Temple suffers 48-26 blowout loss against Tulsa in first AAC matchup

Temple disappointed in its first conference matchup this season, falling 48-26 to Tulsa in an American Athletic Conference matchup.

Both teams played Saturday and returned to the field on a short week. But Stan Drayton said Monday there was no excuse because both teams played under the same circumstances.

The Owls, who had hopes of flushing last week’s Miami loss, played one of their sloppier games of the season. E.J. Warner threw his fifth interception of the season and running back Darvon Hubbard fumbled inside the Temple 20, leading to a Tulsa score. Drayton has said all season that his team can’t shoot itself in the foot. But most of Temple’s mistakes were self-inflicted.

“It was part of it,” Drayton said of his players beating themselves. “Part of it was Tulsa came ready to play, they made plays and we couldn’t stop some of those explosive runs, couldn’t stop the quarterback and there is a lot that goes into this.”

Tulsa came into the game with a run-first mentality. The passing game has been such an issue so far this season that the Golden Hurricanes have had to use three different quarterbacks in four games. Tulsa ranked 11th in the AAC in passing at 181.5 yards per game. Just last week in Tulsa’s win over Northern Illinois, Cardell Williams threw for 102 yards and two interceptions.

But even with the Owls getting top corner Jalen McMurray back after he missed the Miami game, Temple struggled mightily to stop Tulsa’s air attack. Williams was 14 for 17 for 244 yards with three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown.

» READ MORE: Temple football coach Stan Drayton addresses the Owls’ problems after a blowout loss

This was a surprise because of Tulsa’s struggles and the Owls’ recent success against the pass. Temple came into the game second in the AAC against the pass, giving up only 183 yards per game through the air.

The defense has had a huge microscope on it after struggling to so much to stop the run. But tonight, they had trouble in both areas. Temple also gave up 289 yards on the ground.

While leading receiver Dante Wright returned to the Owls lineup on Thursday night, the lion’s share of receptions went to tight ends Jordan Smith and David Martin-Robinson. Smith and Martin-Robinson combined for 11 catches for 97 yards.

Against Miami, Smith and Warner had a costly miscommunication that led to an interception in the red zone on Saturday. But it looked like the game plan was to get Smith the ball early and often against Tulsa. Smith had four catches for 41 yards on the Temple’s first drive of the game.

Coming into the game, Smith had one catch for 20 yards in the first four games of the season. Smith was fifth on the team in 2022 with 25 catches for 346 yards, and was tied for the team lead with four touchdowns.

Smith felt like one of Warner’s most reliable receivers a season ago but they haven’t been on the same page this season. With Temple struggling to get anything going down field, the safety valve at tight end will be necessary if the Owls want their passing game to get going.

Next up for the Owls will be a return to Lincoln Financial Field on Oct. 7 to take on UTSA (1-3). Kickoff will be a 2 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.