Category Archives: K.C. Keeler

04.13.26
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Cherry and White: Singing a winning tune

K.C. Keeler donned a hat in the second half to after ditching one in the first. (Photos courtesy Zamani Feelings)

Fittingly on Cherry and White Day, a Temple grad hosted Saturday Night Live.

Colman Domingo.

Not much to takeaway from that coincidence other than the fact that Domingo was the fifth Temple graduate to host SNL (Bill Cosby, Tom Sizemore, Bob Saget and Quinta Brunson were the others).

That’s a lot of acting and comedy talent out of one place.

The same community that opposed building a campus stadium allowed this $17 million practice facility at 10th and Diamond to be approved. Just add 27,000 seats onto the 3,000 already there and away we go.

Probably a few of them have gone to Cherry and White games.

That’s always been a day where the football talent in the school was the main focus and it looked like Temple put enough talent on the field to make some noise in the American Conference.

Not the kind of noise that comes with comedy or acting, but certainly singing.

As in singing T for Temple U, which we haven’t heard enough of over the last seven-straight losing seasons.

No sweeter sound at the end of football games than hearing that and to hear it more often than not certainly is the goal this season.

We really won’t know for sure until September because the structure has changed so much in the last 50 years or so.

From Wayne Hardin’s “real games” that included kickoff returns with real tackling, and a score that gave declared a Cherry winner or a White winner, we have evolved to this:

Two things that might come in handy this year are practicing the kneel down at the end of the games (we didn’t see that) and the singing of “T for Temple U” which comes after wins (which we did).

Saturday’s “game” did not include a final score, and Avery Powell took the opening kickoff to the house except he didn’t. (Nobody was allowed to tackle the returner, and the whistle was blown once Powell got by everyone.) We predicted a 60-yard field goal by Carl Hardin and what we got instead was a 58-yarder that clanged off the left post. Close enough.

The 3,000 or so Temple fans who made the trip should consider themselves lucky. Not only did Temple have perfect weather (72 degrees and sunny), but it looked more like a “real game” than what we’ve seen more of the last seven years.

For one, former rivals Pitt and Rutgers didn’t even have games. For another, there was real tackling out there. Pitt and Rutgers are doing something a lot of schools have done but Temple has stayed the course and held the closest thing to a game without a score you can have. (I’m going to follow up to see how teams that didn’t hold spring games fared, record-wise, vs. those who did and we’ll post this at the end of the season.) For another, both Stan Drayton and Rod Carey avoided contact whenever possible.

There was plenty of contact on Saturday.

Head coach K.C. Keeler took the microphone and exactly 2 p.m. and said: “I want to welcome the greatest fans in the world. You are my people.”

Then the hitting began.

It’s always hard to tell the football end of things when the good guys are playing the good guys. When Jaxon Smolik throws a sidearm pass simultaneously 20 yards across his body and 40 yards downfield for a touchdown, it’s a great throw, sure, but then you worry about the defense.

When the defense shuts down the running game, you worry about the offensive line and on and on.

One thing we do know is that Smolik, Penn State’s third-string QB last year, looks like he has more ability than Ajani Sheppard, who has a backup at both Rutgers and Washington State yet that might have not been fair to Sheppard because quarterbacks weren’t allowed to show their open-field running ability.

K.C. Keeler tries out his SNL monologue, and it goes over well with the guys, including first-team All-American punter Dante Atton (7).

If I had to give an honest evaluation, Evan Simon looked much better in last year’s spring game than both Smolik and Sheppard and that’s a concern.

Keeler said summer practice basically begins on June 1 and I for one am hoping that true freshman Lamar Best balls out and makes the starting quarterback decision for Rhode Island a three-way dilemma. Put it this way: Had BYU named a starter after spring ball, Bear Bachmeier would not have had a chance to lead the Cougars to an 11-1 regular season. Like Best, he didn’t participate in spring ball. Like Bachmeier, Best has the “it” factor and is both dynamic and explosive. Can’t say I saw dynamic and explosive in either of the two quarterbacks on Saturday. Maybe consistent and steady are the best compliments I can muster at this point.

Other than that, the major takeaway is that the defensive line–the second area of concern–had a great spring and pressuring the quarterback will be improved over a year ago.

Does that mean more renditions of T for Temple U this year than last?

Who knows but judging from the way the current players sounded belting out a tune, maybe a SNL hosting gig is in one of their futures.

Friday: 5 Biggest Surprises from Spring Ball

04.05.26
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The Best Solution: A one-transfer rule

Lost in a lot of news involving war and Easter was an executive order signed by Donald Trump on Friday limiting college sports transfers to a one-and-done basis.

If one guy from one party does something in this politically charged environment, usually the Pavlovian response from the other party is to oppose it.

However, this is something I can get behind as a college football fan. Heck, as a college sports fan.

It should be a bipartisan issue.

There are three starters on both Michigan and UConn in Monday night’s championship basketball game who have played not at one, not at two, but at three schools. That’s ridiculous on its face value.

While the Executive Order probably won’t survive a court challenge, a codified version of the order through legistlation might and that’s probably the only way to save college football now.

At least for schools like Temple.

That’s something both Democrats and Republicans can get behind.

Say, if this gets passed as legislation, one transfer per five years can end a lot of this craziness. Back in the “old days” the fact that athletes had to sit out a year if they transferred pretty much made that kind of thing a rarity.

Under this proposal, a second transfer would be allowed after earning a four-year degree and that would be OK with me. This transferring every year should stop. It won’t end the other crazy element of college football–play-for-pay–but it will stop the musical chairs aspect of college sports we see every transfer portal season.

Also, Incarnate Word has a starting quarterback, T.J. Finley, who will be in his seventh year this season with his seventh team. Finley is giving a middle finger to the NCAA rules as is now, meaning there are no rules.

Everybody who plays or played any sport knows that there should be rules and they should be followed. That means both off the field and on the field.

We’ve always had on-the-field rules. For the last decade, we’ve had very few off-the-field ones.

That needs to be fixed or we risk losing all of the fans from half of the 134 FBS football schools.

Friday: Cherry and White Preview

04.03.26
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One week to C and W: Maybe K.C. is onto something

If Jaxon Smolik or Ajani Sheppard turn into Evan Simon 2.0, start casting this statue for just inside the E-O gates,

Call me crazy but I don’t think I was the only Temple fan who went into this spring football camp concerned about the quarterback room and the defensive line room, but head coach K.C. Keeler might be onto something.

Unlike me and SOME of my fellow Temple fans, he’s not concerned.

That’s encouraging.

Why?

Because I’m not the current winningest active head coach in Division I college football and nobody I tailgate with is. I will see a lot of these folks when I return to campus on Saturday (April 11) for the Cherry and White game at the E-O and we will have a good time. We always do.

What we won’t know for sure is can we sack the bad guy’s quarterback enough or throw enough touchdown passes to approach a double-digit win season.

If I had to leave the answer for that question to anyone else, it would be for the current winningest active head coach in Division I college football.

Fortunately, he’s not in Texas, Alabama or Florida.

He’s right here and he will be right there on the same day I will be.

Keeler answered a couple of questions I wanted answered in his Tuesday presser. A couple really stood out.

On Temple’s defensive line: “It’s tough to bring in starters in the transfer portal. It really is and we’ve brought in not just starters but some really good players.”

The Cherry and White game was once played at Lincoln Financial Field. One thousand people in a 70,000-seat stadium was the worst atmosphere ever. However, 3,500 people tripping all over themselves at the E-O is a great atmosphere.

Keeler added he felt the team was 10-deep at the defensive line position and upgraded in the talent area from what he had last season. Since he had Sultan Badmas, Khalif Poteat and Sekou Kromah, that’s a good upgrade.

Or he’s lying.

Since he had no reason to lie, I believe him.

My biggest bone of contention with the QB spot is that you are expecting Penn State’s third string quarterback to beat Penn State’s first team quarterback if Jaxon Smolik turns out to be the starter. My contention since the end of last season was to bring in someone better than Evan Simon. Even though Smolik threw three touchdown passes in Saturday’s live scrimmage, I don’t see the same talent level.

Maybe Keeler does. Last August, Simon threw six touchdown passes in his first game. I saw it coming because he threw five touchdown passes the year before against Utah State.

Do I see a similar thing happening with Smolik? Man, I’m going to have to order some expensive Cherry and White glasses from Amazon to see that now.

Maybe Keeler does.

One of the most disappointing things about last season was that JoJo Bermudez had two long punt returns called back due to penalties and the 57-yard return against Georgia Tech was something the CW announcers felt should not have been called. Will Blackman, the booth analyst, said: “The Temple guy raised his hands before even trying to execute the block. Most officials will see that and allow the play to continue. For some reason, that guy threw the flag. I disagree with that call.”

Keeler might have addressed the issue on Tuesday by saying a lot of starters will be on special teams.

“We’ve got the best punt returner in the country (JoJo Bermudez),” he said.
“If we don’t put a really good unit out there to give JoJo a chance, that’s on us.”

The losingest head coach in the country might have let that slide. The winningest one told us that’s a problem he’s going to solve.

That makes me confident he’s going to address any other issues that might arrive between now and the opener.

No backseat driving here, just enjoying the ride for now.

Monday: The Best Solution

03.30.26
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Hunter Smith: Temple’s home run hitter

Hunter Smith never played baseball but had a knack for the long ball going back to his high school days here.

Almost lost in the pages of notes on Temple’s official website was the fact that last year’s Mr. Outside was being left out of contact drills this spring.

Not to worry, though. There’s no injury involved just a preservation of talent, a decision made by head coach K.C. Keeler.

Hunter Smith almost took this to the house against Tulsa. Radical idea: Let’s wear these uniforms every game. At least these same helmets.

Hunter Smith, who led the Sun Belt Conference in rushing in the 2023 season, was the Glenn Davis to Jay Ducker’s Doc Blanchard (that’s a 1940s reference) and gave Temple an effective 1-2 punch … but he wasn’t the home run hitter for the offense last year.

Evan Simon, who threw 24 touchdowns against two interceptions, was.

Given Temple’s quarterback history and the inexperience of the current QB room, it’s unrealistic to give that moniker to the new quarterbacks.

First of all, Simon’s season was historic and bettered anything at least from a stats standpoint that P.J. Walker, Adam DiMichele, Anthony Russo, E.J. Warner or even Maxwell Award-winning quarterback Steve Joachim did.

To get that kind of season two years in a row is unrealistic when it never happened before.

However, it is realistic to expect more from Smith because his role should be expanded. He won’t have to share carries with Jay Ducker so his chance to hit more “home runs” and, as an RB, finding that crease and taking it to the house.

Temple fans saw glimpses of that last year when he had a 65-yard touchdown against Howard and a 54-yard touchdown against UTSA. His 74-yard run at Tulsa set the Owls up with a first-and-goal at the 1 and that’s when OC Tyler Walker got away from the plan (give the tough inside carries to Ducker) and tried to “reward” Smith with the TD by giving it to him the next three times. (Keeler denied that but Ducker was ready and available but not used.) Put it this way: Why give the ball to a guy who had to be gassed after a 72-yard run? Ducker had to be scratching his head.

Now the Owls have to find a guy to fill the inside role that Ducker had and they have plenty of candidates for that. As far as Smith’s role, though, he’s healthy and ready for a great final season and Keeler is wise not to take any chances with spring contact for his version of Kyle Schwarber.

Nobody wanted Schwarbs to pull a hammy in Clearwater and if Smith is going to get any contact, it should come in summer camp.

Friday: One Week to Cherry and White

03.26.26
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Saboor Karriem: Temple football’s spring sensation

This is the type of guy Temple would have never had a chance to recruit in the pre-portal era.

Shockingly, there is a flip side of the portal.

Not enough to overcome the other side, which is really bad, but enough to open some eyes.

Flip side, meet Saboor Karriem.

Saboor Karriem kicked USC’s ass last year with 10 tackles (7 solos) in a win over the No. 21-ranked team in the country. Maybe he can do the same to Matt Campbell’s first Penn State team.\

Remember that name. It’s pronounced SUH BOR KUH REEM and he’s going to make a lot of plays on the field for the 2026 Temple Owls.

Our motto on this website has always been and always will be judge players not by their potential but by what they have done.

That’s why we’re not big fans of the current quarterback room but are big fans of the running back room, offensive line and wide receiver room.

Now add at least one safety to that equation.

Karriem wowed the camp with at least one interception where he flew airborne, caught the ball, and landed with both feet inbounds closing on a ball he had no business getting to in the first place. That’s athleticism personified. A tremendously athletic play a Big 10 impact player would make and maybe not someone even an American Conference stalwart could do.

Karriem is the sensation of spring camp which started three weeks ago. On the day after he had that interception, he locked down an exceptional Temple wide receiver group.

He’s pretty much done the same thing all spring from a safety position.

As good as Karriem is, OwlsDaily.com’s Shawn Pastor has him listed as No. 2 on his mock safety depth chart behind last year’s starter, Avery Powell. That’s a good thing, not a bad one. Powell was game captain against Charlotte (a 48-14 win), intercepted Owen McCown in a 27-21 win over UTSA and tied for first in the nation (not the conference) in three fumbles recovered.

Something tells me a coach as accomplished as K.C. Keeler might find a way to get both on the field at the same time for Temple.

While Powell might have been the kind of guy Temple got in the past, Karriem is not and maybe that kind of talent infusion will make a difference.

Hell, we hope so.

Monday: Temple’s Kyle Schwarber

03.22.26
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Stopping the run: The Return of the Nose Guard

Jaylon Joseph’s pass rushing skills at Lafayette got him named to the Jerry Rice Watch Lists as the best player in FCS. Temple fans will get to see those skills this fall.

The biggest difference between some of the positions listed on the Temple football roster this spring versus last year at this time is the return of the nose guard designation.

It’s been awhile and it might have something to do with the realization among the Temple brain trust that sending more bodies up the middle against the service academies takes away the fullback and forces action from sideline to sideline.

Matt Rhule learned that lesson the hard way in the 2016 opener as Phil Snow played a conventional 4-3 defense against Army and the Cadets were able to come away with a 28-16 win as the fullback ran at will up the middle.

To Rhule’s credit, he improvised and adjusted a dozen games later. Averee Robinson–a three-time Pennsylvania State champion heavyweight wrestler–took the nose in a 5-2 defense and dominated the Navy center. The Middies gave up the fullback that game and strung the pitches from sideline to sideline, where Temple’s superior and quicker athletes (including Hasson Riddick and Sean Chandler) were able to shut that down as well in a 34-10 championship win.

What were listed as DTs last year on the roster (there is no official depth chart listed yet) are now NGs and that’s a sign that the Owls are serious about beating the academies. Or at least more serious.

There are plenty of issue on the defensive line still. Among them who is going to be as effective a rush end as Cam Stewart? Who is going to replace Khalil Poteat, Sultan Badmas and Sekou Kromah?

In the opening spring press conference, head coach K.C. Keeler said that the Owls were able to “retain all of our starters” and he felt that Temple was the only team in the G5 able to do that. What he left out, though, was the fact that Kromah was a starter who left because he ran out of eligibility (and the oft-injured Badmus and Poteat were impact backups).

When JaMair Diaz was at Glenville State, he was up for Division II player of the year and had a dozen sacks as a sophomore.

Now the Owls have to look for impact guys to replace them and there are question marks all over the place.

One of the exclamation points is that it looks like the Owls will go to a 5-2 with two DTs, a NG and two DEs which should help them up front against the service academies. The Owls have three nose guards vying for the starting job in the middle and those are Joseph Auzenne (6-1, 295), Penn State transfer Kaleb Artis (6-4, 315) and Troy Cunningham (6-3, 265). Auzenne has the most experience but his season high for tackles came in the Georgia Tech game (only three). Artis sat out the 2025 season with an injury and Cunningham waited until the last game of the season (North Texas) to see game action.

Other interiors include redshirt sophomore Russell Sykes is listed as a DT. He’s got the requisite size (6-3, 260) but he’s light on experience. He only had one sack and six tackles in the 2025 season.

Not a whole lot of real game experience except for the rush ends like All-Patriot League DE Jaylon Joseph (Lafayette) and Sam Houston State transfer JaMair Diaz, who was once DII Player of the Year at Glenville State. On paper, those might be upgrades over Poteat and Stewart.

Might.

The maddening thing is that we won’t know for sure this spring or even in the summer because between now and then it’s the good guys vs. the good guys.

As with a lot of positions on the 2026 Owls, we will have to wait until the real games are played.

03.19.26
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Karma comes to Poteat, Kromah, and Badmas

K.C. Keeler trusted Sekou Kromah enough to take him to AAC Media Day with Evan Simon. Kromah stabbed Keeler in the back by entering the portal and now he is completely out of college football. Blame the white helmets. They are bad news both on and off the field. That’s the very definition of Karma.

Hard to believe three of Temple’s best defensive linemen in the 2025 season dipped their toes in the transfer portal.

One, Sultan Badmus, ended up in an objectively (not subjectively) worse place than Temple (Arkansas State).

The other two (Khalil Poteat and Kromah) are probably out of eligibility due to the courts clamping down on some previous lose eligibility requirements for JUCO players.

Hard to believe, Harry (Donahue) because the courts had been so inclined to give unlimited eligibility to a lot of players.

Had they remained at Temple, the fact that a staff led by the current winningest active Division I head coach (K.C. Keeler) going to bat for them might have convinced the court to grant their JUCO appeals and at least given Badmas a more high-profile landing spot than Arkansas State. Had Badmus landed at the real Arkansas (and not the State part) that would have been an upgrade from Temple.-

Even in a 5-7 rebuild, Temple would have probably beaten the 2025 version of Arkansas State (yeah, we know they made a bowl) but three touchdowns. They might beat the 2026 version by six touchdowns.

Pretty much oblivion for Badmus now when he could have gone out on a high note.

Sad, because a Badmus pressure in the UTSA game led to his tipped ball and a Temple interception deep in Owl territory of a 27-21 win. Sad, also because Poteat and Kromah generated the second-half pressures that made life miserable for UTSA quarterback Owen McCown.

Jadan Blue did all kinds of good things at Temple. He didn’t do anything at Virginia Tech.

Badmas was probably thinking Arkansas after he decided to go into the portal. Going from Temple to Arkansas State is a little like going from Syracuse to Buffalo.

Swing and a miss.

To drop down to a less prestigious G5 league than the American definitely was an impulsive move. He blew his chance to have a great game against Penn State at home before a split crowd of 70K fans and instead his NFL tape will rest on what he does at TCU, the same 70K fans all rooting for the bad (but not Badmus) guys. There is no way you can tell me Arkansas State is paying him more than Temple would have in the NIL. Say, for argument, that Temple was willing to pay $100,000 and Arky State $150,000. No way that should have been enough to move from the best G5 league to the third best.

So Karma is playing a part again for another player who left Temple.

We all know what happened to Jadan Blue. He went from being an NFL prospect at WR and the leading pass catcher in Temple history to transferring to Virginia Tech and catching only 10 passes the next season. He completely dropped off the NFL radar.

Karma again.

Stay at Temple, play for a great coach like Keeler, and put yourself on the NFL Draft radar.

Leave, seek riches elsewhere, and you could end up homeless.

It’s a cautionary tale for current Temple players and moreso for future ones.

Monday: The Replacements

03.08.26
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5 Things We’d Like to See From Spring Ball

If the Owls beat Penn State this season, expect the drums to start beating for their own stadium like this one on the river

When you spend every March in Philadelphia, as I have (except for the few March months I covered the Phillies), there are certain signs of spring.

One, Rita’s Water Ice opens every March 1.

Two, there is a first sunset after 7 p.m. (Sunday).

Three, Temple starts spring football practice.

Can Phillies opening day be far behind? (Spoiler alert: It will be on us in a flash.)

Temple’s spring practice begins on Tuesday and ends with Cherry and White Day a month from now and we can tell you right now that the only significant outcome will be dibs on first- and second-team spots on the depth chart.

To say that you can determine what the Owls will do in the regular season based on that is really premature but there are some position battles that should be interesting.

Quarterback

Evan Simon set the bar high for the next QB.

We should see separation between Jaxon Smolik and Ajani Sheppard by Cherry and White Day. Expect one to quarterback the Cherry team and one to quarterback the White team. Right now, it’s a 50/50 shot who starts the opener against Rhode Island. Will it be that way in August? Something tells me one of the guys coming in during the summer, Lamar Best, balls out. If he does, it will be hard to keep that “it factor” off the field.

Pass rushers

Plenty of prospects to replace the reliable group of Cam’ron Stewart, Sultan Badmus, Khalil Poteat and Sekou Kromah but just as many suspects. To me, the key to winning in college football is keeping your quarterback’s jersey clean and getting the bad guy’s quarterback dirty and Temple did that in its most significant win, a 26-21 job over a UTSA team destroyed league champion Tulane, 48-26. Getting the guys who replicate that feat on a MORE consistent basis than that one game will be the difference between another 5-7 season and a 7-5 one.

Tight End

1,000 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns should be enough to get Peter Clarke drafted in the first round.

Temple has the best tight end in the country returning in Peter Clarke (IMHO) and he has a chance to become the next Owl drafted in the NFL’s first round. Still, as good as Clarke is, he wasn’t the starter in the opening game last season (spring sensation Ryder Kusch was). Does Temple go two tight ends to jumpstart the running game? That’s an option for the Owls to work on this spring.

Kick returner

Temple had one of the best punt returners in the country in JoJo Bermudez last season. Question is do you use your best wide receiver on punt returns again or find someone else? I think redshirt freshman Tylik Mitchell is one of the many who can fit that role. He ran a 10.7, 100 meters in high school. How fast is that? Former Temple superstar running back Bernard Pierce WON the PIAA state indoor 100 meters as a high school senior at Glen Mills with a 10.8. Mitchell was an elusive running back in North Carolina, so he’s got the same “twitch” to his return game that Bermudez has.

Secondary

The Owls have always had transfers come in to take up key spots and this year is no exception. Purdue transfer Earl Culp should be able to compete for a starting spot as should Asa Locks. There’s always room for a wild card to impress.

Friday: Second Seasons

Monday: Under Attack

03.05.26
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Now’s the time to predict 2026: A one-game improvement

I can’t believe Parker Navarro is still in the portal but I know Temple is the perfect place for him.

Going into this transfer portal season we outlined the “type” of quarterback Temple needed to get in order to compete for the American Conference championship.

That quarterback was an FCS superstar or a capable “star” FBS quarterback looking for a tick up in competition.

Temple, for all of its transfer portal successes, failed to get that guy. Instead, they got a couple of guys who only proved that they couldn’t get on the field for P4-type teams. Not only didn’t they get a proven FBS starter, but in terms of receipts, they didn’t get someone with the pedigree of Evan Simon (starter at Rutgers) nor Gevani McCoy (starter at Oregon State), last year’s 1-2 punch.

So while they improved at a lot of positions they regressed at the most important position on the field.

Not good.

So, sadly, I don’t see the Owls competing for an American Conference title but there is room for improvement and I do see the Owls improving incrementally.

At my age, that isn’t fast enough but I will take the small wins when I can get them.

Why are we not waiting until May? It looks like all the players are in place now and they will compete only against themselves between now and Cherry and White Day.

Parker Navarro, a quarterback who does fit all the qualifications of an AAC championship quarterback, is still in the portal.

It doesn’t have to be Navarro, whose eligibility issue is up in the air but someone like him.

We can only hope but I think Temple is done at QB. I hope I’m wrong.

We predict 6-6 without Navarro or someone like him.

With an inexperienced starter, or someone like him, I see the Owls winning 9-10 games and getting into the AAC championship game.

I have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that Temple is done and going with six quarterbacks. None to me have the “it” factor with the possible exception of Lamar Best, who arrives in July.

So we’re going under the assumption that Temple is done at the quarterback position.

I see the Owls beating Rhode Island (55-10), losing to Penn State (35-14), beating Toledo (17-13), losing to Army (24-21), losing at South Florida (55-24), beating UConn (17-10), beating Charlotte (48-23), losing at East Carolina (36-19), losing at Navy (17-14), beating UAB (21-14), beating Rice (28-17) and losing at Memphis (35-21).

That’s 6-6 and the very definition of mediocrity. As Wayne Hardin once said, “mediocrity is not my cup of tea.”

Nor mine.

An experienced guy is out there. With him, I see a more competitive game against Penn State, wins at USF at home vs. Army and at Navy and a possible win at Memphis. That’s not 6-6 nor mediocrity.

Go get him or expect meh when “yeah” should have been the Year Two goal all along.

Monday: 5 Things We’d Like to See From Spring Ball

Friday: The New Bowl System and Temple

02.26.26
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The 2026 Temple schedule: Some takeaways

At some point, both Temple fans and the ones of the outside are going to have to come to some sort of conclusion on the way the 2026 season is going to play out.

Today is not that day.

Soon, but not today.

Today is the day to look at the schedule released on Thursday and decide whether it is a favorable one or not.

It is only if one priority is set today: The Army game.

Yeah, I know take it one game at a time and take care of Rhode Island first but put that aside for now because Rhode Island beat Hampton, 38-10, in 2025 and that was almost the same exact score (34-7) Howard beat Hampton by two weeks after Howard lost to Temple.

Freaking 55-7. That doesn’t mean Temple should beat Rhode Island by 38 more points than 55 (that’s 93) but it will be closer to 55-7 than anything else.

Rhode Island and Temple aren’t in the same stratosphere, so I think that’s something we can all agree on and move forward with a more realistic evaluation of the schedule.

Why is Army so important?

The Owls host Penn State the week between those two games and are at Toledo after that. Everyone who follows college football would say PSU is a so-called “trap” game because beating Penn State is so important to Temple fans.

The guy who needs to figure out how to put in a game plan to beat Army figured out a way to recruit the No. 1 class in the AAC. Temple fans should sleep well over that fact.

From the Temple football perspective, it shouldn’t be. While it would be great to have a 2015 redux, the reality of the college football world is that Penn State has 200x the money to build a roster than Temple does. Back in 2015, it was way closer to 2-1.

Winning the AAC championship is the only goal. So, while you try to win Penn State and Toledo, you go light on the game plans in those games and heavy on the game plan against Jeff Monken.

Because the Army preparation is only a week–ideally playing a service academy should be two weeks–a lot of the prep time for the triple option should be imbedded not only into summer camp but into spring football that begins in a couple of weeks.

That usually means Brian L. Smith’s defense but Smith did fine against Army last year (limiting them to just 14 points) so the offense should be involved as well. Two weeks after Temple lost, 14-13, to Army, Tulsa (which lost to Temple) was able to score 26 points in a 26-25 win at West Point.

So Tyler Walker’s offense was unacceptable against a team vulnerable to the pass. So, I don’t know, maybe put in a game plan that throws the ball more, stopping the clock on (hopefully) rare incompletions and attacking the most vulnerable part of the Army defense (defending more athletic receivers like JoJo Bermudez and Colin Chase). Last year’s game plan was Jay Ducker right, Jay Ducker up the middle and Jay Ducker left.

That’s a great game plan against the 11th-ranked RUN defense in the AAC (North Texas) but a terrible game plan against (let’s be honest) slow white cornerbacks. Giving the ball to Ducker last year (or even my favorite player this year, Hunter Smith) is not the answer.

The good news is that the Owls have nine months to work on that. The better news is that the current winningest active college football head coach is on the case and probably sees the same things I do.

Monday: That’s the kicker

Friday: Now’s The Time

Monday: 5 Things We’d Like to See in Spring Practice