Temple Football Rides O-Line Shuffle, Defensive Splash to Victory

Temple Football dominated their season opener against Rhode Island 38-14, but the Owls’ victory came with plenty of warts. Left guard Eric King sprained his foot during the week, and prospective starting running back Sam Brown V wasn’t able to play either. The bad news continued after the game began, as tackles Giakoby Hills and Kevin Terry departed with injuries in the first half.

Temple’s rushing offense didn’t miss a beat, however, recording 231 yards; running back Keveun Mason, starting in place of Brown, put up 192 yards and two touchdowns on 22 touches. Owls head coach K.C. Keeler said that offensive line coach Al Johnson helped the team prepare for chaos during the offseason, slotting them in at different positions so that they wouldn’t be wholly unprepared if they had to scramble during an actual game.

O-Line Shuffle

“A little bit of a mash unit on the offensive line. We’re down four starters right now, and it’s really amazing how Keveun still had the rushing yards he did,” Keeler said. “We have a lot of depth on the o-line. Al Johnson, I thought, did a really good job during the spring and during training camp cross-training some guys. So, we had to bump somebody out to tackle, we could bump them out to tackle, even though they’re more of a natural guard.  did an amazing job in the spring cross-training guys.”

Backup center John Stone started in place of entrenched starter Grayson Mains, who shifted over to guard. Stone, who spent three seasons at Rutgers and grew up just across the Delaware in Washington Township, described how it felt to make his first start since high school… and to do so back in his old stomping grounds.

“These guys have taken me under their wing and showed me the ropes. Whenever the time came I was going to be ready,” Stone said. “Coach Johnson always told me to stay ready. So staying ready and just being myself, you know? I felt like my spark kind of came back today.”

Centers play a greater role in communication than guards do, captaining the offensive line and calling out how the defense is lined up. Mains said that delegating those responsibilities to Stone threw him off, but praised his teammate for how he stepped into the role.

“I thought he had a great game today. He was getting us in the right positions,” Mains said. “I had to bite my tongue getting up there sometimes because it’s just instinctual to want to go up and make the calls, but let him do what he does.”

Shaking Off Rust

The Owls allowed two first half touchdowns, including a methodical march downfield on Rhode Island’s first drive of the game. Keeler ascribed some of the Rams’ early success to rust from Temple’s defense, describing the approach that hurt them.

“Some of the things early on were self-inflicted: we were trying to get to the quarterback, we’ve gotta stay in our lane. Or we had a quarterback spy, and the linebacker gets caught up in the garbage because he’s not being patient,” Keeler said. “He’s trying to make that play, but let the quarterback determine what gap he’s gonna hit, and then make that play.”

Without having had a chance to go back and watch the tape, Keeler remained noncommittal on the quarterback battle between Jaxon Smolik and Ajani Sheppard, who alternated every two drives throughout. 

The Owls had the luxury of relying on their ground game: Sheppard completed five of 10 passes for 85 yards, while Smolik connected on four of six passes for 57 yards and a touchdown but fumbled twice. Keeler said that he would prefer to rely on a single starter, but added the caveat that he’ll do whatever gives his team the best chance of winning.

Defense Makes Plays

Temple also benefitted from defensive touchdowns from Jamarcus Pierre and Tyree Alualu. Both plays came as a sort of redemption. Alualu dropped an interception on a similar playcall earlier in the game, while Pierre said that he’d earned a reputation for stone hands during practice.

“I’ve just been practicing all week, they’ve been calling me ‘drop pick warrior’ all week, and I came out here and I showed them that I’ve got hands,” Pierre said. “I saw it was an RPO action and I came down on No. 1 [Rhode Island slot receiver Marquis Buchanan]. I saw the ball tipped in the air and then from there, it’s just like ‘that’s my ball.’”

Alualu came to the press conference wearing an ula fala, a traditional Samoan necklace made from the dried fruit of the screwpine.

“In Samoan culture, it means a person in a high position, high chief, whoever receives this,” Alualu said. “The first one I ever got was in my senior night, high school, it was a big moment for me. So just representing my Samoan culture, Polynesian culture is a big part of who I am.”

Alualu’s father, Tyson, was a top ten draft pick and played in the NFL for more than a decade. Tyree Alualu said his father gave him the ula fala, describing the bond of their shared culture.

“It is my father who gave it to me. Kind of emotional for me because, just being who my dad is and coming from the family I come from, a big football family,” Alualu said. “The passing of the torch was kind of a big moment for me, and something that I’ll cherish forever.”