Temple Owls:
The 2019 Owls won eight games. It was the first season under Rod Carey after he took over for Geoff Collins, inheriting the last year of Matt Rhule’s final recruiting class. Since then, the Owls have 10 wins total and are just 6-18 under Stan Drayton, whose ties in the Philly area were the biggest selling point to making him the head coach.
Drayton gets another crack this year, but nothing seems to be working for the Owls. They beat Akron, Navy, and Norfolk State last season and have a more difficult schedule this year. It’ll be a long one for the program.
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Offense
QB E.J. Warner transferred to Rice, so one of last year’s few offensive bright spots is gone. Forrest Brock and Rutgers transfer Evan Simon are battling for reps at the position. Even with Warner, Temple finished 87th in yards per play and came in 123rd in rushing yards, as they trailed a ton and had to throw by virtue of being behind.
Leading rusher Darvon Hubbard is gone, leaving behind Joquez Smith, who only had 325 yards. Leading receiver Amad Anderson Jr. is and second-leading receiver TE David Martin-Robinson is also out. This is an offense severely lacking talent with inexperienced QBs and very little upside.
Defense
The Temple defense finished 120th in yards per play allowed last season. They allowed nearly 36 points per game. The Owls only forced five turnovers. They had two fumble recoveries and three interceptions to finish -20 in turnover margin. Only one other team was higher than -15 in TO margin. Drayton and the staff had more success bringing in defenders through the transfer portal than offensive players, so maybe that will help.
One positive is that it is the second season as defensive coordinator for Everett Withers, which explains the portal success, as he’s always been viewed as a strong recruiter. The 61-year-old Withers hadn’t been a DC since he was the co-DC at Ohio State in 2013, but he was a head coach at James Madison and Texas State. He’s a true football lifer.
Outlook
This is likely to be one of the worst teams in the nation. I have them power-rated 133rd (out of 134) in the nation with 2.18 projected wins. Their season win total is 2.5, so I like the Under. Furthermore, if a sportsbook puts up a “Fewest Wins” prop, Temple has a great chance to be in the running. They don’t play any FCS teams and play UConn on the road.
Pick: Under 2.5 Wins
