Oklahoma 2025 Football Opponent Preview: Temple Owls

After non-conference games against Illinois State and Michigan, the Sooners will host a Temple team that struggled mightily in 2025.

Temple quarterback Forrest Brock / David Butler II-Imagn Images

For its first road game of 2025, Oklahoma goes to Philadelphia to battle a Group of Five team that struggled last year.

The Sooners will battle Temple, an American Athletic Conference squad, after opening the season against the Owls in 2024. The Sooners beat Temple 51-3 in last year's season opener in Norman.

Here’s what to know about the Owls:

2024 recap

Temple came into last season with low expectations, picked to finish last in the AAC.

The Owls weren’t much better than that prediction. Their season-opening 48-point loss to OU was only the start of a rough season, as they ended the year 3-9 overall and 2-6 in league play. 

Temple avoided a last-place finish in the AAC, with Florida Atlantic and Tulsa both going 1-7 in AAC games. The Owls’ only wins came against FAU, Tulsa and Utah State, none of which reached bowl eligibility.

Still, the Owls fired coach Stan Drayton after 10 games, replacing him with Sam Houston State coach K.C. Keeler in the offseason.

Temple reached bowl eligibility for five seasons in a row between 2015 and 2019. But the Owls haven’t been to a bowl game since. They’ve been to just nine bowl games in their history.

Key returners

QB Evan Simon (Sr.), RB Terrez Worthy (Sr.), RB Joquez Smith (Jr.), WR John Adams (Sr.), OL Jackson Pruitt (Jr.), DE Sekou Kromah (Sr.)

Notable transfer portal additions

CB Dontae Pollard (Samford), QB Jevani McCoy (Oregon State), DL Demerick Morris (Oklahoma State), RB Jay Ducker (Sam Houston State), LB Jalen Stewart (UMass).

Strengths

Truly, there weren’t many bright spots for the Owls in 2024, but their passing defense was at least middle-of-the-pack in the AAC.

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Temple finished fifth in the conference in passing defense, allowing 191 yards per game. The Owls held opposing quarterbacks to a 59% completion percentage.

The Owls, though, didn’t take advantage of their decent pass coverage with takeaways often enough, ending the season with just nine interceptions.

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Oklahoma 2025 Schedule Preview

• Illinois State Redbirds
• Michigan Wolverines
• Temple Owls
• Auburn Tigers
• Kent State Golden Flashes
• Texas Longhorns
• South Carolina Gamecocks
• Ole Miss Rebels
• Tennessee Volunteers
• Alabama Crimson Tide
• Missouri Tigers
• LSU Tigers

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Weaknesses

Overall, the Owls finished at the bottom of the conference offensively and defensively.

Temple averaged just 19.6 points per game, which was the lowest mark in the AAC and 121st out of 134 teams that compete at the NCAA Division I FBS level. 

The Owls were 13th out of 14 AAC teams in scoring defense, allowing 35.4 points per contest. Only Tulsa (42.5) allowed more.

Temple also finished last place in the conference in total offense (308.8 yards per game), rushing offense (92.8 yards per game), rushing defense (226.5 yards allowed per game), sacks against (37), sacks by (14) and first downs (15.7 per game).

How do the Owls match up with OU?

Ultimately, the Sooners’ game against Temple is filler.

The Owls were among the worst FBS teams a year ago, and with a new coach in 2025, it will likely be another rebuilding year.

It’s possible that Temple exceeds expectations if it can get production out of McCoy, who will battle for the starting quarterback job with Simon, the Owls' 2024 starter.

McCoy struggled last season at Oregon State, throwing three touchdowns and six interceptions for the Beavers in nine starts. Before that, he was a first-team All-Big Sky selection for Idaho in 2023.

Even so, with so much inconsistency on both sides of the ball a year ago, it’s hard to imagine the Owls will be able to compete with OU’s athleticism, skill and size.

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