Every year around this time, we do a way-too-early game-by-game projection and, while it would be better served in late August rather in late May, it screams to be done now.

That’s for one reason alone.

If the Edberg-Olson Complex powers-that-be don’t see the urgency in getting a big-time quarterback in here before August, maybe a game-by-game reality check with the existing QB room could jar them into action.

If not, all hope is lost, not only for this season, but for several seasons ahead. That’s because after giving the Temple fans a taste of winning after 20 years of losing, the Owls have reverted back to those bad old days of 1-6, 3-9, 3-9, and 3-9. The university will not accept losing forever and it starts with the most important position on the team.

Why is the quarterback position so important?

You need only to look at the Owls WITH E.J. Warner the last two years vs. WITHOUT Warner the last three years. It is not an exaggeration to say that without Warner, Temple would have not won a game.

So what did the Owls do?

Settle for a guy who got beat 55-0 and a guy who was the second-best QB on the field in Warner’s first-ever college football start.

So that’s got to be factored into the equation.

Aug. 31 _ Oklahoma 77, Temple 6 _ Jim Woodside, the Temple defensive back whose interception return gave the Owls a 14-7 win over the Sooners in the 1940s, would be turning over in his grave as the Owls muster only two field goals in a national embarrassment on the main ESPN network. 0-1.

Sept. 7 _ Navy 34, Temple 16 _ Navy gets revenge on the Owls, who are missing their two impact players from that 34-16 Temple win in 2023, Warner and Jordan Magee (who should be attending the game since he will be close by in Washington Commanders’ camp). 0-2.

Sept. 14 _ Temple 17, Coastal Carolina 16 _ No team was decimated by the transfer portal more than the Chanteliers and, believe it or not, Temple did a better job replacing its losses than Coastal. Evan Simon manages the game just enough for a Temple win. 1-2.

Sept. 21 _ Utah State 34, Temple 7 _ Aggies famously made a trip East last year and beat UConn, 34-33. They beat Colorado State by 20 last year and lost at San Diego State in two overtimes. They will have a much easier time in Philadelphia. 1-3.

Sept. 26 _ Army 28, Temple 16 _ The Black Knights reprise their last nighttime visit to Lincoln Financial Field by winning by the same score they did in the 2016 opener. Except for last year against Navy, Temple DC Everett Withers doesn’t have a good record stopping triple-option teams. 1-4.

Oct 5 _ UConn 17, Temple 14 _ On the surface, this should be a competitive game and probably will. The teams shared one common foe last year (USF) and UConn lost by three at home and Temple lost by four on the road. Still, that was with Warner (who head coach Stan Drayton called “our E.J.” at the end of the game), slinging it. Plenty of guys in the transfer portal who can sling it like Warner but none are on Temple’s campus. 1-5.

Oct 19 _ Temple 24, Tulsa 13_ Owls have 10 days to get ready for a team that embarrassed them a year ago. There is not much of a talent gap between Temple and Tulsa and the home game makes a difference. 2-6.

Nov. 9 _ Tulane 48, Temple 14 _ At home, the Green Wave get revenge for the 2015 game where the home Temple fans did a wave entirely around the stadium. Temple won that game 48-14. Tulane wins this one by the same score. 2-7.

Nov. 16 _ FAU 29, Temple 7 _ After the game, FAU head coach Tom Herman addresses the rumors that Temple is considering getting rid of Drayton. “I know Stan. I worked with him. He’s a great man. Temple has got to consider there’s more to this job than winning and losing and just having a good man like that here should be enough to keep him.” 2-8.

Nov. 22 _ UTSA 59, Temple 14 _ Without Warner, Temple scores 20 fewer points in San Antonio than it did in Philadelphia a year ago. UTSA scores the same number of points. “That little son-of-a-gun (Warner) gave us fits last year,” UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor said. “Thank God Temple didn’t get a similar skill set guy to replace him. I’m kind of shocked, really.” 2-9.

Nov. 30 _ North Texas 30, Temple 17 _ Temple ends its most dismal season since Covid. North Texas loads up the box and takes away the Temple running game, showing complete disregard for the pass. There is a huge celebration in the Mean Green locker room. “They said we couldn’t win in the cold,” North Texas head coach Eric Morris said. “People forget it gets pretty cold at times in Denton, Texas.” 2-10.

There you have it, the 2-10 2024 Temple Owls.

We will revise these projections once Temple brings in a proven FBS or FCS starter at quarterback.

IF Temple does, we mean.

Friday: Could this be the guy?

Where is Temple football’s Jamal Mashburn Jr.?

Or Lynn Greer III?

Or even Jameel Brown?

Fair questions.

While your one millionaire major sports coach was busting his ass signing people who made impacts for big-time programs and helped at least one make a post-season splash, your other millionaire coach was sitting on his hands doing absolutely nothing.

The transfer portal closed on May 1 and Temple football has done nada.

Squat.

Zero.

Let’s go.

Let’s get on the stick and get not only me (but long-suffering Temple fans) a big-time quarterback who doesn’t need an NIL deal but does need a starting job at an FBS school.

Let’s get a quarterback who wasn’t the second-best guy at the 129th-ranked FBS offense. Hell, the best guy at the same 129th-ranked offensive school entered the portal yesterday and I don’t want him either.

I want a guy who is better than the guy who left for Rice and so far Temple doesn’t have that guy.

The good news is that the closing of the transfer portal Tuesday doesn’t stop Temple from getting the best quarterback available in the portal now. It does stop guys already at 10th and Diamond from leaving, and that’s not a bad thing. There are OBJECTIVELY at least five better quarterbacks in the portal than E.J. Warner right now and Temple needs to go out and convince at least one of them to come here, just like Adam Fisher used his persuasive powers to convince Mashburn, Greer and Brown to come here.

The concerning thing is that the Temple team that practices on the one side of Broad Street is doing nothing to get better while the Temple team that practices on the other side of Broad Street hasn’t let the transfer portal create a malaise in the program.

There’s a real energy and synergy coming out of Broad and Montgomery that does not exist at 10th and Diamond and people in Temple Town are noticing.

Right now, it appears that the plan of the Temple brain trust at 10th and Diamond is to go into the house of the eighth-best team in the country with the backup quarterback from the 129th-best offense under center.

That does not compute.

The plan on the other side of Temple Town is to have a guard who led his team to a win in the NCAA tournament lead the basketball Owls next season.

That sounds like a well-thought out plan.

Let’s rip a page out of the master Temple basketball plan and start using our football noggins for something other than a hat rack. There is a way to beat this transfer portal and NIL system and Temple basketball has a leg up on the football program right now.

Signing the Oklahoma backup quarterback with a huge talent upside over anyone in the Temple QB room right now to start the season at Oklahoma sounds like a well-thought-out plan as well.

We could do that or we could do what we’ve done since November (comparatively, speaking to our other AAC cohorts).

Sit on our hands and do nothing.

Monday: Laying a Foundation

Friday: A guy to keep an eye on