Temple’s toughness tested in physical loss to Navy
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WRITTEN BY: Tyler Blankenship
PHOTOS BY: Andrew Mayo
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Last week, Temple Football kicked off its season with an impossible task: take down No. 15 Oklahoma on the road. The Owls failed, losing 51-3 on Aug. 30, and had their eyes set on bouncing back in their first American Athletic Conference game against Navy Saturday afternoon.
However, Temple (0-2, 0-1 AAC) fell to the Midshipmen (2-0, 1-0 AAC) 38-11 in a physical loss that tested the Owls’ resolve.
Navy head coach Brian Newberry implemented his “Get Six” philosophy last season, where he asks his team for some combination of six turnovers, fourth-down stops, scores or three-and-outs. The Midshipmen rose to the occasion Saturday, stifling Temple’s offense every chance they could.
The Owls did not find any success until the end of the first half when kicker Maddux Trujillo put the ball through the uprights from 36 yards out. Quarterback Forrest Brock and the offense could not find any rhythm and couldn’t overcome their miscues from start to finish.
“We shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Redshirt-Senior DT Latrell Jean. “It was undisciplined with our eyes. We weren’t disciplined with a lot of stuff we gotta do … We gotta play undisciplined.”
Temple started with two straight three-and-outs before Brock mishandled a shotgun snap from Temple’s two-yard line, and Navy forced him out-of-bounds for a safety. On the ensuing drive, Brock threw an interception to Navy linebacker Jaxson Campbell, who stepped in front of receiver Dante Wright’s slant route.
Miscues and missed opportunities stalled the Owls’ offense on multiple drives, including their eight penalties as a unit. Head coach Stan Drayton realized how much those mistakes mattered in the game and with the team’s confidence throughout the matchup.
“That is an issue when you are having these pre-snap illegal formations,” Drayton said. “The IQ of our receivers is better than that, and we can’t let the moment get too big for us.”
Navy’s offense was consistent and opportunistic all game, scoring the first touchdown of the day after the interception and refusing to look back. The Midshipmen used their modern Wing-T offense to control the game by rushing for a total of 261 yards, and quarterback Blake Horvath led the way with 122 yards and three touchdowns.
Navy offensive coordinator Drew Cronic’s system presents a lot of eye candy for opposing defenses pre-snap with constant shifts, motions, and formation changes that keep a defense guessing. Temple struggled to find the ball all game as they tried to diagnose the option plays and keep up with Navy’s attack.
Temple had focused on eye discipline all week leading up to this game knowing how important respecting Navy’s offense would be. Defensive tackle Latrell Jean felt his team struggled with that goal, which ended up hurting his squad.
“It was a lot of moving parts,” Jean said. “It comes down to our discipline and our eyes. We just have to handle our assignment. We have to handle our assignments a lot better than we did today.”
The Midshipmen used their history as a famously run-heavy program to set up their passing attack against the Owls. Navy passed the ball nine times, but its five completions went for 112 yards, including snipe Eli Heidenrich’s two catches for 82 yards.
In the week leading up to the game, Newberry remarked how athletic Temple’s offense looked in Norman, Oklahoma. He reiterated that sentiment Saturday while praising how his team accomplished what they set out to do.
“After watching the game film of them playing against Oklahoma, I was really worried just about their athleticism,” Newberry said. “Their length was a concern for me”
Wright was determined to prove him right, finishing with 101 yards and a touchdown while doing a lot of his work after the catch.
Temple will try to turn its season around next week, starting a three-week homestand. The Owls need to build their confidence while defending their home turf, but they’ll face tough competition in Coastal Carolina on Sep. 14 at Lincoln Financial Field (2 p.m. on WHIP).
Overall, Drayton didn’t see that confidence tonight, which could’ve been the difference.
“There is something called Temple TUFF, and when adversity hits, you get stronger,” Drayton said. “Adversity hit us early, and I didn’t like the look in some of the guys’ eyes.”
