Three things to watch in Temple’s annual spring football game this Saturday

Two years into the Stan Drayton era, there hasn’t been much success for Temple in terms of victories. The Owls are 6-18 under Drayton and have yet to win a game away from Lincoln Financial Field.

The departure of key players such as Adam Klein, Jordan Magee, Jalen McMurray, and Jose Barbon over the last two seasons has left the Owls in a poor spot, talent-wise. However, Drayton has added over 80 new players over the past two offseasons, including more than 40 this past go-around.

Many of those new faces will participate in Temple’s spring game on Saturday at Edberg-Olson Hall. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.

While spring games typically are glorified practices, it opens the door for multiple conversations surrounding the team. Here are some of the biggest ones entering Saturday:

On a team filled with question marks, the biggest may be the quarterback situation.

Following two record-breaking seasons, E.J. Warner transferred to Rice, leaving just two quarters of experience on the roster. To alleviate losing Warner and Quincy Patterson, Drayton brought in former Rutgers quarterback Evan Simon and former Montana quarterback Clifton McDowell.

Not two weeks into spring ball, McDowell re-entered the portal, leaving the Owls with Simon, Forrest Brock, Tyler Douglas, Chris Dietrich, and Patrick Keller. But with spring practices coming to an end soon, no one has separated themselves from the pack.

“No one quarterback has put together a complete day yet,” Drayton said following practice April 2. “But there are flashes of these guys getting better.”

Luckily for the Owls, there are 140 days until the season opener in Norman, Okla., so the team doesn’t need to crown a starter right away.

Simon is the popular name to win the starting job, and rightfully so, but watch out for Brock. His name has continuously popped up, and he’s looked the best in open scrimmages.

Jordan Magee and Yvandy Rigby entered the 2024 NFL draft following solid 2023 seasons. Magee has appeared on draft boards and likely will hear his name called in two weeks in Detroit. While Rigby hasn’t had the same predraft success, his talent could garner him at least a minicamp invite.

Losing the production (148 combined tackles) and leadership the duo brought was a tough break, and the Owls knew it.

“Losing Magee and Rigby,” said defensive coordinator Everett Withers, “we felt like we had to really start from scratch and rebuild the entire room.”

Temple added seven players in the offseason, in addition to veterans D.J. Woodbury and Corey Yeoman. Although both players have an injury history, Woodbury and Yeoman offer some continuity at linebacker.

Players like N.C. State transfer T.K. Wright and East Carolina transfer Tyquan King bring skill sets that allow them to compete for playing time, specifically King.

“He plays hard. He’s physical and fun to be around,” linebackers coach Chris Woods said. “He’s probably the most impressive guy out of the whole group. … He screams Temple tough.”

King, Woodbury, and Yeoman have legit shots to play right away. However, Katin Surprenant and Tyler Lepolo, who were all-conference junior college players, are players to watch.

Before former defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot joined the Philadelphia Eagles last spring, the Owls ran a base 3-4 defense. Withers, who was hired to replace Eliot, kept that in place because it was familiar to his players.

With a full offseason, Withers has made the switch to base 4-3 defense.

“Personnel-wise,” Withers said, “we did not have a three-down package [last season].”

Temple finished with 38 sacks in 2022, Eliot’s final season, good for first in the American Athletic Conference. That number decreased to 22 when Withers took over, good enough for tenth in the conference. Now in a 4-3, Withers believes the pass rush will be more efficient. An improved pass rush naturally will give a revamped secondary more opportunities to create turnovers.

Withers also believes his defensive tackles will fill gaps better, in turn, elevating a run defense that gave up nearly 200 yards per game in 2023.

With so many new pieces and a new scheme, Temple’s defense could struggle early on. However, better scheme-specific personnel will elevate the floor of the defense’s performance.