Not very many new Temple head football coaches have accomplished what K.C. Keeler has in his 261 days on the job.

He’s made gamedays at Lincoln Financial Field fun again despite never having coached a game in that stadium.

Oh, yes. There was some excitement with Geoff Collins taking over for Matt Rhule after an American Conference championship season, but nothing like this.

Nothing like Temple fans will experience at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon against visiting Howard University.

Why?

Because Temple is coming out of six dark years into the light. Temple was already in the light the year after Rhule won the league championship.

Things fell apart somewhere between the time Collins left and the time Keeler arrived.

There are doubting Thomases out there but don’t count me among them. What Keeler has done so far is very impressive. In addition to convincing most of the “good guys” on the roster to stay, he’s added some key pieces to the puzzle that only enhanced the roster and bolstered this team’s 2025 chances.

Then came June and Keeler–despite the handicap of four-straight 3-9 seasons–was able to convince the third best recruiting class in all of G5 football to come to Temple.

Mix in a 365-day offseason and no vacations for head coaches to Texas–like we had two weeks in the summer for three-straight years–and this team is primed and ready.

They demonstrated as much in the opener at UMass, finishing the game on a 35-0 run to beat the home team 42-10. Many in the “real world” of college football expected that game to be a 3.5-point Temple win. Not me. I predicted 24-10 and hoped for a blowout.

My most fervent hopes were realized.

Now let’s hope a lot of the fans buy in because they won’t all buy in unless the Owls are able to either give Oklahoma a good game next week or win it outright.

That’s not important now.

What’s important now is to get the largest-ever Temple student freshman class into the habit of both attending the game and enjoying the experience once they arrive in South Philadelphia. That means giving them a fun pre-game experience and convincing those same kids to get into the habit of going into the stadium and cheering their heads off. This isn’t Tulsa, which only has 3,432 full-time students. This is Temple with over 30,000 full-time students, including the largest incoming class ever.

Get those kids into the habit of going to the games.

For the team itself, it also means not overlooking anyone. When you’ve gone 3-9 for four-straight years, that shouldn’t be an issue but knowing that Howard–as a 40+-point underdog only eight years ago–shocked the world should get their attention.

For me, this is a Gevani McCoy game. Either sit Evan Simon at the jump (my choice) or play him one series and get him the hell out of harm’s way. Earlier this week, Keeler said he’s told the Owls many times they are a good football team and if they play clean, they are a tough out.

He didn’t mean a tough out against Howard. He meant a tough out against Oklahoma and the other good teams remaining on the schedule.

Play hard. Play clean. No spitting on anyone in the pre-game and no excessive celebrations after any good play.

Win the game and only then let the dice roll against Oklahoma.

Temple football is fun again in South Philadelphia.

It’s been a while.

Very Late Saturday Night (since I will be at the game until 8 or so): Game Analysis