Instant Analysis: Temple
The Temple Owls thumped the Memphis Tigers 41-21 ruining Senior Day for the Tigers.
Last week the #21 ranked team in the country (Louisville) was held to 342 total yards by Memphis.
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So when the 79th ranked offense in the nation came into the Liberty Bowl one might expect them to struggle against the 16th ranked defense in the country. Yeah, that's why they play the games.
The lowly 1 win Owls totally laid the smack down on Memphis and gained an astonishing 534 yards of offense. How? Why?
I understand Bobby McCain was out but McCain plays Corner, not on the line. The Tigers were 12th in the nation allowing just 112 yards per game on the ground. Temple had 206.
You might say, "But the past 3 games Temple has played great and lost on the final play/minutes"
Hahaha, let's take a look at Temple's previous game. The mighty Huskies of UConn beat them 28-21. Those powerful Huskies had ….oh, wait. UConn was winless coming into the Temple game.
UConn's outstanding 62nd ranked defense held the high flying 1 win (now 2 win) Owls to 372 yards. You're right. Temple is impressive…
"But Temple almost beat UCF!"
Memphis almost beat UCF too so what's your point?
"Temple almost beat Rutgers"
Seriously? Rutgers defense ranks 97th in the country.
Memphis had NO BUSINESS giving up over 500 yards to Temple. Period. You have the 16th best defense in the country. If the 97th best defense can hold Temple to 322 then the 16th best should at least be able to do the same.
I get it; the defense laid an egg today. It happens. This was just the 2nd time this year the defense did so.
The offense? Well, they played TERRIBLE.
Temple's defense was the worst defense in the conference. Temple's defense was so good that it ranked 113th in the nation.
FCS's Fordham racked up 520 yards on Temple. Perennial powerhouse IDAHO tallied 470 yards of offense against these Owls. Even Army had 338 yards of offense when they played Temple.
What did Memphis have against the Temple defense? 228.
Idaho's QB Chad Chalich (Freshman) had more passing yards (310) on Temple than Memphis had total yards (228).
You mean to tell me that Memphis isn't any better than that?
Louisville has the best defense in the AAC. The Tigers put up 279 yards against them. That was JUST last week in Louisville. How can you follow that up against the worst defense in the AAC and have 228?
The Tigers are faced with a 2nd and 1 in the 4th quarter when Paxton Lynch was knocked out of the game (Or taken out to save him from even more embarrassment) and they inserted fan favorite Sr. Jacob Karam (Who received a loud applause).
Its no secret Jacob Karam doesn't have the best arm, so when you line up with a 2nd and 1 and you have Karam just newly inserted what do you think Temple was thinking? RUN!
What does Memphis do? RUN! What happened? No gain.
So now you have a 3rd and 1 situation. What do you do? RUN! What happened? No gain.
So now you're faced with a 4th and 1. You're down by 13 in the 4th with 8 and change to go so you have to go for it.
The play call was the same QB sneak that didn't work on 3rd down. The result was a 1-yard loss.
The Tiger offense isn't any better than they were in game 1 against Duke. I can make a case that they have regressed. They had more yards against Duke than they did against Temple. Who's the better team, Duke or Temple?
It is inexcusable the way Memphis lost this game. Penalties and fumbles are still plaguing them.
The Tigers looked defeated in the 3rd quarter, their body language showed it.
From the outside looking in, there are major problems on the offensive side of the ball that extend farther than the offensive line. The play calling has been a source of frustration all year.
You can debate who should of started the season all day long, that's not the issue or problem.
The problem has been play calling. Who's calling the same 5 plays over and over and over and over and over again?
Coach Dickey? Coach Fuente?
Whoever it is I challenge them to a game. I'll even spot them the 1st team offense. If I win, I have my pride. If I lose, I'll wear a Memphis cheerleading outfit at Tiger Lane for a home game and I'll go on the sidelines during the game.
This challenge can happen during the spring game next year. Who's with me?
Grades-
What do you think? F. There were players who were honestly playing hard (Sam Craft, Joe Craig on the kick off returns) but over all it was the worst performance of the year.
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