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Temple isn’t Gonna Beat Penn State With Two Quarterbacks Taking Turns
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Temple handled business against Rhode Island in Week 1, winning 38-14 in front of a sparse Lincoln Financial Field crowd.
It would have been nice if they had faced Rams star quarterback Devin Farrell, who was unable to recover from off-season surgery in time for this game. Instead, they faced backup Tyler Budge, who threw two pick sixes on the afternoon while completing 18 of 31 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown. He ran the ball 9 times for 38 yards and a score.
Temple had some iffy moments on the defensive side, but they ran the ball well with Keveun Mason, who reached 158 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns. The Owls rushed 45 times for 227 yards but only threw it 16 times between Ajani Sheppard and Jaxon Smolik, who split reps in this game and combined for 142 passing yards.
“Quarterbacks, I thought both did some good things and both struggled a little bit at times,” said head coach K.C. Keeler on Monday. “A little inconsistency there, but we’re in the process of trying to figure out where we’re going to go with that whole thing. I think there’s a point where we gotta lean more one way or another. That’s what this week of practice is gonna be. We (Keeler and OC Tyler Walker) are gonna sit down and watch the tape and figure out what direction we want to go.”
Smolik started the game and looked decent out the gates. He threw a really nice touchdown pass, picking out a double-covered Jayce Freeman in the corner of the end zone while taking a shot from a linebacker on a delayed blitz. Then Sheppard came in for some reps, they started taking turns, and Smolik leveled off a bit, fumbling the ball and falling a bit out of rhythm. Sheppard has mobility as a dual-threat quarterback and was able to do some things on the ground, which might help against a Penn State defense that blanked Marshall at home, 45-0.
Throw in the fact that Temple left tackle Giakoby Hills picked up an injury Saturday, and will miss Week 2. It’s gonna be even tougher sledding for the Owls, who are +24 home dog as of publication.
They often say that if you have two quarterbacks, you actually have 0 quarterbacks. We at Crossing Broad believe this to be true. And while Smolik and Sheppard each had their moments in Week 1, neither guy did anything that said, “wow, this guy is definitely QB1 and should start against Penn State.” The swapping thing just isn’t gonna work against the Nittany Lions. Not enough possessions for that. Temple had the ball for 30:54 against URI and Marshall had 23:47 TOP at Beaver. The Herd mustered 11 first downs and went 1-11 on third. They had 11 possessions, six of which lasted less than two minutes, while two other possessions were affected by the end-of-half clock.
So there’s really not gonna be enough time or enough of the ball to swap quarterbacks and dilly dally. They are going to go three-and-out several times in this game. Keeler should probably just pick the guy he thinks is out front right now and stick with that guy. If Temple is no threat to throw the ball, PSU will stack the box and tee off on Mason. Then Temple’s chances rely on a pair of quarterbacks who combined for 16 pass attempts last weekend.
This was already a Herculean task for the Owls, but I’m not feeling a repeat of 2015 AT THE CURRENT MOMENT. As the week progresses, I will try to talk myself into it, but as it stands, the Nitters are being given a 90%+ chance to win at the Linc:
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com