Temple gets blitzed by North Texas following a pregame scratch of Owls QB E.J. Warner
Warner was nixed 20 minutes before the game because of a lingering injury suffered in Temple’s loss to UTSA last Saturday
Stan Drayton will continue to wait for his first road win as Temple head coach, after losing, 45-14, to American Athletic Conference foe North Texas.
The big story of the game actually took place about 20 minutes before kickoff, when it was announced that Owls’ quarterback E.J. Warner was a scratch because of an injury suffered in the loss to UTSA last week.
It marked the first time Warner had not started at quarterback since Week 2 of last season, when he came in for D’Wan Mathis after one quarter.
Against the Mean Green on Saturday, Quincy Patterson got his first start for the Owls. Patterson generally has been used as a runner in short-yardage situations since transferring to Temple in 2022. Patterson was 12 for 30 for 105 yards with three interceptions. He ran for 113 yards with a rushing score, but it was evident that Temple’s passing game is dependent on Warner’s availability.
Defense can’t get stops
Defense has been a major issue for Temple (2-5, 0-3 AAC) all season, but especially in the previous four games — the Owls have given up at least 40 points in each contest.
North Texas’ offense was fueled by red-hot quarterback Chandler Rogers. Rogers finished 25 for 39 for 307 yards and four touchdowns and looked extremely comfortable throwing the football.
North Texas (3-3, 1-1) also had 220 rushing yards and two rushing scores as Mean Green players found themselves wide open and able to easily break tackles.
Run game gets going
While Temple definitely needed to get the run game going against North Texas, they also had to rely on it without Warner.
Temple’s rushing attack was picture-perfect on the first drive. Temple had 13 carries for 79 yards between Joquez Smith, Darvon Hubbard, and Patterson.
Hubbard had 38 of those yards including a 7-yard touchdown.
Overall, the Owls ran for 242 yards on 50 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Patterson starting at quarterback clearly helped the Owls’ run the game by using the read option. It could be something the Owls look to dial up more to keep defenses honest.
Up next ...
The Owls will return home to face SMU (4-2, 2-0) on Friday at Lincoln Financial Field (7 p.m., ESPN2).