Defense and field goals dominated the 2025 Cherry and White game and one more thing.

Tough love.

Goin’ the other way 🔄#TempleTUFF pic.twitter.com/qd4Z7GUcd2

— Temple Football (@Temple_FB) April 12, 2025

First-year Temple head coach K.C. Keeler channeled his inner John Chaney when he made clear to any Owls considering the transfer portal he would not take them back. Keeler’s reasoning was sound. “Now that you have been with me, I told them if they go in the portal, we’re not taking them back,” he said.

The thinking there is this is the first time a lot of these Temple kids played for a Hall of Fame coach and they might be intrigued where he can lead them and the team.

Chaney did a similar thing long before the portal, telling anyone who transferred that they were not welcomed back. The famous quote was, “If you tell me you don’t love me, it’s over.”

It worked back then because Chaney had both the carrot and the stick.

We’ll see if it works now.

It was a bold move back then. It is even more today because there might be more money on the other side. Then again, there might not. More players who go into the portal find zero money and no scholarships on the other side than those who go in and expect to get rich.

For now, it’s a buyer’s market for the teams, not the players. Only the top 1 percent of the players in the portal get any real money and that’s from only the top 20 or so college football powerhouses.

So anyone who played on a 3-9 team would be wise to stay put and keep their scholarship.

As far as the game itself, the Owls went 5-for-5 in field goals but a point of emphasis will be to finish off those drives with touchdowns and not field goals. While Keeler praised newcomer Jay Ducker (21 carries for 66 yards), he also noted that Ducker needs to improve his finishing speed. If he doesn’t, Keeler has a nice insurance policy in Torrez Worthy, who is one of the fastest backs in the AAC. Worthy outran the whole Tulane team in the lone highlight of a 52-6 loss last year.

Keeler also said that Evan Simon “had a great spring” but that he’s “bringing in another quarterback” to compete for the starting job. My feeling here is that Simon is a good enough quarterback to produce a winning season at Temple but the fact that Temple doesn’t have another quarterback good enough to produce a winning season is the very reason Keeler should go after a similar level quarterback.

Defensively, Keeler said the line is “7-8 deep” and they should be able to stop people in this league given the personnel already here. Offensively, he said “iron sharpens iron” and how good the DL was all spring made the OL the most improved aspect of the team. Those of us who saw Simon running for his life last fall will have to see that to believe that against live competition. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to get a tackle who can protect Simon’s blindside.

Another reason they will hit the portal for a QB is his offensive staff is used to a running quarterback and nothing puts pressure on a modern defense than a quarterback who can move the sticks both running and passing.

Those are hard to come by and the competition for one should be furious. Sort of like it was on Saturday.

Friday: An intriguing prospect