Three weeks after Temple’s season-opening win, the Owls find themselves on a three-game losing streak.
The last two stung the most. The Owls fell at Toledo in overtime after leading by 14 and then lost to Army on the final drive. Now, Temple (1-3, 0-1 American Conference) goes back on the road to face South Florida (4-0, 1-0) on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPNU).
The Owls have been plagued with late-game breakdowns. But the chance to prove themselves and put those losses behind them excites coach K.C. Keeler.
“The bad news is, we have to go play South Florida coming off a brutal loss like this,” Keeler said. “The good news is, we get a chance to go play South Florida after a brutal loss like this, because the only thing that gets you right is getting out there and beating a good football team.”
Running with the Bulls
The Owls’ running back group is headlined by Sam Brown V, whose three touchdowns against the Rockets was tied for second-most in a game in the conference. Temple is ranked 24th nationally in rushing. Keveun Mason ran for a career-high 158 yards in Week 1.
South Florida’s D.J. Crowther has displayed impressive figures as well, having topped 100 rushing yards in each of the last two games. Crowther averaged 12.6 yards per carry (eight carries for 101 yards and three touchdowns) in the first contest vs. Delaware State before carrying the ball 23 times for 143 yards and a TD in the second vs. Bowling Green.
Keeler knows how strong the Bulls’ ground game is, and his staff usually reviews rushing footage from the week before to prepare. But that wasn’t a focus in practice Monday, simply because Army was a different beast.
“Typically today would be a corrections day for [the defense] — they sort of moved on,” Keeler said. “After an Army or Navy game, you don’t get a lot out of that video … there’s not a lot of crossover for what would help today.”
Sheppard still in shotgun
Jaxon Smolik started as Temple’s signal-caller against Penn State and Toledo after splitting the job with Ajani Sheppard against Rhode Island. When Smolik went down with an injury after his first throw against the Rockets, Sheppard stepped in and recorded three touchdowns. He continued to impress with 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns against Army.
Keeler is impressed by what he’s seen in Sheppard’s deep passing and explosiveness. Sheppard may get to showcase his talents in Tampa, Fla., as Smolik’s health is still in question.
“I really haven’t talked to Tyler [Walker] because we’re kind of waiting for someone to say Jaxon is 100%. I don’t think we’re there yet,” Keeler said. “I think he’ll progress this week, but I think we’ll know a lot more during the course of the week than we know right now.”
Fine-tuning details
Keeler has drilled one word into the minds of his players: details.
Temple hasn’t lacked energy through the past three weeks, but its failure to execute in the final minute has cost them games. The Owls weren’t far from being 3-1, Keeler said.
This weekend, however, Temple can’t afford to leave any boxes unchecked.
“I can’t ask them to work any harder in practice, except the mental part of it,” Keeler said. “We better really look ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘Are we doing everything we can? Is it looking at your tip sheet? Is it watching an extra video?’ … Let’s really worry about those details.”
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