yard when they needed one. With 1 minute, 48 seconds left and a 46-42 lead over bowl-bound East Carolina two years ago, the Owls had so little confidence in their ability to run the ball on third-and-one, that they had E.J. Warner throw for it.

Incomplete, of course.

Drayton decided to kick the ball back to ECU on fourth down and the Owls never saw the ball again but they did see a 49-46 loss.

Aggravating.

There may be more aggravating situations ahead for the Owls but knowing they have a one-man Brotherly Shove kills two birds (hopefully not Owls) with one stone.

Keeping drives alive and keeping Everett Withers’ defense off the field.

Friday: Reaction to Late Signing Day