Temple’s offense stalls as Owls drop fifth straight with 36-10 loss to UAB

Looking to snap a four-game losing streak, Temple returned to Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday after narrowly failing to complete a 28-0 comeback at Navy last weekend. But after running stride for stride with UAB for a half, the Owls’ offense stalled in a 36-10 loss to the Blazers as Temple’s losing streak reached five games.

Kicker Carl Hardin hit a field goal to tie the game at 10 with just over six minutes left in the first half, but that would be the last time Temple scored. UAB (6-4, 4-2 American Conference) rattled off 26 unanswered points, stymieing the Owls’ offense in the process. The loss dropped Temple to 2-8, and 1-5 in the American Conference.

“We’re not a very good football team right now,” said coach K.C. Keeler after the loss. “It’s disappointing because I think going into the season, we felt we were going to be a lot further along than we are.”

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It took time to get the offensive gears grinding for both teams. The Owls made the game’s first key play on the fourth series of the game. On first-and-10, Temple safety Avery Powell broke up Ryder Burton’s pass, resulting in an Adrian Laing interception that he returned 10 yards to UAB’s 25-yard line. The Blazers had Temple 12 yards from the goal line on third down, but Ajani Sheppard converted a touchdown pass to Jojo Bermudez.

UAB responded in a hurry. Burton found tight end Scott Isacks dashing near midfield for a 67-yard gain down to the Temple 9-yard line. Running back Rod Robinson II cut through the gaps for a nine-yard touchdown to finish the job.

Early in the second quarter, the Blazers almost added seven more points when Delvon Gulley sacked Sheppard and forced a fumble that UAB recovered deep in Temple territory. The Blazers ultimately settled for a 47-yard field goal attempt, which Jonah Delange missed. Delange would conver his other two attempts in the quarter to produce a 13-10 score at halftime.

The Owls seldom found answers for Robinson’s runs. He opened the second half with three carries totaling 25 yards. Laing was flagged for pass interference on the next play to push UAB’s possession to Temple’s 40, but the Owls stopped the promising drive after Lamar Fairfax Jr. sacked Burton for a loss of eight yards.

Robinson reasserted control on the next series. After a short punt placed the Blazers on the Owls’ 46-yard line, he needed just four carries to score. Robinson dashed to his left with heavy blocking from the offensive line, which overwhelmed Temple all game, for a 33-yard touchdown to extend UAB’s lead to 20-10.

Robinson hurt the Owls with his speed too. His third touchdown saw him zip to his left, tiptoe the sideline, and beat Jaeden Gould to the end zone from 54 yards to make it 29-10. On 22 carries, he totaled a career-high 202 yards on the ground.

“He did a great job of bouncing,” Keeler said. “We just didn’t do a very good job on the edge, you know, keeping our shoulders square and setting that edge. This is the kind of stuff you start doing in January.”

It wasn’t Sheppard’s day. He went 11-for-30 on passes and tallied just 85 yards through the air. Sheppard was contained on his runs as well. Before he notched an 18-yard rush at the end of the fourth quarter, he was averaging just 3.3 yards per carry.

Third downs were the quarterback’s enemy, as Sheppard converted just two out of 12 of those opportunities as the Blazers’ front consistently broke through the offensive line. Temple averaged just 2.8 yards on third down.

Sheppard added another mistake on top of his early-game fumble. UAB linebacker Marlin Dean sacked him in the end zone with 10 minutes left for a safety.

UAB’s backup quarterback Nate Rogers added a rushing touchdown for insurance to end the game.

“Offensively, we are really struggling right now,” Keeler said. “Getting the ball out of [Sheppard’s] hands quickly is not probably his strong suit right now … we were a little concerned about their pass rush.”

Up next

Temple plays its home finale at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday against Rice (7:30 p.m., ESPN).