PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Temple Owls were happy to take the field after an off-season of uncertainty. They just wish the end result was a bit better.
After not knowing if they would have a season due to COVID-19 and having their first four games canceled, the Owls opened the season Saturday with a heartbreaking, 31-29 loss to Navy. Temple had a chance to tie the game in the final minutes, but could not convert on a two-point conversion.
The loss was a difficult one for head coach Rod Carey's squad, but the head coach was happy to be back on the field for a game after not even knowing if Temple would have a season.
"Certainly was nice to have some normalcy out there," said Carey. "Are we where we would have been if COVID never hit? No, we're not there, but listen, nobody is."
Temple fell behind early, but rallied late in the game as a touchdown run by Re'Mahn Davis with 1:02 left in the fourth quarter, but the failed two-point try followed by an onside kick recovery sent the Owls down to defeat. Linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley and his teammates were facing a Navy squad which had already played three games this season, but Graham-Mobley said there was no issue with shaking off the rust in their first game.
"Playing football is kind of like riding a bicycle," Graham-Mobley said. "Once you get through the first couple of quarters or plays, you kind of just, you keep rolling. We play football at a collegiate level, so there's no excuse for our loss."
Carey would also not use the long layoff as an excuse. Many wondered if there would even be a season, especially after the cancelation of the first month of the 2020 campaign. However, Carey is not about to use the severity of a pandemic as a reason why his squad went down to defeat.
"I won't do this," said Carey. "I will not use COVID or our circumstances in Philly as any type of an excuse."
As Graham-Mobley also stated, there will be no excuses coming from the Owls after this loss. In August, many wondered if there would even be wins and losses to talk about. Graham-Mobley is hoping for a different result next Saturday, when the Owls play their first home game. He did not take for granted the opportunity to play college football once again.
"It feels incredible to be able to play football again," Graham-Mobley said. "We were at a point where we thought we weren't going to play at all this year. Now we're back at it, and it feels great."
