Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
Three weeks ago, Temple head coach K.C. Keeler’s message to his team was simple: don’t lose to Navy twice. Keeler shared that same message at his Monday press conference: Don’t lose to East Carolina twice. The Pirates rolled over the Owls 45-14 on Saturday with 614 total yards of offense. Temple was outmatched in all three phases of the game in its worst loss of the season. Temple (5-4, 3-2 American Conference) is still one win away from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2019, but the games are not getting easier. Next up is Army on Saturday (noon, CBS Sports Network) in West Point, N.Y. The Black Knights (4-4, 2-3) run the triple-option and have one of the top scoring defenses in the conference. » READ MORE: Temple’s win streak is snapped as the Owls are humbled at home by East Carolina “We have to bounce back. We talked about this before, you can’t let Navy beat you twice, you also can’t let East Carolina beat you twice,” Keeler said. “My first comment in the team room when I had our team meeting this morning was, what difference a week makes. … We got to flush it. You got to move on. And I thought they did a good job [at practice] today.” Injury bug Temple’s defense has struggled throughout the year and that was evident again on Saturday. ECU took advantage of the Owls’ depleted defense. Most of the injuries have come in the secondary. Already missing starting cornerback Jaylen Castleberry, Temple’s other starting corner, Ben Osueke, briefly left the ECU game in the first half with an injury, but returned later. Starting safeties Dontae Pollard and Avery Powell were both injured during the first drive and did not return, making an already thin secondary more vulnerable. The Owls were also without defensive lineman Sekou Kromah for most of the game, who played just 14 snaps. “Defensively, we’re a mash unit,” Keeler said. “I don’t know a whole lot of people who lose their two starting safeties in the first series, and then lose their starting corner, and the other starting corner’s already out for the game. So we have a lot of moving parts.” Keeler said Kromah may not play against Army to give his injured shoulder extra rest. Castleberry and Osueke are both on track to play on Saturday, while Powell and Pollard are in wait and see mode. Facing the triple option again Temple is set to face the triple-option for the second time this season on Saturday. Against Navy back on Oct. 11, Temple allowed 243 rushing yards, including 155 to quarterback Blake Horvath. » READ MORE: As Big 5 women’s basketball teams hit the court, we answer your burning questions The Black Knights have the most rushing attempts in the American (490) and average the second most rushing yards per game (265.3). Quarterback Cale Hellums leads the offense with 711 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. Temple’s run defense has been a weak spot this year, giving up 192.2 yards per game, including a season-high 358 to ECU. With how run-heavy Army is, Temple’s defense could be in for a long game. Keeler thinks his team’s previous game against Navy will be beneficial to their preparation for Army as the Owls chase bowl eligibility. “The good news is we’ve had [the] Navy [game] to get some of our stuff in,” Keeler said. “It’s not the same offense. A lot of personnel stuff might be and some of the general philosophy, but they do a lot of different things and we have to prepare a little bit differently for them than we did Navy. At least some of the base stuff is in right now. We’re not starting fresh in terms of terminology and how to line up. That’s a real benefit for us going into this game. It’s the same thing. It’s trying to get bowl eligible.”
