The Temple Owls are poised to have a memorable season this year after the big jump they made in 2014, going 6-6 and just barley missing a bowl bid. The Owls were in position to win almost every game last year, but a lot of them slipped away in awful fashion. It wasn’t necessarily one side of the ball’s fault, however, if blame were to be tossed out, it would fall on the inconsistency of the Temple offense.
After a strong freshman campaign for PJ Walker, everyone was expecting an even better sophomore season, but it seems the sophomore slump exists in college sports as well in professional sports. For Walker, the touchdowns decreased and the turnovers increased, which is always a bad sign for a quarterback. There were too many last year games where Walker went without a touchdown pass, putting a lot of pressure on the defense to be perfect. An argument could be made there were a lack weapons in the passing game with Jalen Fitzpatrick being the only viable target or Walker’s decision making could have been smarter. The bottom line is the offense needs to be able to score at higher rate this year if the Owls want to have any success. Temple lost a few pieces on offense in running back Kenneth Harper and leading wideout Jalen Fitzpatrick, but they’ve brought back a familiar face named Robby Anderson.
For those who do not remember Robby Anderson, allow me to refresh your memory. Robby Anderson came to Temple in 2011 from Plantation High in Davie, Florida and decided to redshirt as a freshman. Anderson saw limited playing time on special teams as a redshirt sophomore in the first six games in 2012. In the spring of 2013, Anderson quit the team to work on becoming a wide receiver and actually returned to Temple in late summer, receiving a second chance from Coach Matt Rhule. Anderson finally cracked the starting lineup in game five of the season against Louisville and quickly became PJ Walker’s favorite target. Robby Anderson was Temple’s best wide receiver that year leading the team in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown receptions. All nine of Anderson’s touchdown receptions came in the last five games and he also broke Temple’s school record for receiving yards in a game with 239 against SMU.
Unfortunately in 2014, Anderson was dismissed from Temple due to academic reasons and nobody thought he would return again like he did in 2013. They were half right because Robby Anderson did not come back to Temple in 2014, but Anderson decided to re-enroll at Temple this past summer and he could be a huge boost for the Owls. Robby Anderson is 6’3 with great hands and has a great ability to stretch a defense. Having Anderson back makes the void Fitzpatrick left a little smaller and Robby Anderson should become PJ Walker’s favorite target again in no time.
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