Did not play in Temple’s last game.
Ajani Sheppard started the last one, L 9-17 at East Carolina, Oct 31.
Temple’s next game: at Navy, Sat Nov 7, 3:30 p.m. ET · CBS Sports Network
Army · L 17-21
No pass attempts.
South Florida · W 17-13
No pass attempts.
UConn · L 20-34
No pass attempts.
East Carolina · L 9-17
No pass attempts.
Smolik has pass attempts in 4 of Temple’s 8 games: none in the other 4.
Dashed line: 300 yards.
Jaxon Smolik
Played for two head coaches at two programs in two seasons: Terry Smith and K.C. Keeler. A game that shows it: 71 rushing yards and 59 passing yards against Penn State — Week 2, 2026.
129 passing yards · 1 passing TD · 81 rushing yards
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Temple | 16 | 27 | 59.3% | 129 | 4.8 | 1 | 1 | 104.2 |
| 2025 | Penn State | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 16 | 27 | 59.3% | 129 | 4.8 | 1 | 1 | 104.2 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Temple | 18 | 81 | 4.5 | 0 | 47 |
| 2025 | Penn State | 4 | 3 | 0.8 | 0 | 3 |
| Career | 22 | 84 | 3.8 | 0 | 47 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 4 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | Grade | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | SK | RUSH | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 38-14vs Rhode Island | 4/6 | 57 | 1 | 0 | 9.5 | — | 2 | -2 | ||
| Wk 2 | L 9-27vs No. 16 Penn State | Shaky | 10/16 | 59 | 0 | 1 | 3.7 | 56.0 | 1 | 71 | Season-high 59 yds |
| Wk 3 | L 48-49@ Toledo | Left in Q1 | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | 0 | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 31-38vs Charlotte | Out after Q1 | 2/4 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 | 23.1 | 1 | 12 | |
| Total | 16/27 | 129 | 1 | 1 | 4.8 | — | 4 | 81 |
Week 1 · 2026
W 38-14
vs Rhode Island
57 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT
Dominant 24-point win at home against Rhode Island.
With K. Mason — 158 rush yds (20 car) · 2 TD · 2 rec · 34 yds · J. Bermudez — 2 rec · 40 yds · 15 rush yds (1 car)
The plays that mattered most
| Stat | His | Nation | American Athletic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passing yards | 129 | 222nd of 370 | 22nd of 37 |
| Yards an attempt | 4.8 | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Touchdown passes | 1 | T-202nd of 370 | T-20th of 37 |
| Passer rating | 104.2 | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Completion percentage | 59.3 | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Rushing yards | 81 | 121st of 370 | 15th of 37 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 0 | — | — |
Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game. He has 27 attempts of the 80 needed after 8 games, so the rates are not ranked.
| Rk | Quarterback | Yards | TD | INT | Att | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tayven Jackson | 2,568 | 22 | 5 | 268 | 9.6 |
| 2 | Caden Veltkamp | 2,534 | 23 | 5 | 315 | 8.0 |
| 3 | Marcus Stokes | 2,532 | 25 | 6 | 259 | 9.8 |
| 4 | Owen McCown | 1,751 | 10 | 4 | 243 | 7.2 |
| 5 | Baylor Hayes | 1,343 | 10 | 2 | 192 | 7.0 |
| 6 | Ryder Burton | 1,333 | 6 | 5 | 194 | 6.9 |
| 7 | Michael Van Buren Jr. | 1,273 | 6 | 0 | 181 | 7.0 |
| 8 | Ajani Sheppard | 1,245 | 8 | 3 | 140 | 8.9 |
| 9 | Conner Harrell | 831 | 5 | 2 | 108 | 7.7 |
| 10 | Kadin Semonza | 804 | 4 | 2 | 119 | 6.8 |
| 11 | Cole Gonzales | 802 | 3 | 7 | 127 | 6.3 |
| 12 | Mitch Griffis | 753 | 4 | 5 | 126 | 6.0 |
| 13 | Trace Johnson | 749 | 2 | 4 | 106 | 7.1 |
| 14 | Jackson Gutierrez | 717 | 7 | 1 | 71 | 10.1 |
| 15 | Emory Williams | 716 | 7 | 2 | 117 | 6.1 |
| 16 | Jacurri Brown | 471 | 2 | 2 | 82 | 5.7 |
| 17 | Cale Hellums | 462 | 4 | 2 | 76 | 6.1 |
| 18 | Dexter Williams II | 340 | 3 | 0 | 59 | 5.8 |
| 19 | Gael Ochoa | 160 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 10.0 |
| 20 | Chaston Ditta | 159 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 8.4 |
| 21 | Braxton Woodson | 152 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 6.1 |
| 22 | Jaxon Smolik | 129 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 4.8 |
| 23 | Air Noland | 83 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 9.2 |
| 24 | Zach Mundell | 82 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 27.3 |
| 25 | Drew Devillier | 79 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6.1 |
| 26 | Zeon Chriss | 64 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7.1 |
| 27 | Luke Kromenhoek | 60 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4.3 |
| 28 | Chris Jimerson Jr. | 55 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 18.3 |
| 29 | Patrick Crayton Jr. | 29 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14.5 |
| 30 | Nate Rogers | 24 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4.8 |
| 31 | Jordan Magwood | 16 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5.3 |
| 32 | Ethan Washington | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.5 |
| 33 | Bryson Luter | 12 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3.0 |
| 34 | Dagan Bruno | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10.0 |
| 35 | Jeremiah Daoud | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.5 |
| 36 | Jaylen White | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1.0 |
| 37 | Brandon Tennison | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.
Ratings of the games shown run from -25 to +9 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Clarke and Bermudez saw 11 of the 27 charted throws.
| Receiver | Targets, caught | Targets | Catches | Yards | Throw depth | After catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Clarke | 7 | 5 | 26 | 3.4 | 3.0 | |
| Jovanni Bermudez | 4 | 3 | 20 | 0.8 | 8.7 | |
| Colin Chase | 4 | 2 | 24 | 8.2 | 7.0 | |
| Jayce Freeman | 4 | 1 | 18 | 14.0 | 0.0 | |
| Ryder Kusch | 3 | 3 | 30 | 2.7 | 7.3 | |
| 3 others | 4 | 2 | 11 | -1.0 | 7.0 | |
| No receiver charted | 1 | The interception is among these | ||||
Play by play: 27 passes, 16 caught, 129 yards. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 4 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 43.0 | 0.3 | 5.5 | 0.3 |
| Road1g | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 32.2 | 0.2 | 4.1 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
K.C. Keeler
Pass share
37.4%
170 pass / 285 run
Plays / game
56.9
8 games
Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.
| Jaxon Smolik | Threw in 4 of 8 games · 16 of 27, 129 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · 4.8 yards an attempt on 27 attempts · ran for 81 yds, 0 TD |
| Ajani Sheppard | Threw in all 8 games · 85 of 140, 1,245 yds, 8 TD, 3 INT · 8.9 yards an attempt on 140 attempts · ran for 400 yds, 5 TD |
Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.
Who threw in each quarter. Blue: Jaxon Smolik. Gray: Ajani Sheppard. From the play by play.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.
2026 is in progress.
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: James Franklin, Terry Smith and K.C. Keeler.
Next stop · Transfer
Transferred to Temple
