Temple Owls 2025 College Football Preview
Posted June 24, 2025
2024 Recap
Record – 3-9
ATS – 6-6
“Here we go again. Again.”
<Tugg Speedman> <Scorcher VI – Global Meltdown>
The Owls hit the TRIFECTA and finished the season at 3-9 for the third year in a row under the tutelage of the now departed head coach Stan Drayton. In fact, if you really want to get technical it was the fourth consecutive year that they ended up with precisely three wins. However, Temple had a few nice moments along the way as they won three (!) home games (Utah St, Tulsa, FAU) and gave Coastal Carolina and UConn decent battles. Sadly, it was still another miserable experience for the Philadelphia faithful.
Temple Owls 2025 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Owls managed to throw the ball around a little bit LY when Evan Simon was under center (2,032, 15-9 TD to INT) but the ground game was non-existent (93 YPG, #127). There’s reason for optimism heading into 2025 as Simon returns at QB and the Owls recently added dual-threat specimen QB Gevani McCoy (Oregon St) who tallied 42 TD passes over two seasons with Idaho from 2022 to 2023. Leading rusher RB Terez Worthy is back for more and the Owls made a yuuuge move with the addition of RB Jay Ducker who’s a legit workhorse (745, 7 TD with Sam Houston LY; 1,184, 3 TD with NIU in 2021). The offensive line needs some work but it definitely looks better than what Temple put on the field to end the 2024 season. The big concern on this side of the football is the WR/TE situation as there aren’t any holdovers that appear overly dangerous and the transfer portal haul wasn’t exactly overwhelming. We expect the Owls to have their best point production since 2019, but that’s not saying much since they’ve averaged 19.6, 21.1, 21.9, 16.3 and 19.9 PPG over the L5Y.
DEFENSE
Temple did a good job vs the pass LY (#65 pass efficiency D, 59%, 20-9 TD to INT) but they were an absolute joke when it came to stopping the run (226 YPG, #132). The Owls will try and solve the problem with a massive talent infusion from the transfer portal, the majority of which came from smaller schools. The DL is fairly deep with decent size and DE Cam’Ron Stewart has the ability to be a difference maker. We’ve got high hopes for MLB Jalen Stewart who was a good producer during his three-year stint at UMass, and the secondary has some legit starters in CB Ben Osueke and safety Javier Morton. There’s still a lot of work to be done but we expect mild to moderate improvement from the stop unit.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Owls have a talented punter in Dante Atton (40.5, 39.4 net) and the coaching staff is high on new PK Carl Hardin. The return units could use some energy.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Don’t quote us on this but the Owls just might open the season at 2-0 (at UMass, Howard) before they get massacred in the next two games (Oklahoma, at Georgia Tech). Sadly, Temple has to face four of the five AAC heavyweights (miss Navy) and the last three games are nasty (at Army, Tulane, at North Texas).
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing heinous is noted.
Season Win Total
Market consensus June 24
Over 3.5 -115
Under 3.5 -115
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
Whether you are tempted by APHRODITE, the Greek goddess of love, or PEITHO, a companion of Aphrodite known for her powers of persuasion, it’s important that you take a step back and think for a bit before playing the ‘over’. This team looks good enough on paper to book 4+ wins but they might have trouble if they need a late win in November. We’re still evaluating. Stay tuned!
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Temple has lost <checks notes> and incredible 21 consecutive games on the road. Their last win ON THE HIGHWAY came back in 2021 when they blasted Akron by a score of 45-24.
New head coach K.C. Keeler is the only man to win FCS Championships at two different schools (Delaware, Sam Houston).
One of the greatest mysteries of our time is how everyone you meet from Philadelphia is awesome, but yet, the city is a corrupt crime-ridden cesspool dominated by bloodthirsty thugs and hard core communists.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
We love the hire of K.C. Keeler but there’s only so much you can do in one season to repair the damage done over the past number of years. The QB situation looks good and we believe the Owls will be able to run the football effectively vs several teams on their schedule, and that’ll give them a fighting chance to pick up a few wins. A bowl game is almost certainly out of reach but we’ll enjoy watching these guys improve over the course of the 2025 season. HOOT HOOT!