Temple linebacker Avery Williams vows to bounce back
Temple will go from playing in front of 100,400 at Penn State to a homecoming game Saturday against a team it beat by 34 points on the road last year.
Temple will go from playing in front of 100,400 at Penn State to a homecoming game Saturday against a team it beat by 34 points on the road last year.
The Owls are ripe for a letdown when they host Charlotte in a matchup of 1-2 teams at Lincoln Financial Field.
Predictably, the players say nothing could be further from the truth. The Owls were disappointed in their 34-27 loss on Saturday but they seem anxious to get the sour taste of defeat out of their systems.
And there are some players who didn't fare as well as expected, who can't wait to get on the field to atone for their play on Saturday.
One is team leader and strongside linebacker Avery Williams. On Monday, Temple coach Matt Rhule said the veteran linebackers, which include Williams, Stephaun Marshall and Jarred Alwan, did not have a strong collective performance.
When he was asked about that, Williams said: guilty as charged. "We let our team down, "Williams said Tuesday after practice. "It was all on us, especially me on the last play. I was out of my gap."
He was referring to 55-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown run by Saquon Barkley, when Williams was leveled by guard Ryan Bates.
So Williams and his fellow senior linebackers met on Monday.
"We have to run this team, everybody is looking for us to do it," Williams said of the linebackers. "We are the oldest guys and have the most reps on the defense and we have to step up and do what we do."
Williams is anxious for the next game, even against a team that Temple beat, 37-3, a year ago. But the Owls led by just 10-3 at halftime on a game played in a driving rainstorm.
So Temple vows to have plenty of energy against Charlotte, which is coming off a 37-19 home loss to Eastern Michigan.
Defensive end Haason Reddick, who had three tackles for loss against Penn State, says there will be no trouble getting up for Charlotte. Reddick added that other than losing, playing at Penn State was quite an experience.
"It is energizing: You feel the energy, even if it is not your crowd," said Reddick, who also played well at Penn State in 2014 with five tackles and 11/2 tackles for loss in a 30-13 defeat. "As an opposing player, you always want to shut the crowd up and I find that fun."
Owls notes
Rhule said that receiver Ventell Bryant, who has played only one game because of injury, is probably two to three weeks away from returning. . . . The Temple offensive line wasn't spared criticism by Rhule, who says he plans to have the same starters, provided redshirt freshman guard Jovahn Fair's ankle injury allows him to play. One player who is expected to see time on the offensive line is freshman Matt Hennessy (6-4, 285) from New Jersey power Don Bosco Prep. Hennessy can play several positions on the line. . . . Charlotte all-conference running back Kalif Phillips, who missed last week with a hamstring injury, is expected back against Temple, coach Brad Lambert said at his weekly news conference. Phillips rushed for 125 yards on 19 carries last year against Temple. . . . Charlotte, which competes in Conference USA, is in its fourth year of fielding a football team and the second at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.
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