Temple DE Arnold Ebiketie named AAC defensive player of the week | Notes
In addition, Temple receiver Randle Jones made the AAC honor roll.
Temple defensive end Arnold Ebiketie has been named the American Athletic Conference defensive player of the week for his role in the Owls' 39-37 home win on Saturday over South Florida.
Ebiketie, a redshirt junior, returned a fumble 11 yards for a touchdown, had six tackles, including 3½ for losses, and a sack. This season, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Ebiketie has 16 tackles, three more than he accumulated last season in 12 games as a backup defensive end.
Ebiketie’s fumble recovery for a touchdown gave the Owls the lead for good, 32-31, in the fourth quarter.
» READ MORE: Maybe 2020 owed Temple football a good afternoon | Mike Jensen
Temple receiver Randle Jones was named to the AAC honor roll. Jones had eight receptions for 81 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown on a screen play that provided Temple with its final TD. Seven of Jones' receptions went for first downs.
Temple to face hot QB
Temple will visit Memphis on Saturday at noon, and the Owls will have to deal with quarterback Brady White, a graduate student who was named AAC co-offensive player of the week and Walter Camp national offensive player of the week.
» READ MORE: Observations from Temple’s 39-37 win over South Florida
In a 50-49 win over UCF, White completed 34 of 50 passes for 486 yards and six touchdowns as Memphis overcame a 21-point second-half deficit for the largest comeback in school history.
Last year, Temple was the only AAC team to defeat eventual champion Memphis, 30-28, as White completed 28 of 43 passes for 363 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Scheduling update
The AAC announced Monday that Temple’s game on Oct. 31 at Tulane will have a noon kickoff. The game will be streamed on ESPN+. After that game, Temple will have a short turnaround when it hosts SMU on Thursday, Nov. 5.
Injury update
Two starters, linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley and guard Adam Klein, suffered injuries that forced them to leave Saturday’s win over USF.
Graham-Mobley twisted his ankle in warmups and tried to play before being replaced by George Reid. Klein suffered an undisclosed injury late in the game. Vincent Picozzi moved from left tackle to right guard to replace Klein, and Isaac Moore came in at left tackle.
“I put their status as very questionable this week," coach Rod Carey said during Monday’s Zoom media conference. “I am going to see how they both respond [Tuesday].
“Both have those injuries that it’s really a pain threshold more than anything....” Carey said. “They are very questionable ... Wednesday is probably the day, to be honest with you. If they can get out there and move around well on Wednesday, then I think they have a shot, but if they can’t, they don’t.”