Through the first two weeks of Temple’s season, offensive consistency has been hard to come by. The team’s running backs totaled just 104 yards in two games, leaving quarterback Forrest Brock on an island for the duration of his time under center.
Brock, a junior college transfer, looked uncomfortable in his first two starts, and Temple (0-3, 0-1 American Athletic Conference) scored just 14 points in its first two games combined. Brock took a hit to his wrist at the end of Temple’s blowout loss to Navy on Sept. 7 which knocked him out of the contest against Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
Brock suited up for pregame festivities against the Chanticleers (3-0, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference), but he never threw a pass during warm-ups, making room for Rutgers transfer Evan Simon to make his first start under center for the Owls.
“Evan [Simon] did a great job of preparing and getting himself ready to go,” said head coach Stan Drayton. “It’s not his first rodeo in terms of game experience. So we practiced that way from day one.”
Drayton said his team “didn’t look right in their eyes” following the loss against Navy, but it was the exact opposite against the Chanticleers. Simon got the offense churning and the rest of the unit began to follow suit.
The Owls recorded the most yards in a game all season with 314. Running back Antwain Littleton had a break game with more than 100 total yards. Everything led up to a potential game-tying drive with two minutes to go — but Temple came up just short.
Simon and company marched their way down the field, but Simon threw his worst pass at the pinnacle moment of the game. On the do-or-die fourth down, Simon floated a ball that landed in the Owls’ bench, sealing the deal and forcing Temple to its first 0-3 start since 2013.
“We were looking to throw the post,” Drayton said about the final play. “We have to evaluate to see if he got a little antsy in that moment. I think he just lost track of the scenario. I’m not so sure if he knew it was fourth down.”
Temple’s offense finally found a pulse despite the result. The Owls advanced to opposing territory just three times combined in their first two games of the season. They matched that output in 30 minutes against the Chanticleers and scored 10 first-half points with their new quarterback.
Simon was able to do things Brock had not and pushed the ball down the field on multiple occasions. He finished the game with 185 yards and two touchdowns and almost brought Temple back from a 21-3 hole. He found a connection with wide receiver Dante Wright, who followed up his 101-yard performance last week with 99 more and a touchdown.
An improved rushing attack also made Simon’s life easier. Drayton has mentioned for years he wants the identity of his offense to be built on the running game. It’s been a struggle throughout his first two seasons, but Drayton’s team showed encouraging signs on the ground Saturday.
After putting up just 104 rushing yards combined in the first two games, Temple improved in its home opener. The team gained 129 yards on the ground — the most since playing North Texas on Oct. 14, 2023, when the Owls racked up 242 rushing yards.
The revived running game took the pressure off Simon — something that never happened with Brock calling the shots. A single Littleton rush of 37 yards was more than the Owls gained in the entirety of their loss to the Midshipmen the week prior.
“We showed way more flashes today of our identity and who we can be,” Littleton said. “We’re not there quite yet, but like I said we’ve shown flashes with offense, with defense. We can get it done.”
Improvements are a good sign, but Temple has yet to put it all together for 60 minutes. The Owls were never able to capitalize on the Chanticleer’s mistakes and allowed multiple promising drives to stall. The game’s first drive fizzled out and resulted in a missed field goal by kicker Maddox Trujillo.
Temple’s turnover issues also returned. The Owls entered the game with nine giveaways and left Lincoln Financial Field with 11 after running back E.J. Wilson coughed the ball up which led to a Coastal Carolina touchdown. Simon then threw a pick-six after a ball was tipped, which landed in the hands of safety Xamarion Gordon who waltzed into the endzone.
Temple’s defense hasn’t been able to replicate the opposing team’s turnovers. The Owls are still looking for their first turnover of the season and their -11 turnover margin is ranked at 133 in the country — good enough for dead-last in college football.
“It’s coming,” said safety Andreas Keaton about forcing turnovers. “When God wants it to come, it’s going to come. It’s going to be natural. We ain’t going to force it.”
The defense was able to stifle the seventh-best rushing team in college football to just 184 yards and kept them out of the endzone for the final quarter. The Owls’ unit even gave the offense two chances to tie the game but they were never able to take advantage.
Temple had two penalties during the game and both came in the fourth quarter. The Owls overcame both calls, but they came close to being drive-killers and proved there is still much to be desired.
“We just got to get this team to focus for 60 minutes of football, from one play at a time to start to finish,” Drayton said. “That’s something that is improving, working in the right direction. But obviously the cost is in the back end there.”
Despite the loss, the Owls will now have some newfound momentum when they host Utah State (1-2, 0-0 Mountain West Conference) on Sept. 21 at 2 p.m.
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