Tag Archives: Evan Simon

07.28.25
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Temple hopes for a 1990-type repeat

Temple won at Pitt, 28-18, for one its seven wins in 1990 after a 1-10 season in 1989.

One of the things Temple head coach K.C. Keeler brought up at the American Conference Media Day was that he doesn’t want his team to be “realistic” (his word) about achieving incremental goals, like one or two more wins than last year.

After a loss in front of 93,865 fans at Tennessee, Temple won its last three games to finish 7-4 in 1990.

What he does want is the team to be talking about getting to bowl games and winning them and even doing the same when talking about getting to the conference championship game and winning it.

What would that look like?

Temple would have to win at least six more games this year than it did last to even entertain getting to the championship game.

While that might seem impossible, it has been done before.

At Temple.

Back in 1990, another coach with local ties who won at Penn–Jerry Berndt–was able to turn the Owls around from a 1-10 season in 1989 to a seven-win season in 1990. In that season, the Owls won on the road against Barry Alvarez’s Wisconsin team and won at Pitt’s on-campus stadium, 28-18. (Temple led 28-10 before Pitt added a cosmetic touchdown with 0:08 left on the fourth-quarter clock.)

Temple’s 1990 season represented the biggest single-season turnaround in program history. If the 2025 Owls just duplicate that, they will be in league championship game.

Berndt then, like Keeler now, said the same thing before the season that Keeler is saying now. “Our 1-10 season is in the past,” Berndt said. “I know we have winners on this team and we want to have a winning season. That’s all we’re talking about right now.”

Because there weren’t nearly as many bowl games back then, Maryland beat out Temple for an Independence Bowl bid when both teams were being considered as the “Eastern” representative.

Still, Berndt proved then what Keeler hopes to prove now–that a dramatic turnaround is possible at Temple.

In reality, it should be easier now than it was then because the Temple football of 1990 didn’t have a transfer portal to add key “ready to play” pieces like Keeler already has done. Keeler already improved the quarterback position with the addition of Gevani McCoy, meaning at the very least if Evan Simon goes down, the team won’t look as lost as it did in the years that E.J. Warner was injured.

Also, they upgraded the running back room by not only keeping Terrez Worthy but by adding the leading rusher from Sam Houston, Jay Ducker, and the leader rusher two years ago from Louisiana Monroe, Hunter Smith.

Those are just a few examples, although you can say key pieces were added for both lines and especially linebacker and defensive back.

None of those resources were available to the 1990 Owls but they still found a way to get it done.

Knowing that the 1990 Owls refused to be defined by their 1989 season should give the 2025 Owls a valuable point of reference.

Friday: Misconceptions

05.11.25
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A King Solomon-like solution to Temple QB controversy

Gevani McCoy highlights at Oregon State last season.

Whatever happens in the summer camp when Gevani McCoy arrives to do battle with Evan Simon, Temple appears headed for a quarterback controversy.

While this happened a half-century of so ago at Temple, new head coach K.C. Keeler might need to pull out a more ancient solution, about 2,900 years earlier. When two women claimed to be the mother of a baby and wanted custody, they went to King Solomon. When Solomon suggested they split the baby and give one half to each, the real mother said give to the other one.

Marty Ginestra’s stats in Temple’s 1973 season were better (9 TDs, 0INTs) than newcomer Steve Joachim’s (11 TDs to 10 INTs) below. Interesting that as a PSU backup in 1971, Steve tossed 7 TDs vs. 3 INTs for Joe Paterno.

Solomon, in his wisdom, figured that gesture indicated who the real mother was and awarded the baby to the one who didn’t want it killed.

Or at least that’s the story.

Splitting the baby in the Simon/McCoy battle could be the way to go considering what happened a year ago.

Temple once split the baby, playing two QBs in the 8-2 season of 1973.

Through summer practices, then head coach Stan Drayton screamed up and down that the battle was even and he would announce the starter on the day of the Oklahoma opener. Drayton (wrongly) went with Forrest Brock, who must have been the greatest practice quarterback of all time because when he appeared in actual games, he looked like the worst QB in college football history.

On the other hand, in real games, Simon was pretty good–hitting his high-water mark in an 45-29 win over Utah State. Simon threw four touchdown passes in that one–all under pressure and into tight windows–while adding another one on the ground.

In hindsight, Drayton, if he was really torn, would have been better served by the King Solomon solution. Play each quarterback a few series in real games under real fire and then go with the hot hand.

Pretty sure that was Henry Hynoski.

Temple fans of a certain age might remember this kind of approach served the Owls well a half-century ago when another Hall of Fame coach, Wayne Hardin, welcomed a big-time transfer in from Penn State (Steve Joachim) to battle with a fairly good Simon-like holdover in Marty Ginestra.

Ginestra was the fan favorite in 1973, throwing nine touchdown passes, while Joachim tossed 10 TDs that same year. Temple wasn’t hurt by the shuffling as the Owls won eight games.

The real benefit wasn’t felt until a year later when Joachim tossed 20 touchdown passes and won the Maxwell Award as the best college football player in the nation for the 1974 Owls, who finished 9-1.

If the Owls get an eight-win season in a two-quarterback system and a Maxwell winner and 9-1 or better next year, Keeler would probably sign for that now.

This King Solomon guy evidently had a lot of wisdom. So did King Hardin.

01.24.25
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Good portal news comes in threes for Owls

Owls getting the work done on Tuesday at The Edberg-Olson Football Complex.

For all of the exciting new additions in the transfer portal for Temple football since K.C. Keeler has arrived, maybe the best news is that some of the current Owls have reconsidered.

Maybe that’s the impression Keeler has fostered over his nearly two months here.

Three pretty good Temple players who entered the portal have done the Prodigal Son thing and returned to the Owls.

Khalil Poteat should be an important part of the defense in 2025.

Good news, as well as bad, comes in threes.

Joseph Auzenne, a defensive lineman who played in 10 games, was the latest to return and told OwlsDaily.com’s Shawn Pastor in a text message on Thursday he was “ready to kick ass for the Owls.”

I like the sound of that.

Countries who had citizens view Temple Football Forever in the last two days. Not shown is Saudi Arabia (one view). We need that guy to make a significant NIL contribution to Temple football.

Also, leading rusher Terrez Worthy dipped his toes in the transfer portal water and decided that it was ice cold and is back to compete for the No. 1 tailback job with Jay Ducker.

The third player who tried the portal and returned was opening day starter at left offensive tackle, Kevin Terry. When the guy the past staff trusts at the most important pass protection position on the team comes to that conclusion, it can only help.

Temple is set at quarterback with Evan Simon, a guy who can win an AAC title, and some pretty good receivers and tight ends. The linebacker room is solid and there is a pretty good group in the back end on defense.

Temple needs to replace the best placekicker in the country and that might be the toughest get.

There are still wants and needs because the offensive line should be upgraded and the defensive line has holes created by the portal, but with 11 scholarships left to dangle in the second portal window, Keeler has some currency for good players running out of options.

The portal has been, at least for the last two years, a buyer’s market with way more players in it than available scholarships. That means some really good players should shake free and fall to Temple.

Whoever does, they should be welcomed by a lot of the guys already here who have bought into this new culture.

11.30.24
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The most painful error of TU football is over

When the history of Temple football is written, the period between 2021 and 2024 will be forever known as “The 3-9 Era.”

You can’t go from 9 bowl games in 10 years to four-straight 3-9 seasons. That’s unacceptable, even in the NIL/transfer portal era.

That’s because in the long and often painful history of the sport at Temple there is arguably no worse era. You can’t go 3-9 four years in a row after teasing your fans with nine bowl games between 2009-2019.

Here’s my argument: I suffered through a 20-game losing streak and 30 years between bowl games only to see that losing streak end when Adam DiMichele threw a flea-flicker touchdown pass to Travis Sheldon to beat Bowling Green. Sheldon was the hero that day, also taking a kickoff return to the house.

After a rough first start against Layton Jordan and Temple for Rutgers in 2022, Evan Simon has proven to be if not a great Temple Owl a very good one. I would be happy if this kid is K.C. Keeler’s starting quarterback next year.

The coach that day, Al Golden, got an ice bucket bath.

It was onward and upward after that.

Three years later, Temple was in its first bowl game in 30 years.

Two years after that, Temple won its first bowl game in 32 years.

Four years after that, Temple was the major story in the nation with a Prime Time Game on ABC-TV that broke all kinds of ratings records. To this day, that was the No. 1-rated college football TV game in the nation’s fourth-largest market.

Any college football game. Ever, including Penn State-Notre Dame games, college football championship games. From the time Philo Farnsworth invented the TV set in the 1930s until 2024 and probably way beyond.

Unless Temple gets a prime-time game again, I doubt that record will ever be broken. (For the record, I doubt Temple will ever have a prime-time game again. Unless a Saudi billionaire wants to make a statement by backing the Temple NIL fund. Shoutout to MBS, who reads this website occasionally.)

Did I think Temple could sustain that kind of success?

Hell no. (I was just happy I lived long enough to see it.)

Did I think Temple could be a regular visitor to great bowl games and win its share?

Hell yes.

What happened?

Two buddy hires (Pat Kraft/Rod Carey and Arthur Johnson/Stan Drayton) poisoned the well of success we’ve been drinking from. Kraft and Johnson were responsible, but so was the BOT which should have provided oversight.

Today’s 24-17 loss to North Texas was bad, but proved the kids never quit and that is important.

They were down, 24-3, and had enough pride in themselves, the school and their teammates to compete.

The second half was 0-0 against a bowl team.

IF … and that’s a big IF .. the next coach can keep the core base of talent (I’m thinking QB Evan Simon, RBs Torrez Worthy, and some guys on defense) here and supplement them with P4 backup talent and FCS stars (not JUCOs), Temple has a chance at a winning season.

Not far in advance like the old days. Next year.

It also has to have a good coach who understands that the way to beat offenses is an attacking defense (which means sacks and strip fumbles in the backfield or forced interceptions) and an offense that supplements its base philosophy with surprises (i.e. halfback passes, double reverses, shovel passes and jump passes ot the tight end).

The last three years we saw nothing of that at Temple.

Disappointing but not surprising that this offensive staff played backup QB Tyler Douglas at RB on several downs but never realized they had a RB who could throw a halfback pass. North Texas might have been fooled by that but we will never know because Temple never tried to fool the opposition.

Wayne Hardin, who fooled Temple’s opposition for many years, was probably turning over in his grave.

The next four years we should see plenty of fooling the opposition or there will not be four years after that. Pain should be followed by gain, but we will see.

After four years of the most painful Temple football watching in history, no fans deserve that kind of future more.

Monday: Season Review

10.24.24
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Can Temple football make a historic run?

People a long way away from Broad and Montgomery are noticing TU plays hard for Drayton.

Something is definitely happening with Temple football in the past few games.

The trend is definitely upward but there are still areas of concern like penalties and, more importantly, the ability to run the football.

Our master plan of turning $7 into $570 is two down and 10 to go and we don’t have to throw one ball out of bounds against UAB to do it.

The Owls seemed to have cleared up their turnover problem when they inserted Evan Simon as the starting quarterback for both Coastal Carolina and the Utah State games and Simon, despite playing three less games than E.J. Warner, has proven to be an upgrade over the son of the NFL Hall of Famer.

There’s no doubt that they play hard for Stan Drayton and others seemed to have noticed (see the above video).

Simon has 10 touchdown passes to three interceptions, while Warner has the same number of TD passes but nine interceptions–two that went for touchdowns. Simon’s passer rating is also double that of Warner.

Going into the season, nobody thought Temple upgraded the QB position, but the sample is large enough to now believe that Simon is a better quarterback than E.J. Warner. He is certainly better than Forrest Brock.

Now the question that begs to be asked: Does Temple go on a historic run starting on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+) at East Carolina?

To me, unlike the above video, a historic run would be one of two things: One, win them all or, two, win all of the rest with the exception of at Tulane.

5-7 has no particular appeal to me nor would it be historic.

A 6-6 or 7-5 record would.

Winning Drayton’s first road game as a Temple head coach would go a long way to answering that question.

Certainly, Vegas doesn’t believe in the Owls but that’s nothing new. Temple was a 6.5-point underdog but beat Utah State, 45-29.

These Owls are 7.5 dogs but are on the road and the nation doesn’t believe Drayton can win a road game.

Maybe this might be the time. It’s a tough environment but Temple teams have won there before.

ECU’s Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Would be nice to have this at 12th and Norris.

I’m not making any predictions, but I think this is no more than a field goal either way and Temple in 2024 has the best field goal kicker in the country, just like it did it 2012.

ECU has a new head coach and a lot of people think this will infuse energy into the Pirates. Maybe it will but maybe there will be a “Temple effect” with that hire. For the past three years, Temple has suffered Drayton learning to be a head coach on the job and maybe this is ECU’s turn as its head coach has never been a head coach on any level before.

Let the bad guys have a coach who makes first-time mistakes for a change.

That’s the hope.

Temple is only one of two ESPN+ games in the 2 p.m. window. Win, and get a great home crowd for FAU. That’s 8 a.m. Hawaii time. 🙂 Click over above image for a more readable view.

The Owls may have found their feature running back in Torrez Worthy. Feed the beast the ball and, even if he gets a lot of 2- and 3-yard carries, he’s eventually going to break one.

When he does, the offensive game plan should be to fake it into his belly and hit guys like Antonio Jones, Zae Baines and Dante Wright on the run.

Defensively, get after the passer and trust technique on pass defense. No face guarding and go after the ball, not the man, in the air.

None of that has been done to any Temple fan’s satisfaction so far but the Owls have fought and that’s the first step.

The next one is to get Drayton his first road win, run over to the Temple fans in the stands and sing T for Temple U after the game.

Only then make the move for the locker room and the larger celebration that will ensue.

Late Saturday Night: Game Analysis

09.25.24
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Bulletin Board material or cold reality?

After seeing the above video, Temple football players could be excused for feeling like Mike Schmidt, who once said:

“Philadelphia is the only city where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day.”

Plenty of bulletin board material is one way to look at it. The Owls were somewhat impressive in a loss to Coastal Carolina, an elite Group of Five team, and even more impressive against Utah State but most of the prediction sites–like the above one–aren’t buying the Owls on being for real.

At least not yet. They will if Temple beats Army.

Temple is expecting its biggest home crowd by quite a bit for the Thursday night game and hopefully they will make a lot of noise supporting the Owls.

Watching the celebration in the Owls’ locker room on Saturday, I got the distinct impression that the team is buying into what Stan Drayton and staff are selling but we won’t be sure until about 10:30 p.m. tomorrow night (Lincoln Financial Field, 7:30 p.m., ESPN).

Are they fired up enough to show the doubters they are wrong or were the prognosticators right to call the Owls a bad football team?

“Is Temple actually like normal bad on offense compared to like atrocious with (Evan) Simon instead of (Forrest) Brock?” Kyle Hunter said here.

“Temple, to me, is still a bad football team,” Gary Segars said.

“I do think there’s a potential letdown effect for Temple coming off a win,” Parker Fleming said.

Them’s fighting words to a team that has pride and hopefully Temple will have it. Letdown? How is a team that finally got a taste of winning going to have a letdown over a team that is favored and going on the road?

The weather should be good for a big Temple home crowd.

Make no mistake it going to be a daunting task, but an argument can be made that Army is not as good as Coastal Carolina and maybe even less explosive than Utah State. Really, who did Army beat? They beat FAU, which got blown out by UCONN. (It’s worth nothing that UCONN lost to Utah State at home last year.) Army also beat Rice (which got blown out by Sam Houston) and FCS Lehigh.

Coastal and Utah State would have probably beaten all three Army foes.

Our low/risk high/reward bets this week. Betting that Everett Withers didn’t burn any midnight oil worrying about the Army offense and also that Temple’s offense is for real with Evan Simon at the helm.

It all comes down to Everett Withers, though, and his film study on how to plug the gaps against a triple option that were all too apparent in the 38-11 loss to Navy. There is a way to stop the triple option and that’s to put a nose tackle over the center, take away the fullback dive, and force the pitch outside where Temple’s superior athletes can string the play from sideline to sideline. Eight men in the box and trust your corners to single the wide receivers and break up a rare pass or two. Sell out to stop the run at the point of attack.

Does Withers have the courage or sense to tweak the defensive scheme to stop what the opponent does best or does he stick with the Temple base defense?

Temple’s most athletic defensive player, end Diwan Black, is back for this game and, like Jordan Magee in the Navy game last year, has a chance to make a difference chasing those ballcarriers.

Black will have plenty of help, though, in that Pro Football Focus rates safety Andreas Keaton as the best tackler in all of college football. In corners Torrey Richardson and Jaylen Lewis, they can gamble singling the wide receivers and play eight in the box to not only stop the run but disrupt things in the Army backfield.

Not many teams are disrespected after hanging a 45-burger on another squad but Temple has been and maybe the Owls use it to their advantage.

Nobody will doubt Temple again if it beats Army and that has to be a powerful motivator.

Friday: Temple-Army Analysis

09.22.24
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Warner/Simon: How A is Unlike B

Evan Simon has come a long way since being sacked by Layton Jordan here.

Just like election polls, nothing is decided yet but the early trends are pointing in one direction:

Evan Simon might just be an upgrade at quarterback over E.J. Warner.

Like that other thing, nobody saw this coming back in June when the only evidence we had was that one was a record-setting passer at Temple and the other was a guy who had seven interceptions against only four touchdowns on the FBS level.

While the other election night is more than a month away, the election night between Warner and Simon is in four nights (ESPN, 7:30 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field). Simon’s popularity is soaring with Temple fans after throwing five touchdowns and running for another in a 45-29 win over Utah State on Saturday.

That popularity will be under a microscope on Thursday night, as several thousand more Prodigal Son Temple fans return to Lincoln Financial Field buoyed by that win.

Evan Simon threw five TD passes and ran for another. (Photo courtesy Zamani Feelings)

We have a real A and B comparison and if I’m reading the returns right, about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday we will find out who the better quarterback for Temple is.

That’s because we can compare what Warner did against Army vs. what Simon will do against Army.

The No. 1 benchmark is the win.

If Simon gets Temple a win against the unbeaten Cadets, it’s a landslide. That’s the No. 1 job of a quarterback. If you put up gaudy stats and lose, it doesn’t prove much.

Still, even without a win these are the numbers Simon needs to surpass to get the vote of the swing fans: 28 for 43 completions, 235 yards, two interceptions, two touchdown passes. That’s what Warner had against Army in a 37-14 loss.

Same defense, two different quarterbacks.

A Temple win and good TV ratings wouldn’t hurt the Owls’ national perception on Thursday night.

It’s an apples-to-apples comparison the likes we have not seen so far.

Our feelings about Warner were always this. He was the perfect guy for Danny Langsdorf’s system of short drops, quick releases, short passes. But he had this annoying habit of throwing Pick 6s in close games that cost Temple wins. Had Warner not thrown a Pick 6 against Rutgers in 2022, Temple wins that game, 14-9. Had Warner not thrown a Pick 6 against South Florida last year, Temple wins that game, 22-20. That was the same South Florida team that beat Syracuse, 55-0, in a bowl game a few weeks later.

Warner’s size contributed to both those disasters as his vision was obstructed in both cases.

Simon doesn’t have the same problem.

All he has to do Thursday night to win this election is go 29-for-42 with 236 yards, 1 INT and 3TD passes. One more yard, one less pick, one more TD pass.

Or complete one or two passes for a couple of yards and get Temple a win.

Polls close on or about 10:30 p.m. Thursday night.

Wednesday: Temple-Army Preview

Friday: Temple-Army Analysis

09.21.24
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Temple’s key: Don’t look back

Nothing would be easier after Temple’s 45-29 win over visiting Utah State on Saturday to look back and wonder what might have been.

No use crying over spilled milk. Saturday’s win represented a cleanup in aisle four. Those first three bottles of milk aren’t for sale anymore.

Let’s go over the easy part first.

It would be easy to dwell on what would have happened if Evan Simon quarterbacked the Owls from the jump instead of Forrest Brock.

Here’s what we know about the two of them.

One turns the ball over.

The other doesn’t.

On top of that, one had a five-touchdown passing game and that was only hours ago. The other has never had one, including high school.

That was the easy part.

Here’s the hard part.

Even with Evan as the starting quarterback in those first three games, the Temple Owls are probably in the same place as they are now.

One win, three losses, with almost the entire AAC schedule ahead. Without Brock’s three turnovers at Oklahoma, maybe the Owls lose that game 21-3 or, at best, 21-10. Without Brock’s two more turnovers at Navy, the Owls probably lose that game, 24-11, instead of 38-11.

That’s why it makes no sense to look back, only ahead. There are at least five more winnable games left on the schedule. Army (Thursday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN) does not appear to be one of them but the Owls will be playing with house money in five days.

All the pressure will be on unbeaten Army and nothing will be expected of Temple. Sometimes, good things happen under those circumstances and maybe Temple can see what it did wrong against Navy in the triple option and correct those defensive shifts against Army.

Either way, there are way more winnable games left than Army and that’s where the Owls can build of the performance against a good but not great Utah State team.

Maddox Trujillo hit a 64-yard field goal–the longest in the 21-year history of Lincoln Financial Field and in Temple history–and that got the halftime locker room juiced.

After that, Temple outscored Utah State, 28-8. That’s even a more dominating stretch than Utah could have against their in-state rivals a week ago.

That’s something to build on as is Simon’s five touchdown passes. P.J. Walker was the last Temple quarterback who had five touchdown passes in a single game and he went on to become XFL MVP and started several NFL games.

Temple has plenty of room to improve. On passing downs, it needs to blitz more with linebacker D.J. Woodbury but that’s another story for another time.

Temple has plenty of offensive firepower, including an accomplished Big 10 running back (Antwain Littleton), the best running back in all of JUCO football last year (Torrez Worthy) and the best high school running back in Florida two years ago (Joquez Smith, Tampa Jesuit). They have a stacked tight end room as three TEs caught touchdown passes Saturday. Their best TE from last year, Reese Clark, returns from an injury soon. They have a great receiver in Dante Wright and a very good one in Antonio Jones. Last year’s leading receiver, Zae Baines, makes his first appearance on Thursday night.

Simon seems like the right kind of gunpower for those weapons.

Looking back won’t do them any good. Looking ahead could unlock a season not a single person saw coming seven days ago.

Monday: How A is Unlike B

Thursday: Army Preview

Friday: Army Analysis

08.26.24
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Game Week: How it’s been and how it’s going

A cynic might say we’ve seen this show somewhere before.

Temple head coach Stan Drayton optimistic heading into a game against a Power 5 (now Power 4) team, saying it’s “all about us” and then Temple falling flat on its face against said P4 team.

That’s what happened two years ago at Duke. That’s what happened in the middle of the season last year against visiting Miami.

The bottom line was 30-0 and 41-7 bad guys.

That’s how it’s been.

How’s is it going to be?

This year sure seems different because the Owls learned from most of their mistakes in the offseason two years ago this past season in that they loaded up on quality depth, improved the running game, defensive line and secondary, and brought back some dynamite skill position talent like wide receivers Zae Baines, Dante Wright and John Adams.

What they haven’t done is solidify the quarterback position but maybe Drayton knows something we don’t.

In Sunday’s presser, Drayton said the Owls definitely do have a 1-2-3 hierarchy at quarterback but he’s keeping that to himself and not naming a starter until Friday at Oklahoma (7 p.m. ESPN). That’s open to interpretation.

My interpretation is that he’s taking the “iron sharpens iron” approach and hope somebody emerges this week to earn the starting job. Another interpretation that I’ve seen is that he won’t move off the No. 1 that he has not named publicly in the 1-2-3 scenario.

We’ve already seen what Forrest Brock and Evan Simon bring to the table and, frankly, it’s not five-star restaurant cuisine. Brock got beat by SMU 55-0 and Simon has a resume that includes four career FBS touchdown passes against seven interceptions.

Something tells me that neither one of those two are going to morph into P.J. Walker or Adam DiMichele by Friday night.

Tyler Douglas, the “supposed” third quarterback, though, has a relatively clean slate and, unlike the first two, can make plays with both his arm and his feet. With P4 rushers bearing down on him, that’s just the kind of guy who can buy enough time to roll right and find guys like Baines, Wright and Adams for explosive plays in the downfield passing game. Plus, the Ocean Township coaches compare Douglas favorably to Eagles’ backup Kenny Pickett, who played there. Nobody ever compared Brock or Simon to Pickett.

It only makes sense that you give yourself a puncher’s chance against 5* pass rushers if you have functional mobility under center and not a stationary target.

Maybe that’s what Drayton is waiting for this week, the mobile guy to move from No. 2 or No. 3 to No. 1.

Or maybe Douglas himself is that No. 1.

None of us will find out until kickoff and maybe that’s the best way to approach it.

Friday: Temple-Oklahoma Preview

08.18.24
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Friday’s scrimmage: Reading between the lines

Some highlights from practice action courtesy of Temple football’s official twitter feed.

Nobody other than staff or players and coaches and maybe some University of Pennsylvania facility personnel were allowed at Temple football’s latest scrimmage at Franklin Field.

So getting information out of there was almost impossible.

Fortunately, Temple offers videos and some snippets of what happened last week during practice both on Owlsports.com and its twitter feed so we’re able to read some things between the lines roughly a dozen days before the first game at Oklahoma (7 p.m., ESPN).

One, there might not be single digits--Head coach Stan Drayton said he’s not ready to give out single digits and doesn’t say when he will be.

In some past years, it’s been strictly a vote of the players but former head coach Rod Carey changed that tradition to a vote of the coaches.

Drayton says this will be determined by a hybrid of player and coaching voting but not until the coaches are comfortable with the process. So far, he’s not and one of the reasons he wants to see the Owls under game conditions so the next logical step would be to hand out the single digits after the Oklahoma game.

Evan Simon is sacked by Temple in the 2022 Rutgers’ game

Two, he will wait to determine the starting quarterback–It appears it’s down to Evan Simon and Forrest Brock, but Simon reportedly went 7-for-7 with a touchdown pass at Franklin Field so maybe it’s his job to lose. Logically, he started some games at Rutgers–and even had a 300-yard passing game in the Big 10–so he didn’t transfer here to sit again.

Three, the offensive line appears to be the strength of the team–It certainly has the best position coach in Chris Wiesehan and brought in some big bodies but the biggest clue is that there are no injuries along the line and depth and size seems to be the best it has been since the 2019 season.

Four, a lot of running backs could be in the rotation–When interviewed last week, RB coach and Temple veteran Tyree Foreman said Joquez Smith “had to be taken off the field” in passing situations but “that is no longer the case.” Smith has made the next step but Foreman hasn’t named a starter just yet saying that four players–including FIU transfer E.J. Wilson and Maryland transfer Antwain Littleton–are also in the mix. He calls Lackawanna JC transfer Terrez Worthy a “home-run hitter.” Worthy, a former Big 33 MVP, was the leading rusher in all of JUCO football last year.

Five, the pass rush is 100 percent improved–Injuries and the coaching staff’s failure to use all of their scholarships last year made the Owls move linebackers to the line and that didn’t work out. The Owls made a concerted effort to use their resources for big linemen and, as a result, the pass rush has been a highlight. Look for Tre Thomas and Diwan Black to get a lot of sacks.

Will it be enough to beat Oklahoma?

Err, no.

Will it be enough to be competitive in the more important AAC games?

That’s to be determined.

Friday: Likely scenarios

Monday: Game Week