Temple's Walker still has some learning to do

The last play, called Alpha, that Temple ran on Saturday against Navy is designed in its entirety to pass the ball into the end zone, the only place where it could do the Owls any good.

"It's a built-in Hail Mary of sorts," Temple coach Matt Rhule said later, after the Owls had fallen at Lincoln Financial Field to Navy, 31-24.

Scanning as he scrambled, Owls sophomore quarterback P.J. Walker saw four receivers reach the end zone but saw them all blanketed. Walker decided that he was out of time and pushed the eject button. He crossed the line of scrimmage, the 24-yard-line, and committed to making something happen with his feet.

It quickly devolved into a rugby play. Walker ran for 14 yards before pitching to a 300-pound Owls guard, who got another yard before the play fizzled out and both teams walked off the field.

For all his promise, Temple's quarterback is still a young quarterback. As soon as Walker crossed the line, he said later, he saw receiver Brandon Shippen coming open in the end zone. (Give Walker credit for pointing it out.)

But that play didn't cause the loss.

"For that game to end like that, it was indicative of how we played. There's no finer team to teach you that than those guys," Rhule said, pointing across to Navy's locker room. "Everyone on that team does their job and executes. We're just kind of in that process."

Now 1-1 after dominating Vanderbilt in their opener, the Owls are about where they might have expected, except if Temple is going to get all it can out of this season, its offense is going to have to find more of a rhythm. Walker's legs were Temple's most efficient weapon. He ran 13 times for 71 yards.

"He brought us back, moving the ball up and down the field," Rhule said of his quarterback. "He's a competitor. He's got a hurt ankle. He's playing. I'm yelling at him, saying I'll put the other guy in. He willed it on fourth down to get there."

It was obvious early that Navy's triple-option was too much of a handful for Temple's defense. That was the real deciding factor from the start. Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds ran for 129 of his 173 yards in the first quarter.

The Owls offense was going to have to keep up. Throwing downfield wasn't part of the Owls package much, early or late. Walker tried once to get it into the end zone, into double coverage, and the play turned into a fairly easy interception for Navy. The Midshipmen were committed to keeping things in front of them, and Temple made that easier for them.

After completing 29 of 49 passes for 240 yards and a couple of scores, including a beauty to the corner of the end zone, Walker graded himself overall no better than "decent."

"I could have played a lot better," Walker said. "I could make a lot more throws. I'm missing a lot of easy throws out there that I always - that I can make. I've just got to go out there and not overthink, just go out there and play.

"We're clicking. We're just clicking late."

Walker also put the second-to-last play on himself. Walker ran, for 7 yards, when seconds were more valuable than yards. He barely had time to get the last play off, Temple's timeouts long gone. The Owls were somehow still close enough for a Hail Mary, except the prayer never made it into the air.

"I thought we rallied at the end to make it closer than it looked," Rhule said.