By: Marc Narducci
PHILADELPHIA – Temple football coach Rod Carey wasn’t about to take the bait. Now in his third year on North Broad Street, Carey is hoping the miserable season of a year ago, is well behind him and his team.
After five straight seasons earning a bowl bid, the Owls bottomed out, finishing 1-6 in an injury-plagued, pandemic-ruined season.
The Owls used six different players at quarterback. Due to all the injuries and COVID-caused absences, 22 players made their first-ever collegiate start last season, the fourth most in the nation.
And while Carey and the players have insisted that things are back to normal, the pundits heartily disagree.
Temple head coach Rod Carey enters his third season at the helm of the Owls - PSD Photo by Mike Nance
In the American Athletic Conference preseason poll Temple was picked to finish 10th – in an 11-team conference.
This is the same Temple team that advanced to the conference championship in 2015 and then won it all the next year.
As recently as 2019, Carey’s first season, the Owls were 8-5 overall and 5-3 in the AAC East. They lost a 15-13 game to eventual East Division champ Cincinnati, in a game marked by special teams blunders, which showed that as recently as two seasons ago, Temple could compete with the elite in a conference that is considered the top Group of 5 league in the country.
Then last year happened and all of a sudden Temple lost any momentum gained from the previous five seasons.
So in a recent conference call, Carey was asked a simple question, that would require a complex answer – What would be considered a successful season?
Carey, like all coaches with tunnel vision, said he only looks at the next game, which would be the Sept. 2 opener at Rutgers.
“My wife has even asked me that question and I told her that I don’t look at it that way,” Carey said. “We’re just going to take them one at a time and again, we will count them up and see where we are at.”
So whether Carey won’t give an answer to his wife or the media, the question persists and it is an interesting one.
Since outside expectations are so low, what will be a successful season for Temple?
Would 6-6 and being bowl eligible suffice?
That would exceed what the so-called experts think.
Would 5-7 be considered a success and if so, have the standards lowered at Temple?
It’s hard to say, but the Owls no doubt have to show progress even with a remade team.
Temple lost so many key players to the transfer portal and many were predicting doom, but Carey and his staff also gained some key players the same way. So it will be a new-look Temple team, one that is banking its season and future on redshirt freshman quarterback D’Wan Mathis, a transfer from Georgia.
Due to last year’s pandemic, the NCAA gave every Division I football player a free year of eligibility. So Mathis, who spent two seasons at Georgia, and was a starter in the Bulldogs’ opener last year, is still considered a freshman eligibility-wise.
Redshirt freshman quarterback D’Wan Mathis, a transfer from Georgia, won the starting job for the Owls in the spring. - Photo by Zamani Feelings
He started the opener for Georgia but was benched before the game ended. They don’t mess around in the SEC, but all indications are that Mathis could be among the more talented quarterbacks to set foot at Temple.
At 6-foot-6 and 205-pounds he is major dual threat.
Carey didn’t even go through the charade of suggesting there was a quarterback competition, naming him the starter at the end of spring practice.
A blossoming quarterback can do so much for a program and those predicting doom for Temple, may want to see how Mathis develops.
It can make all the difference in the world.
So maybe Temple shouldn’t lower its standards. Contending in the AAC isn’t expected, especially since defending champion Cincinnati has visions of earning a College Football Playoff berth.
Still, Temple would do well by getting to the .500 level, if not above it. The coach may not answer it, but that is the only way the Owls can look at 2021 as successful.
Temple receiver, Jadan Blue (R-Jr.), is key returning offensive weapon for the Owls - PSD Photo by Mike Nance
Temple Owls
Last season: 1-6 overall, 1-6 AAC.
Coach: Rod Carey 61-41 overall, 9-11 at Temple, 52-30 at Northern Illinois.
Key returning players: WR Jadan Blue, 6-0, 190 R-Jr. (41 receptions, 381 yards, 5 Tds); WR Randle Jones, 6-0, 195, GR (31 receptions, 370 yards, 2 Tds), OL Adam Klein, 6-6, 290 Jr. (Episcopal Academy graduate, 26 career starts); S Amir Tyler 6-0, 205 GR (33 tackles, 2 pass break ups); LB William Kwenkeu, 6-1, 235 GR (48 tackles, 4 tackles for loss).
Promising newcomers: QB D’Wan Mathis, 6-6, 205 R-Fr. (transfer from Georgia); DE Will Rodgers, 6-4, 255 Sr. (transfer from Washington State); CB Keyshawn Paul, 6-0, 195 Jr. (transfer from UConn).
Keys to success: The development of Mathis, establishing a ground game, generating a pass rush.
2021 Temple Football Schedule:
Thurs. Sept. 2: at Rutgers, 6:30
Sat. Sept. 11: at Akron, 3:30
Sat. Sept. 18: Boston College, noon
Sat. Sept. 25: Wagner, noon
Sat. Oct. 2: Memphis, noon
Fri. Oct. 8: at Cincinnati, 7
Sat. Oct. 23 at South Florida, TBD
Sat. Oct. 30 Central Florida, TBD
Sat. Nov. 6: at East Carolina, TBD
Sat. Nov. 13: Houston, TBD
Sat. Nov. 20: at Tulsa, TBD
Sat. Nov. 27: Navy, TBD