Going into a game on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, Team A brought in a team of 87 mercenaries, returned one starter from a year ago and a new head coach in a first season of trying to implement a new culture.

Team B returned all of its eligible starters, had only a few mercenaries and was in the second year under the current most successful head coach in Division I football and the culture had already been established.

Given that outline, Team A, UConn, didn’t figure to win but it beat Team B, Temple, 34-20.

Sometimes logic spits out a winner and sometimes as Mr. Spock said on the old Star Trek series, logic does not compute.

Saturday was one of those days as Temple lost as a favorite for the first time since Sept. 21, 2019. That day in the last decade a Buffalo team that would finish 8-5 beat a Temple team that would also finish 8-5.

Marinate that for a second: Temple has not lost as a favorite this decade.

Until Saturday.

It would take a freaking miracle for this Temple team to finish 8-5 after starting 2-4.

Let’s not sugarcoat it.

After taking two steps forward in a big win at South Florida a week ago, the loss to UConn represents a step back and an argument could be made it was two steps back.

There should have been something to be said for stability, continuity and culture and that statement should have been made by Temple, not UConn.

Instead, what we’ve learned if you bring in the right kind of mercenaries, talent can overcome both coaching and culture.

Maybe that’s just college football circa 2026.

If so, that’s a sad reality Temple is going to have to accept going forward.

After the loss, Temple coach K.C. Keeler blamed it on turnovers and, on the surface, he was right. But it was shocking how the defense was so out of position in so many plays a week after being in position in so many plays.

That responsibility has to rest with DC Brian L. Smith and by extension Keeler himself. If this continues, Keeler will have to make the hard decision no head coach wants to make and jettison a coordinator. Hint: Chuck Heater is available. Temple is just not getting enough pressure on the quarterback. That is painfully obvious. The Owls still try to get to the quarterback with a four-man rush. That’s not working. If it doesn’t work going forward, they need to bring five. If that doesn’t work, they need to bring six. Where is this great defensive line we’ve been told about for six months?

I haven’t seen it yet.

Last week, 17 points was enough to win but this week 20 points wasn’t.

To be a winning team going forward with the players on this defense, 20 points should be enough to win on any given afternoon.

That said, the offense doesn’t get a pass here.

Offensive coordinator Tyler Walker called two trick plays that worked, the first play of the season against Rhode Island and Saturday’s pass from Colin Chase to Peter Clarke for a touchdown. Somebody has got to whisper in Walker’s ear that there is no NCAA rule that limits a team to one trick play a game, nor one that limits said team to two a season.

Personnel use, to me, is questionable as well.

As good as Keveun Mason is, he’s no Hunter Smith and Mason fumbled in a big spot and Hunter Smith did not and maybe that should cost Mason his backup job.

More Hunter Smith if Sam Brown V is not available and, at this point, you’ve got to wonder if Brown will ever play. They keep telling us he will be available for this game and that game and he only gets available for one game (Toledo).

That’s got to change going forward. Temple has a quality Big 10 back and you’ve got to wonder if they are saving him for a bowl game that might never come. Rub some dirt on it and get him out there.

Also, stop trying to make Ajani Sheppard a pocket passer. He’s a rollout passer who will drive defenses crazy going forward by rolling out and presenting a running threat, bringing up the safeties and linebackers to stop that threat and dumping easy throws over them to receivers running free through the secondary.

Making him a pocket passer risks two things. Him getting hit in the pocket and him overthrowing a 6-6 tight end on two-point conversion to win a game.

Keeler says the Owls lost by not playing clean but playing clean and coaching clean go hand in hand.

The Owls have a lot of talent but from where I sit, I don’t think the talent is being utilized optimally. That’s got to be at least half of the post-mortem coming out of this loss.

Monday: A Hall of Fame Night