Temple Football Preview: How Will the Owls Handle Final Third of the Season?

Temple Football (2-6, 1-3 American) will try to snap a three-game losing streak when they travel to face Navy (2-6, 1-4 American) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7. The Owls put on one of their best defensive performances of the season against East Carolina despite losing last week, and that trend could continue with the coaching shakeup that led to Henry Baker serving as Temple’s defensive play-caller.

With four games left in the season and their chances of a bowl game all but obsolete — the Owls would need to win out in order to hit the six-win benchmark — Temple sits at a crossroads. In an era of college sports defined by the transfer portal and NIL spending, maintaining momentum from season to season isn’t guaranteed… but a strong end to the season gives the Owls a better chance of preserving their culture than a slow death would.

Here’s what to expect in this matchup on CBSSN, a game Temple enters as a +220 underdog.

Scouting the Midshipmen

As one might expect out of one of the service academies, Navy almost never throws the football. Even though nominal quarterback Jackson Gutierrez throws the ball less than nine times per game, however, he tends to gash opposing defenses when he does, completing 36 of 71 passes for 717 yards and seven touchdowns.

That’s an average of nearly 20 yards per completion: the junior is more than capable of diagnosing blown coverages as teams sell out to stop the run, and targets like tight end Jordan Collins (six catches for 212 yards and three touchdowns) and Truman Brasfield (four catches for 174 yards and two scores) provide big play potential every time they touch the ball.

Gutierrez is Navy’s leading rusher, picking up 979 yards and 13 touchdowns on 178 carries; backup quarterback Braxton Woodson also sees a fair amount of playing time, recording 384 yards and five touchdowns on 49 carries, while 5-foot-7 receiver Michael Barrow (92 carries for 507 yards and a score) gives the Midshipmen a valuable east-west option.

The Midshipmen have a stout run defense, recording 41 tackles for loss through eight games and holding opponents to just 3.5 yards per carry, but they’re allowing nearly 30 points per game overall. Their pass defense gives up 9.54 yards per attempt, and 15 sacks, five interceptions and 17 pass breakups do little to slow down that kind of performance through the air.

Scouting Temple

Temple, like Navy, relies on their ground game. Sophomore Keveun Mason (102 carries for 564 yards and three scores) has handled the bulk of the work with Sam Brown V (28 carries for 206 yards and two touchdowns) limited due to injuries, but starting quarterback Ajani Sheppard has another 400 positive yards and five touchdowns. Sheppard has started to settle in as a passer after a slow start to the season, but threw three interceptions against East Carolina — one of them because of a controversial penalty that wasn’t called.

With 1,245 yards and eight touchdowns on 85-of-140 passing, Sheppard typically does a good job of taking care of the football outside of last week. He’ll have to learn to live without senior tight end and second-leading receiver Peter Clarke, who suffered a season-ending injury against the Pirates, but lead receiver Colin Chase (20 catches for 330 yards and two touchdowns) and the duo of JoJo Bermudez and Jayce Freeman give Temple plenty of playmakers in space. Brown, similarly, has made splash plays out of the backfield when healthy.

The Owls’ defense will again go under the microscope against the triple option. They’re allowing opponents to convert 48 percent of third downs, which could be a major problem against a team like Navy that has no qualms about going for it on fourth down. With 22 tackles for loss, nine sacks, three interceptions and 19 pass breakups this season, Temple hasn’t made a ton of splash plays on defense despite a solid performance against the run.