Temple ends five-game losing streak in a 32-18 win against Navy

By: Brennan Szczypiorski

After the devastating loss against SMU two weeks ago, the Temple Owls came out of the bye week determined to add a much-needed win to their record. The Owls were on a five-game losing streak heading into their game against Navy.

“It’s good to be in the win column, coming off of a bye week,” said Temple Owls head coach Stan Drayton. “It’s good to see our kids lock in and focus. I thought their level of preparation gave them a chance to win.”

Quarterback EJ Warner had an excellent performance after missing the last two games with a concussion. Warner led the Owls to their first conference win of the season, racking up 402 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

Warner marched the offense down the field on the opening drive. The Temple quarterback completed all six of his passes for 59 yards, capping it off with a 22-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Smith. Coach Stan Drayton knew the team needed to have a fast start against this run-heavy Navy team.

“The way they hold the clock and run the clock down is something serious,” said Drayton. “It’s a weapon of theirs.”

The Temple defense stepped up to have one of their best games of the season, allowing 18 points, the second fewest they have given up all year. The Owls’ defense started strong, leaving the Midshipmen scoreless in the first two quarters. This marked the first time since 2019 that Temple has shut out an opponent in the first half.

Linebacker Jordan Magee was all over the field for the Owls, setting career highs with eight tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. Magee also had a huge third-down sack late in the second quarter.

The defensive line was a major factor in stopping Navy’s run attack. The Midshipmen averaged 206 rushing yards coming into this game but only managed to rush for 144 yards against Temple’s defense. Jerquavion Mahone stood out the most on the defensive line by stuffing Navy’s run offense with a career-high of eight tackles.

“I give all the credit to the D line. They did a great job stuffing them up front,” said Jordan Magee.

After a 42-yard field goal from Camden Price and a Warner to David Martin-Robinson connection for a 24-yard touchdown, the Owls took a 17-0 lead heading into the tunnel at halftime.

“We knew getting EJ [Warner] back would put us in a rhythm,” Drayton said. “We had a really good bye week and game week of practice where our throw game got into a really good rhythm.”

The Owls offense had a slow start coming out after halftime. They struggled with taking care of the football after committing four turnovers in the game, three of them in the third quarter. Navy capitalized on these turnovers by scoring two touchdowns, a 24-yard pass to Eli Heidenreich, and a two-yard run by Navy quarterback Xavier Arline, making it a one-possession game by the end of the third quarter.

“You don’t win games like that with four turnovers,” said Drayton. “You have to damn near play perfect to overcome what we had to overcome.”

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Owls had a 17-15 lead as Navy seemed to have the momentum. However, Temple’s offense started to click again as Warner led the offense down the field and threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Smith, his second of the day.

After Temple’s defense forced Navy to kick a field goal, EJ Warner connected to Zae Baines for a 60-yard catch and run late in the fourth quarter to put the Owls in the red zone. Baines put on a show after pulling in seven receptions for 132 yards on the day, both career highs. With 3:29 remaining in the game, EJ Warner completed the drive with a beautiful pass under pressure to Dante Wright for a 16-yard score.

“We saw [Navy] just basically keeping everything in front of them,” said Baines. “EJ [Warner] did a good job getting the ball out in time and hitting us in rhythm.”

Although Navy’s offense was executing their pass game well on their final drive to move the ball deep into Owls territory, the defense ultimately stopped Navy’s offense on fourth down, forcing an incomplete pass and turnover on downs. The Owls ran out the clock and celebrated their third win of the season, ending their losing streak with the final score of 32-18.

The Owls are looking to build momentum from this win as they head down to Florida to take on the South Florida Bulls. The players in the locker room are confident they can finish the season out strong.

“I believe in this football team a hundred percent,” said Temple offensive lineman Victor Stoffel. “If we really gather together and play as a team, we can win the rest of the games on our schedule this season. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”