Temple (3-3, 1-1 American Conference) was one minute away from its best start since 2019 on Saturday. Running back Jay Ducker had scored a 1-yard touchdown to give Temple a seven-point lead against Navy.
The Midshipmen responded by marching 75 yards down the field with quarterback Blake Horvath dashing 51 yards for a touchdown. Horvath then found running back Alex Tecza in the end zone for the game-winning two-point conversion.
The 32-31 loss left Temple dejected and the 26,000 fans silent as their feet dragged toward the exits. However, head coach K.C. Keeler walked into his Monday press conference with the loss in the past as Temple is focused on bouncing back against Charlotte (1-5, 0-3 American) this Saturday (3:30, ESPN+).
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“There’s been a major emphasis that you can’t let one tough loss become a second tough loss,” Keeler said. “We all felt that there were a lot of positives, but there was a bottom line to what we do and it’s winning the ball game. We didn’t win, but [I] thought our preparation was up a notch.”
Finding consistency
Temple had a player-only meeting to hold each other accountable for the season that lies ahead.
The biggest key for the Owls has been remaining consistent, a constant issue during the season. Temple’s defense allowed 273 second-half yards after giving up just 111 in the first 30 minutes.
The same problem occurred against Texas-San Antonio two weeks ago. The offense was nonexistent to begin the game, leading to a 14-3 halftime hole. Keeler’s halftime speech worked as the Owls outscored the Roadrunners 24-7 to sneak away with a win.
Now, Temple is looking to stretch the play for a full four quarters.
“I told the guys that we’re halfway through this thing right now. Six games, halfway through it,” Keeler said. “It’s really important that this next one, we still show the same growth we made, from the second half of UTSA to the Navy game.”
Temple was still reeling from the injury bug on the defensive side of the ball, but the program expects to get healthier for its game against Charlotte. While linebacker Katin Suprenant made his return from a two-game absence, safeties Javier Morton and Louis Frye both missed the Navy game, despite in uniform. They were limited in practice last week and decided to wait an extra week.
» READ MORE: Temple had an upset of undefeated Navy in hand on homecoming weekend. Until it didn’t.
Linebacker Jayvant Brown was inactive with a concussion as well and his status for Saturday is still up in the air. Defensive tackle Sekou Kromah was also out, but Keeler expects him to return as well.
“When you look at playing the academies, the game plan’s made for safeties, because, boy, they got to do a lot of filling,” Keeler said. “They’re both real physical guys and Javier is a great tackler. Not having those two guys really hurt us. Because you can see that we were towards the end of the game. You can see our safeties were starting to wear out a little bit.”
The 49ers’ lone win this season came against Monmouth of the Football Championship Subdivision. Charlotte ranks 125th in total yards per game nationally with 307.2, while only scoring 17.7 points, which ranks 123rd.
The game is a chance for the Owls to get back on track halfway through the season. A win gives them their first four-win season since 2019 and despite the on-field improvement, there is still more work to be done as the season goes on.
“I’m just kind of taking this all in and I think part of us feels we’re way beyond where we thought we could be in Year 1,” Keeler said. “Remember, we didn’t bring a whole bunch of guys in. We basically took an inherited team and brought a couple guys in. [At the] same time disappointed we’re not 4-2. Disappointed that we didn’t play Georgia Tech a little tougher. I think part of it is like, ‘I wasn’t sure we could get here in our first six games.’ The other part is, ‘We should be further along record wise.’”
Temple can’t let ‘one tough loss become a second tough loss’
