Drayton’s Owls are Ready to Bounce Back After a Much Needed Bye Week
Written by: Zachary Silverstein
Photo by: Temple Athletics
After a 24-3 loss to the Memphis Tigers on Oct. 1, the Owls went into their bye week looking to clean up its weak spots and get some guys healthy.
“We were able to address some things during the bye week,” Temple head coach Stan Drayton said at his weekly presser earlier today. “Most importantly, just trying to get some guys back healthy and available to play, but also an opportunity for us to do some soul searching and self scouting…Really get back to playing good fundamental football.”
Drayton said that he and his guys are excited for their prime-time matchup vs. UCF on Thursday, Oct. 13. The Owls are 2-7 all-time vs. the Knights, with their last win coming in 2016, the year the Owls won the American Athletic Conference championship.
This is the first time the Owls will face UCF with Drayton at the helm, as well as the final time they will face them as conference opponents. UCF will be joining the Big 12 conference at the start of the 2023 season.
Drayton mentioned that during the bye week, the team addressed the need for maintaining it’s aggressive defensive play for all four quarters. He’s happy with how his defense has played but wants to see them be more consistent.
“We have to learn how to finish the style of defense we’re exposing in the first three quarters of most ballgames which is an aggressive style of play,” Drayton said. “But we have to learn how to finish in the fourth quarter.”
Drayton’s main takeaway was health. He made it clear that they have a number of starters that are injured, so there are backups coming in to fill those voids.
“We’re midpoint in the season right now and we’ve got some guys who are banged up in spots,” Drayton said. “Those next guys that have gotten an opportunity to fill those roles are doing a great job in their preparation right now. We have confidence that they’re going to go out there and play a high level of football.”
Drayton also talked about the development of true freshman quarterback E.J. Warner during the bye week. He said the main focus is protecting Warner when he’s in the pocket, which comes from receivers running quick, clean routes with good timing. He said that Warner needs to trust that his receivers are going to be in the right spots and get the ball out.
“Fundamentally, he had some things he had to tighten up with regards to throw angles, arm angles, and things of that sort,” Drayton said. “But I would say the biggest part is the timing of the throw.”
When the Owls travel down to Orlando for their matchup with UCF, they will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak vs. the Knights. The game can be seen on ESPN with kickoff at 7 PM. WHIP’s pregame, halftime, and postgame shows will air live from SouthHouse Philly, starting at 6 PM.
