Temple quarterback competition ‘not even close’ to being decided

With just 25 days until Temple football’s season opener against Rhode Island, coach K.C. Keeler and his staff seem to have a pretty good idea of the starting lineup they’ll be rolling out at Lincoln Financial Field on Sept. 5.

But there is one glaring decision remaining — quarterback.

Here are observations from Temple’s Monday morning practice.

The quarterback competition between the transfer duo of Jaxon Smolik (Penn State) and Ajani Sheppard (Washington State) continued Monday morning.

Smolik, who got snaps in four games as a junior, found seniors Peter Clarke and Colin Chase multiple times, each for big gains.

Smolik also hit Clarke and Ryder Kusch through the middle on slant routes while finding Chase streaking down the sideline twice on big plays.

Keeler declined to give any indication who might be in the lead for the starting job.

“We’re not even close,” Keeler said. “I thought they both took a step forward today. I just look at last year and Evan [Simon] didn’t establish himself until later but looked strong. I’d also say Evan was going up against a defense that had some wider windows in practice than what these guys are seeing now, and I think the defense has played really sound, which has affected these guys.”

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Last year, Simon and Gevani McCoy competed into the season opener against UMass, when Simon threw for six touchdowns and claimed the starting job.

“Yeah, I’m not going to overthink it,” Keeler said when asked if he’d be OK with a similar competition this year. “I’m just going to let it play out. Everyone would obviously prefer to have a guy, but at this time I think we let it play and see how it goes.”

Aside from quarterback, Keeler said “everything is kind of shaking out where you would’ve wanted it to” with the rest of the roster.

”There are positions like with the defensive line where we have 10 good guys and we’re going to play 10 guys on the defensive line, same thing with linebackers,“ he said.

And if the Owls continue to line up the way they have in practice, a skill-position core of wide receivers Chase, JoJo Bermudez, and Jayce Freeman, tight end Clarke, and running back Sam Brown looks promising.

Giakoby Hills, Eric King, Grayson Mains, Jackson Pruitt and Kevin Terry figure to start on the offensive line. Terry was thrust into the starting right tackle position following an injury to Luke Watson this week.

Keeler and offensive line coach Al Johnson have been vocal about having multiple players switching off and on throughout the game on the line.

“I absolutely [think we can have a rotation],” Johnson said following Saturday’s practice. “If you earn the right to play, you’re going to play. If we have seven guys that earn the right to play and help Temple football win football games, we’re going to play seven guys.”

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With Watson, that number could jump to nine, though John Stone and Zach Aamland seem like the players who could rotate in the most at center and right guard/tackle, respectively.

On the defensive line, Keeler plans on having 10 players rotate in and out, a group that would likely be headlined by Cam Jones, Davier Bishop and Joseph Auzenne. Kevin Hornbeak Jr., Troy Cunningham, Kaleb Artis, Russell Sykes IV, and Lamar Fairfax are expected to see regular playing time on a unit that could be kept fresh in games.

On the edge and in the linebacker core, Jaylon Joseph and JaMair Diaz headline the outside and Curly Ordonez and Eric Stuart hold down the middle and weak-side linebacker spots, with Tyree Alualu, Jayvant Brown, Wesley Brown, Willy Love, and Aiden Britton likely to see meaningful time.

In the defensive backfield, Denzel Chavis and Adrian Laing will hold down the cornerback spots and Saboor Karriem and Avery Powell will take safety duties, with Jaeden Gould, Kolin Dinkins and Josiah Jackson in the conversation as well.