Stan Drayton expects a bounce-back performance in Temple’s first home game

Stan Drayton walked through the bowels of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and sat in front of the media. He appeared frustrated, clearly feeling the weight of Temple’s 38-11 loss in its conference opener against Navy on Saturday in Annapolis, Md.

After a couple of days to grapple with another missed opportunity to land his first road win at Temple, the third-year coach entered the media room in Edberg-Olson Hall on Monday afternoon more optimistic, particularly about the defense.

“There’s no surrender in this defense,” Drayton told reporters during his weekly media session. “But, we really have to enhance our level of focus, especially when you play a triple-option football team. Selfishly, when guys are pressing to make plays, that can be the wrong decision sometimes. Our players are going to be doing a better job of staying focused.”

Temple faces another tough task when Coastal Carolina visits Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday (2 p.m. ESPN+). Drayton wants his defense to anchor the team on game day as the offense works to find its footing.

“We’ve got very talented football players on that side of the football that want it bad,” Drayton said. “They feel as though, ‘Hey, I’m going to go create an interception. We need to go score on defense.’ The truth of the matter is, we need to go tackle a dive against a triple option. That means do your job.”

But, for now, his team must work through Saturday’s wreckage. The offense continued to struggle, while the Owls defense also took a discernible step back from its performance against now-No. 15 Oklahoma. Despite Drayton’s optimism, the unit looked out of sorts and struggled to remain disciplined against Navy’s hybrid Wing-T offense.

The Owls looked like a different team against the Midshipmen, who punted on their first two drives but opened the floodgates with an 11-play, 58-yard touchdown drive on their third possession.

» READ MORE: Temple falls to Navy and dives deeper into despair following its second straight loss

Temple’s defensive line struggled to make an impact up front as Navy finished with 410 yards of offense, including nearly 300 on the ground. Navy had five touchdown drives, and three consisted of four or fewer plays. Drayton said his squad struggled to react to adversity.

“I just didn’t like the way they were just kind of waiting for somebody to make a play,” Drayton said. “I want my guys to be intentional and feel as though they have the capability to make a play. And there’s times where we’re looking around and everybody’s looking for somebody to make a play. Well, how about you make the decision to make that play yourself?”

Drayton considered changing lineups before Saturday’s game. He said he’d evaluate which players looked like they belonged on the field and which allowed a slip in confidence to affect their performance.

“You put a starting unit out there, they’ve earned the job for that week, and they can lose the job the very next week,” Drayton said. “It is a performance-based business in college football, and we’re going to try to put the most intentional, most prepared person out there.”

The Owls need to find results as quickly as they can with Coastal Carolina up next. The Chanticleers racked up 552 yards of total offense against Jacksonville State to start their season with a 55-27 win. They finished with 456 against William and Mary in Saturday’s 40-21 victory. They run a spread offense under coach Tim Beck and play a style similar to Navy, an approach Drayton called a “triple-option element.”

Drayton expects his squad to show resilience and bounce back in its first home game. He also believes the Owls defense can match up with anyone on the schedule — if it can stick to the game plan.

“I’m not coaching a mentally soft football team,” Drayton said. “This is a very tough football team. They’ve just got to be able to play with the confidence that when they do their job, they have the ability to make the play.”