Temple’s spring football practices concluded with their annual Cherry & White Spring Game at Chodoff Field at Edberg Olson Hall on the campus of Temple University on Saturday.
Throughout the spring practices, the biggest battle for the Owls was at the quarterback position between Jaxon Smolik and Ajani Sheppard.
Both players transferred into Temple this winter. Smolik, who is a redshirt junior, transferred from Penn State, while Sheppard, also a redshirt junior, came from Washington State.
On Saturday, Smolik was the better of the two quarterbacks. He completed 15-of-19 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns, while Sheppard struggled as he completed only 6-of-21 passes for 70 yards.
According to Smolik, Saturday was the day that everything came together.
“I felt really comfortable today,” Smolik said. “Today was one of the days where I felt the most comfortable with the whole offense and meshing together. With all these practices we’ve had, I just felt like today was the day where everything really kind of clicked for me. It felt like a great day.”
Temple coach K.C. Keeler was impressed by what he saw from Smolik.
“14, boy, he had a good day, didn’t he?” Keeler said. “He really looked sharp, calm in the pocket. The ball really snapping out of his hand. He has really elite arm talent, really accurate.”
The next step for Keeler, who is in his second year at Temple, is to name a starter at quarterback for opening day against Rhode Island at Lincoln Financial Field in September. At this point, he has not decided on the quarterback position.
No matter what happens. According to Keeler, the competition has brought out the best in both players.
“I’ve seen a great battle between Jaxon and Ajani,” he said. “They’ve had their ups and downs. I thought today, Jaxon really had a real an outstanding day. We’ll go back and look at everything in terms of where we are in terms of this competition. Today is not going to determine everything, but they have definitely pushed each other, and that competition has definitely made them stronger.”
Notes:
Redshirt senior wide receiver JoJo Bermudez impressed on Saturday as he caught three passes for 80 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown reception.
Redshirt freshman wide receiver Zander Baptiste added three catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Additionally, senior running back Sam Brown V, who transferred to Temple from Rutgers in January, showed great versatility, recording five carries for 22 yards and three catches for 43 yards, including an impressive 25-yard catch and run, where he had a beautiful juke move in the open field.
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