Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
On the first offensive possession of the season, Temple faced second and 9 from Massachusetts’ 21-yard line, and offensive coordinator Tyler Walker buzzed down a play call to quarterback Evan Simon. The play, called “Buckeye,” sent tight end Peter Clarke down the seam on a double move matched up with a UMass safety. The ball from Simon, which he says was “really overthrown,” somehow found the outstretched right hand of Clarke, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound tight end. “You look at his height and weight, and [he’s] just a big target who really makes my job easier,” Simon said by telephone recently. “The missed throws, or whatever you want [to call them], inaccurate throws, they have a little more leeway with [his size].” Walker heavily featured his tight ends as Montana State’s offensive coordinator, and he brought the same mindset to the Owls. He recalls meeting Clarke, describing him as “big, athletic, can run and catch the ball well.” Clarke, a native of South London, went through the NFL Academy, a platform that helps international athletes learn football. He told Walker that he watched YouTube videos to learn the basics of football, drills, and highlights. “He’s got great ball skills, he’s super intelligent,” Walker said. “When he told me that he learned [football] through YouTube, I was surprised, because he’s got football feel that you see from kids who’ve been playing the game their whole life.” Clarke has put up career numbers through eight games in his junior season with 23 catches, 378 yards, and four touchdowns. He entered the season with just five catches and three touchdowns. Football began as a hobby for him in England, where he played five-on-five games in middle school before enrolling in the NFL Academy at 16. He equates the NFL Academy to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., with the way it “emulates a college football sort of atmosphere in terms of the intensity and the weight room, the attention to detail in the meetings, the time schedule of early mornings, late afternoons, and really playing on a bigger stage than just an average high school.” “The NFL Academy did a great job of preparing me just for the transition of how much time, effort and intensity you put into this thing,” Clarke said. “And then once I got here, I had great leaders in my room, people like [former Temple tight end David Martin-Robinson], who’s on the Titans now, to really show me what college football was about and how to live this life.” When it came to choosing his future college home, Clarke said the decision was simple. “I wanted to go to a school that emulated something of my home environment, London, in a big city, 10 million people. I come from a very, like, inner-city part of London,” Clarke said. “So I wanted to go to a school that was in a city and Temple being in the heart of North Philly, when I came on my visit, it felt like home.” Among the tight ends across 136 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Clarke is rated No. 1, according to Pro Football Focus, with a 91.8 grade, more than four points higher than the next player. His value on the field has been apparent this season. Clarke averages the most yards per catch (16.4) on the team among players with five or more receptions. But his preparation is what separates him, tight ends coach Chris Zarkoskie said. “Since I got here, he’s been a kid who has a good skill set and can do a lot of different things, and a young man who works really hard and is ready when his opportunity comes, which is the thing I’m most proud of for him,” Zarkoskie said. “He takes pride in the whole body of work that it takes to be a tight end. And I think that he’s continuing to grow and evolve as a blocker, in-line and out in space.” Temple’s tight end corps has representation from three international players: Clarke, Ryder Kusch (Canada), and Daniel Evert (Germany). David Wise is from South Philly and Jake Woods is from California. Zarkoskie said getting to coach this diverse group “is the coolest part of the game that we coach.” Clarke arrived at North Broad weighing 225 pounds and has filled out his frame. He said he relishes most in proving that he is more than a run blocker by doing “freakish stuff” in the passing game. Walker and Simon agree, and both detailed Clarke’s best play this season as a pass catcher. “If I had to pick one from this year so far, I think it would be against UTSA in the second half,” Simon said. “Our first drive in the third quarter, we refer to it as ‘the spark,’ and we went down, scored, and his catch over the middle with a linebacker right on him and safety over top that could have really taken his head off. He stuck in there, caught the ball.” Added Walker: “Evan put the ball in a window the size of a computer screen, and you saw Peter’s big mittens just coming out of the air and catching the ball above his head. And then on top of that, being able to get the yards after the catch and add on another 15 yards, his pure size, his pure mass. He’s hard to bring down. He’s a little more fluid than people would think, just based off his size.” Clarke added to his highlight reel with a career-long 50-yard reception during a 38-37 overtime win over Tulsa on Saturday. With one more win, Temple (5-3) will be bowl eligible for the first time since 2019. And you can bet Clarke will be in the middle of it all.
