Temple’s second bye week came at the perfect time. The Owls lost 56-34 to an ECU team that had just fired its head coach Mike Houston a few days prior. Now, the Owls enter the season’s final month looking for any way to salvage their season.
“You get toward the back of the season in November, there’s teams that have things to play for and there’s teams that don’t have as much to play,” said Temple head coach Stan Drayton. “The true character of your football team is going to be exposed in November.”
Temple (2-6, 1-3 American Athletic Conference) is now in do-or-die mode, with just one more loss eliminating themselves from bowl game contention. For the Owls to keep its already dim hopes alive, they must get past conference powerhouse Tulane (7-2, 5-0 AAC).
One silver lining from the loss was the fact Temple’s offense was able to put 34 points on the board. They will be looking to do that again to come out of New Orleans with an unlikely victory..”
Here is what you need to know before Temple kicks off against Tulane on Saturday at 4 p.m.
AIRING IT OUT
Temple’s offense had one of its best performances last week against ECU, putting up 34 points while quarterback Evan Simon threw three touchdown passes and 294 yards. But he also had three interceptions and the offense was dormant once the second half kicked off.
“We play really well at times on defense and at times our offense kind of struggled,” Drayton said. “In this last game our offense kind of showed up. The last couple games, they showed up in spots and our defense has had a rough go.”
The fast start was something that hasn’t been seen from the Owls so far this year. Simon’s first-quarter rushing touchdown was Temple’s first touchdown in the first 15 minutes of play all year. The Owls doubled that when Simon threw a dart to wide receiver Ashton Allen for a 60-yard passing touchdown.
Temple will have to rely on its air attack against a Green Wave rush defense that allows 116 rushing yards per game, the fourth least in the AAC. Running back Terrez Worthy has become the Owls’ lead back and had 88 yards and a touchdown against ECU, but the matchup against Tulane will be the biggest challenge he will face since being vaulted into the starting lineup.
RETURN OF THE RUSH
The Owls’ defense was torched on all fronts last week against ECU. They gave up 238 rushing yards, which is the area they had struggled all season, but also allowed five passing touchdowns. Temple’s secondary had seemingly been a strong point up until that point but looked lost all game against the Pirates.
Defensive backs Andreas Keaton and Torey Richardson struggled in coverage and cornerback Ben Osueke was hurt. While the secondary struggled, the run defense was also gashed, continuing a season-long theme.
Temple played a plethora of top-tier rushing teams at the beginning of the season and will be tasked with another in Tulane. The Green Wave is the 11th-ranked rushing offense in the country, averaging 216 yards per game.
Linebackers Tyquan King and D.J. Woodbury Sr. still lead the Owls in tackles, with 70 and 66, respectively. However, their production has taken a slight dip as neither has recorded double-digit tackles in the last two games.
“It felt like that was one of the first times our defense didn’t execute at a high level,” Woodbury said. “Normally, we’re all as one. That game we got out of our source a little bit, but we got back this week to the drawing board. We fixed the problem that we thought was a problem in the ECU game.”
ON TULANE
The Green Wave have won the last two AAC championships and are frontrunners for a third. They enter the contest on a six-game win streak and have yet to be defeated in conference play.
Tulane ranks eighth in the country in scoring offense, racking up 39 points per game. Running back Makhi Hughes leads the offense, rushing for more than 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns. Quarterback Darian Mensah has also been efficient through the air, throwing for 14 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
On the defensive side of the ball, Tulane has the second ranked scoring defense in the AAC, allowing just 20 points per game. Linebacker Tyler Grubbs leads the Green Wave with 39 tackles, six tackles for loss, three sacks and two interceptions. Tulane’s secondary has forced 11 interceptions and returned five for touchdowns.
SPOILER ALERT
Ryan Mack, Sports Editor: “The bye week gave Temple time to refresh, especially coming out of a brutal loss to ECU. The Owls were able to bounce back after their last bye week but I do not think that will be the same case this time around. I don’t think Temple will be able to get its offense going and the Green Wave are too explosive for the offense to handle.”
Tulane wins 49-13.
Colin Schofield, Assistant Sports Editor: “Coming out of the bye week with rest and healthier, the Owls will hope to build on their loss against ECU. They were run over by the Pirates and are playing one of the elite offenses in the country in Tulane. I think the Green Wave have too much firepower for Temple to keep up.”
Tulane wins 55-17.
Sienna Conaghan, Assistant Sports Editor: “Temple will benefit from the bye week but looking at the loss to ECU, I don’t think it will make that much difference. The Owls always seem to struggle with at least one thing during all times in a game and if they want to take down Tulane, they have to have all positions doing their jobs the entire 60 minutes. I think the Green Wave are simply too strong for Temple.”
Tulane wins 56-14.
Jaison Nieves, Sports Social Media Manager: “Temple have continued to struggle with consistency throughout the season and everything will have to be on point against Tulane to pull out a win. For me this is simply too much to ask for against a Green Wave team that poses too many challenges for the Owls to handle.”
Tulane wins 42-24.
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