Temple football coach Stan Drayton addresses the Owls’ problems after a blowout loss
Drayton says the Owls' linebackers and safeties have some cleaning up to do. So do the team's veteran offensive linemen, he says.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/IYF7ND22LZEW5NJLAAL5ARLMRM.jpg)
Temple looked to do the impossible Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field against unbeaten Miami, which moved up to No. 18 in the AP college football rankings a day later.
The Owls (2-2) were outplayed in the trenches on both sides of the ball in the 41-7 loss, allowing 323 rushing yards while gaining only 11 yards on the ground themselves. In its previous matchup against FCS opponent Norfolk State, Temple allowed 130 yards in the running game. Miami posted its season high in rushing yards.
» READ MORE: Ohio State QB Kyle McCord put in 10,000 hours for those 85 seconds at Notre Dame
Owls coach Stan Drayton could find no fault in his defensive linemen on Saturday, though. “They were solid,” Drayton said. “Our linebackers have got to support… safeties have got to do a better job supporting the run.”
Hurricanes running back Henry Parrish ran for a career-high 139 yards, becoming the second player to rush for his career best against the Owls in last three weeks.
On the other side of the ball, Temple’s line struggled against Miami’s defensive line. At his Monday news conference, Drayton was supportive of freshman left tackle Luke Watson and junior left guard Diego Barajas, saying they gave “really good effort,” although Barajas was benched in favor of freshman Jon Fagley.
Drayton was more critical talking about two grad students, right tackle Victor Stoffel and right guard Wisdom Quarshie. “Not good enough,” the coach said. “They take pride in receiving constructive criticism. … I expect them to play better.”
The poor play of Temple’s offensive line resulted in the worst rushing performance of the Drayton era.
Temple ended nonconference play on a sour note, but Drayton isn’t thinking about Miami anymore as the Owls begin American Athletic Conference play this Thursday (7:30 p.m., ESPN) against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-2).