Diego Barajas has found his footing at right tackle
Diego Barajas walked out to midfield at UMass at Temple’s season opener as one of the Owls’ captains.
From there, the 6-foot-6 redshirt senior has started every game at right tackle for an offensive line that has improved substantially over last season and helped spark the program’s 4-3 start.
Temple, which will play at Tulsa Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN+), is just two wins away from bowl eligibility for the first time in six years, and a more stable offensive line has been one of the main reasons in head coach K.C. Keeler’s first season. The front five have paved the way for an offense that has the American Conference’s fifth-best scoring offense at 33 points per game.
Individually, Barajas has yet to allow a sack in 219 pass blocking snaps after allowing four in 235 last year, according to Pro Football Focus, and has given up just one pressure in three conference games.
Prior to left guard Eric King missing last Saturday’s 49-14 rout of Charlotte due to an injury, a previously oft-injured group had been able to start the same five players at the same positions on the line through the season’s first six games.
Barajas, who started three games at left tackle and four at right tackle last season, feels like he has found his best spot on the line. Barajas said Temple’s new offensive line coach Al Johnson gave Barajas the option of playing where he felt best.
“I’m very comfortable with it now,” Barajas said of playing right tackle. “Coach Johnson kind of gave me that option since I finished last year as right tackle. He let me work since January at right tackle, and I’ve become very comfortable with this position that I am in now. Coming in from JUCO (California’s Laney College), I always played left tackle. Even in high school, I was left tackle. I started left tackle here my first year and my second year, I kind of got moved back and forth. So, yeah, I think it’s good to be able to focus on one position.”
Barajas spoke with reporters this week about the team bouncing back from its loss to Navy two weeks ago, the Owls’ win over Charlotte and how they will approach a 2-5 Tulsa team and a Golden Hurricane defense that has produced 16 sacks.
