Temple can still make a bowl game, but heading into the bye week it’s about ‘moving forward’

Two weeks ago, Temple was coming off a major overtime victory against Tulsa to extend its winning streak to two games, and the Owls needed just one more win to clinch their first bowl game since 2019.

Now that Oct. 25 win feels like a distant memory.

Temple (5-5, 3-3 American) ran into a brick wall in its last two games, losing by 42-14 to East Carolina on Nov. 1 and by 14-13 to Army on Saturday. The back-to-back losses dimmed Temple’s chances of making a bowl game with two games remaining after a bye week.

» READ MORE: Temple runs into a team possessed as Army hands Owls second straight loss

“We’ve got to go digest the film,” quarterback Evan Simon said. “We have this bye week coming up, which is crucial. We are banged up, we’ve had a tough stretch of games. We got to utilize it ... mentally, taking a load off. But at the same time, looking at a good Tulane football team. We’ve got to bounce back.”

Because of injuries, Temple’s defense has had a revolving door of players since the beginning of October. Safeties Javier Morton and Louis Frye were sidelined against Georgia Tech and Texas-San Antonio before returning against Charlotte, but Frye’s playing time has been sparse after he lost the starting job to safety Jamere Jones.

On Saturday, Temple was without safeties Dontae Pollard and Avery Powell. The defensive line was missing Sekou Kromah and Demerick Morris, along with linebacker Eric Stuart.

“Defensively, we’re a MASH unit,” coach K.C. Keeler said. “I don’t know a whole lot of people who lose their two starting safeties in the first series, and then lose their starting corner, and the other starting corner’s already out for the game. So we have a lot of moving parts.”

The week off allows the unit to recoup after a rough stretch of injuries.

The pass defense was exploited against Tulsa as quarterback Baylor Hayes finished with 296 passing yards. Then a depleted secondary and rushing defense were steamrolled against ECU. The Pirates put up 614 yards, including 358 on the ground. Against Army, the Black Knights had three drives with seven minutes of possession or more.

Temple’s offense hasn’t caught the injury bug, but it needs to overcome some miscues from previous weeks. The Owls were overpowered by ECU as Simon threw for 80 yards and an interception — his first of the season.

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Saturday at Army was different. Temple moved the ball with 268 yards in six drives, but errors cost the Owls a chance to win. Kicker Carl Hardin missed a field goal on the first drive. Simon also missed tight end Peter Clarke in the end zone, which would have given the Owls six points before halftime.

“There are eight to 10 plays off the top of my head when we go back with the iPad that could change the story of that game,” Simon said. “The model won’t change. It’s all about us and how we execute moving forward.”

Temple’s goal is to use the bye week to find a way to get its sixth win.

The Owls will host Tulane (7-2, 4-1) on Nov. 22. The Green Wave have appeared in the last three American Conference championships.

North Texas, Temple’s final opponent on Black Friday, is a less favorable matchup. The Mean Green (8-1, 4-1) are first in the conference in scoring offense and total offense, and second in passing offense.

“We meet [Sunday] as a defense,” defensive tackle Allan Haye said. “So, pretty much the message I have for them is just keep moving forward. Feel this and understand that we lost and what we did wrong. But after that, we don’t have time next week. We have to get our bodies back.”