Temple coach Stan Drayton pulls positives from blowout loss to Central Florida
While his team was handily defeated, Drayton was impressed by the energy and resiliency his team showed last week.
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Temple was on the wrong end of a 70-13 football rout Thursday night against Central Florida. Despite the result, head coach Stan Drayton likes the way his team has responded following the defeat.
After dropping the first two games of conference play, the Owls (2-4, 0-2 American Athletic Conference) need to go 4-2 down the stretch to qualify for a bowl game. With No. 21 Cincinnati and 2021 AAC runner-up Houston on the schedule, Temple has a small margin for error.
On Thursday, Drayton liked the potential that his offense showed despite only scoring 13 points against UCF (5-1, 2-0).
“We can move the ball with a young quarterback,” Drayton said. “We just have to build a consistency, and we’ll grow from that.”
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Freshman quarterback E.J. Warner has been under constant pressure from opposing defenses all season as Temple’s offensive line has battled injuries. Against UCF, it got healthier as redshirt sophomore Victor Stoffel returned to the lineup.
The 6-foot 8-inch lineman was able to provide length at right tackle, allowing Temple to move graduate Adam Klein to center. Drayton said earlier in the season that Klein’s ability to communicate makes him a valuable option at the position.
“[Stoffel] wasn’t an issue in the throw game,” Drayton said. “Any time you get a player with the caliber and the talent that Victor has back into the fold, it’s always a good thing.”
The tackle combination of Stoffel and graduate Isaac Moore gave Warner more time to work through his progressions and play his first interception-free game since Rutgers on Sept. 17. After Thursday’s loss, ESPN analyst Louis Riddick posted on Twitter that Temple has its quarterback of the future in Warner.
“I’m happy people are recognizing E.J. the person,” Drayton said. “It’s great to grow up with a dad with a legacy that way. But E.J., from Day 1, wanted to make a name for himself.”
Overall, Drayton was pleased with the energy his team brought into Edberg-Olson Hall on Sunday and Monday.
“Their competitive nature has really gotten them over the hump emotionally of what they had to endure from the UCF game,” Drayton said. “The moment you lose your energy and that edge, then you lose everything. … I don’t feel that in our kids. I don’t feel that in our coaches.”
Thursday’s game showcased why UCF is joining Cincinnati and Houston in the Big 12 next season and why programs like Temple are staying in the American. However, the conference isn’t going to become a laughingstock anytime soon as Tulane just entered the AP top 25 for the first time since 1998. That’s along with programs like Memphis and Tulsa, which also have had recent success. Drayton knows Temple will have to prepare for a dogfight each week — and it excites him.
“We know that these teams can turn out to be very good football teams,” Drayton said. “Whoever that is, we need to line up and give our best. But I expect good football to come out of this conference.”
Temple’s next game is a home matchup at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Tulsa (2-4, 0-2). With the same record as the Owls, Tulsa will be a good test as Temple enters the latter part of the season.