Temple Football Flips the Script in Taking Down South Florida

Temple Football snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday, Oct. 3, taking down  previously-undefeated South Florida on the road after a dramatic fourth quarter that saw quarterback Ajani Sheppard break loose for a 34-yard go-ahead touchdown run; the Owls defense held firm for a pair of stops, helping them escape with a win.

After coming within a hair of winning at Toledo and against Army, Temple head coach K.C. Keeler said he told his players to make their own luck instead of focusing on extenuating circumstances.

“The thing I talked to them — this was the whole theme this week and in my talk on Friday night — was we haven’t gotten a spot, we haven’t gotten a call, we haven’t gotten a break. Sometimes you make your own. You’ve gotta make your own,” Keeler said. “How do you make your own? Just do your job. And that’s where the problem is. I think sometimes when you get in those critical downs, everyone wants to make a play. Don’t worry about making a play, worry about doing your job, and the other ten are going to do their job.”

During his weekly press conference on Monday, Sept. 28, Keeler said that a team like South Florida would provide a better way of snapping a losing streak than beating up on a struggling opponent. After making good on that pledge, Keeler said he was pleased with the way Temple managed to flip the script on their earlier last-minute losses.

“It was really neat to see that we had to get a drive and get a score when we were losing, and ‘oh my god, is this going to happen to us again?’” Keeler said. “No, they weren’t going to let it happen again. They were just going to keep on playing.”

Redemption

With the proverbial monkey off their back, Keeler said he’s excited to move on to the next game and prepare to host UConn. He also described the stress he, his coaches and his players manage amidst a losing streak in the public eye, but said the pressure doesn’t let up after a win.

“I’m 1-3 every moment of the day. I don’t sleep, I do not sleep: I think I found some sleep in the defensive staff room while they were in a meeting,” Keeler said. “And I apologized and said ‘guys, I think I fell asleep during the meeting.’ I was watching tape with them. So I can feel how the team feels, we just feel it every single minute.”

The Owls could’ve come undone late in the third quarter when Sheppard fumbled at the South Florida goal line, the ball rolling into the end zone for a touchback. Sheppard went on to play hero, scoring on the exact same play late in the fourth quarter.

“It was nice to see him get a chance to redeem himself, because I know he put all that on his shoulders, and that’s not fair. He was trying to make a play and, quite honestly, he did get two hands on the ball. He just took a wallop,” Keeler said. “He took a big shot and that ball came out. You could feel the deflation, but because we’ve lived this before, the guys were like ‘we’re gonna be okay, let’s pick him up and go on.’”

Game-Winning Adjustment

Sheppard said that communicating with his offensive line helped set up the game-winning play.

“The first time we ran it, I missed the hole. It should’ve been a touchdown the first time. And Eric King, J.P. [Jackson Pruitt] and John [Stone], they all came up to me like ‘just follow right behind me,’” Sheppard said. “That’s exactly what I did the second time, and hit it right down the hole. That was all the o-line. If you go back and see the gap that they made, amazing.”

He also praised Temple’s defense for making good on a promise to have his back.

“Bunch of dawgs. They told me every single time ‘hey, we’ve got you, we’ve got you, we’ve got you,’” Sheppard said. “And they did, every single time they had my back. That’s all I can ask for. Even after the fumble, they had my back.”

Keeler credited offensive coordinator Tyler Walker for his design on Sheppard’s game-winning run, describing the play as “trying to get the ball downfield, but at the same time, if you see it open, just go.” He described Sheppard as “a large human being that is very tough, very athletic. He’ll run some people over, and he’ll run by some people too. So he’s a handful to defend, because he throws the long ball so well, you’ve gotta watch out. And then [if] you want to bail out on him, he can pull the ball down and go.”