After Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht’s pass whizzed past Andrew Rappleyea’s head and incomplete on fourth and goal from Temple’s 2-yard-line in the first quarter last Saturday, Owls safety Saboor Karriem pointed at the Nittany Lions tight end and gave him a piece of his mind on the way back to the sideline.
Temple’s defense withstood a turnover deep in its own territory and forced a goal-line stand, adding yet another highlight to a strong start for a unit that ranked toward the bottom of Football Subdivision in points allowed, rushing yards, and total defense last season.
Karriem, one of Temple’s single-digit players, awarded to the team’s toughest players on and off the field, is one of several new faces helping the Owls’ defense look much improved in Year 2 under coordinator Brian L. Smith. And it starts with Karriem’s energy on the field.
“I like the mentality that we play with,” said Karriem, an Illinois transfer who grew up in North Jersey. “It’s different than what I had played [in] previously. I had played a lot more zone coverage, eyes on the quarterback when they drop back, catch and rally type of defense. But we [at Temple] are more aggressive in our mindset.
“I really get more excited if my teammates make plays, but at the same time, energy is contagious. Guys feed off that, and when we make plays, we celebrate, but we got to focus. And I think that’s something that I tried to preach to them.”
Though the Owls could not keep pace with Penn State in the second half last weekend, Temple has another tough test, this time a road matchup against Toledo on Saturday (3 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
With the quarterback battle continuing for another week, the defense will be relied on for another strong showing and is tasked with slowing down a Toledo offense that is averaging 41.5 points through two games.
And it starts with a mentality Smith has instilled in the unit since he joined K.C. Keeler’s staff 20 months ago.
“Our mantra is FPC: We want to play fast, physical, and clean, and not beat ourselves,” Smith said this week. “We want to eliminate the mental errors and try to prevent the big plays, but also get after the quarterback, stop the run, and create turnovers. And the guys are bought in to that philosophy.
“We’re playing a lot of guys. We’re rotating a lot of guys in, and trying to keep guys fresh in the fourth quarter. The guys have done a good job buying in to the system.”
Simplifying the defense
Smith, a Wilmington native whose father taught in Chester, brought his NFL roots to the college level, first at Michigan from 2015-16, then at Rice for seven years before joining the Owls. His time in the New York Jets organization from 2007 to 2014 in various roles primarily under Rex Ryan, he said, helped shape his defensive philosophy.
He also credits Don Brown, for whom he worked at Massachusetts, his alma mater, and Michigan, for developing a defensive system that he calls “multiple.”
“We’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to attack as much as possible,” Smith said. “We can pressure blitz up front. We can have movement stunts up front, and again changing up the looks. … [We’re] trying to attack and be aggressive. We want to stop the run, try to make a team one-dimensional, and get them in the passing situations. And then on third down, we’re going to do multiple [things] and try to get after the quarterback.
“[During] my time at Michigan and UMass, Don Brown … played a lot more man-to-man, so we adopted a little bit of that philosophy. We don’t play probably as much man in hand as he played, but we try to mix it in.”
Last season, in his first year at Temple, Smith’s unit ranked 91st in total defense (396.8), 100th in points allowed (29.7), and 123rd in rushing yards allowed (197.3), but that rushing total was still down from the Owls’ 226.1 yards per game allowed in 2024.
Through two games this year, Temple has improved in each category. It ranks 65th in points allowed (20.5), 76th in rushing yards allowed (122.5), and 86th in total defense (354 yards).
Smith points to one key change he and his staff made this offseason.
“I think we simplified things this year for the players as much as possible,” Smith said. “That’s something that we do every year. You go back and evaluate what things work, what things didn’t work, and just with the players that we have, the amount of players that we’ve gotten from the transfer portal. … You’re better off trying to simplify things rather than trying to add a lot more because we’ve got the talent to play with a lot of people, and so we don’t want to beat ourselves.”
‘Grittiness’
One of the few returning contributors to the defense is Curly Ordonez, who transferred to Temple before the 2025 season from Independence Community College. The linebacker, who leads the team with 20 tackles, has noticed fewer miscommunications with the unit this season.
The reason? Ordonez said the defense made key strides in the spring and at captain’s practices this summer that is now showing up on the field.
“We switched up a couple things [on defense], but really new guys coming into the new system, and actually get all those mistakes out, the misunderstandings, and really understand [the system] throughout the spring,” Ordonez said. “We just came out of [the] summer, and it was like, ‘Oh, everybody playing fast.’ … then we just continued to build from there. Summer was a great [starting] point where we just knew what our defense was [at] and we just had to show it.”
Temple’s defensive improvement starts with the front four on the defensive line, Ordonez said. His reads from his linebacker spot have been cleaned up because “those guys up front are dominating, eating up two [blockers], taking on blocks.”
On Saturday, it’ll be a homecoming for one of those defensive tackles. Kevin Hornbeak Jr. is a Toledo native who transferred to Temple from Division II Tiffin. One of his first varsity games at Whitmer High School in Toledo, Ohio, was at the Glass Bowl, and several family members will be in attendance, Hornbeak said.
Like Ordonez, Hornbeak said he appreciates Smith’s approach to “attacking the offense.”
“I love the four down [front alignment]. Love how much we blitz. It’s [an] amazing defense,” said Hornbeak, who had a sack in Temple’s season-opening win over Rhode Island. “When you got a coach that believes in you and wanting us to go attack the offense, you can’t ask for nothing better.”
While Smith acknowledges there is still a long way to go the rest of the season, he’s pleased with how his defense has “handled adversity well,” and agreed with Keeler’s sentiment earlier this week of the defense having a “more talented group.”
The defense is playing with more confidence and an edge compared to last season. The defensive coordinator credits the “tough-minded” makeup of Temple’s players, especially on defense for the improvement year over year. They’ll need it to carry over once American Conference play opens up in a few weeks in the program’s quest for bowl eligibility for the first time in seven seasons.
“This is home for me,” Smith said. “We got a different group of kids here. It was a lot of Texas kids and West Coast kids that I had at Rice. Here, we’re a little more gritty … [with players from] Philadelphia, New Jersey, Maryland. So I love the grittiness that our team has.”
Added Karriem: “I was in just a different mental space being away for so long, and coming home and just allowed me to enjoy the game again. … I don’t feel like I’m coming to work every day. I know I’m going to work, but I’m having fun at work.”
