Temple looks to rebound against South Florida after three straight losses. But it won’t be easy.
Temple’s “brutal” losses came down to the final stretch. The Owls are preparing to start Ajani Sheppard and fine-tuning details against the Bulls, the top team in the American who remain unbeaten.
Three weeks after Temple’s season-opening win, it has suffered three straight losses.
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 will need to pick itself back up to play undefeated South Florida on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPNU), the top team in the American.
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.”
» READ MORE: Temple lets another fourth-quarter lead slip away in 21-17 loss to Army
Running with the Bulls
Temple and South Florida have weapons on the ground. The Owls’ running back corps is headlined by Sam Brown V. Brown’s three touchdowns against the Rockets is tied for second-most in a game in the conference. Keveun Mason also rushed for a career-high 158 yards in Week 1, aiding Temple’s 24th national ranking in rush yards per game.
South Florida’s D.J. Crowther has displayed impressive figures as well. He topped 100 rushing yards in back-to-back games. Crowther tallied 12.6 yards per carry in the first contest before carrying the ball 23 times in the second.
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 on 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.
» READ MORE: Temple ‘needed to make one more play’ vs. Army, but coach K.C. Keeler found silver linings in the loss
Keeler is impressed by what he’s seen in Sheppard’s deep passing and explosiveness. Sheppard may get to showcase his talents in Tampa, 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.”
