Last season was a transition season for the Temple Owls. The Owls finished the season at 6-6 and 4-4 in American Athletic Conference play, and were eligible for a bowl game. However, Temple was not invited to a bowl game, which upset the team and its fans.
Head Coach Matt Rhule took a Temple team that finished 2-10 in his first season with the team, turned them into a team that finished .500, and is now looking to continue the improvement in his third season with the Owls.
Temple had a very strong year, especially on defense. The Owls only allowed an average of 17.5 points per game, which ranked fourth in the nation. The defense was led by linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who had 117 total tackles and 1.5 sacks which earned him first team honors in the AAC, along with defensive end Praise Martin-Oguike, who recorded 7.5 sacks, and defensive back Tavon Young, who had four interceptions (one of which was returned for a touchdown) and nine pass deflections. All three of these players are now seniors and are looking to make the most of themselves in their final year at Temple.
Offensively, Temple was streaky with producing scores and moving the chains, being able to put up 59 points during some games, while struggling at other times to barely put up six points at times. Last year, the Owls scored an average of 23.1 points per game, which ranked 97th in the nation. Most of the points came from quarterback P.J. Walker. Walker, now in his junior year, was able to air the ball out well, racking up 2,317 yards through the air and passing for 13 touchdowns. However, Walker struggled with his accuracy, throwing 15 interceptions (four coming in the game against Penn State) and only completing 53.3% of his passes. Walker was capable of having strong performances, but he did lose his favorite target, Jalen Fitzpatrick.
There was one thing that Walker had that made him deadly and that defenses had to cover: his feet. If Walker saw he didn’t have a receiver open or just saw a glimpse of daylight on the line, he took off and didn’t look back. Walker had over 300 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns. The Owls had an even deadlier set of feet in the backfield, however. Jahad Thomas, back for his junior year, accumulated 382 rushing yards and averaged 4.8 yards per rush, ranking in the top 150 rushers (QBs included) in the nation.
Expect Thomas to see the ball a lot early on in the season, especially while Walker tries to find a new go-to receiver. That receiver could be Romond Deloatch, who had 3 TD’s last season, or Brandon Shippen, someone who was reliable but not really targeted that much in games and has a good set of hands.
However, it’ll be a tough road ahead of the Owls, as their non-conference schedule is not very friendly, including games against Penn State and Notre Dame. Here is there schedule for their 2015 campaign (conference games italicized):
9/5: vs. Penn State
9/12: @ Cincinnati
9/19: @ Massachusetts
10/2: @ Charlotte
10/10: vs. Tulane
10/17: vs. Central Florida
10/22: @ East Carolina
10/31: vs. Notre Dame
11/6: @ Southern Methodist
11/14: @ South Florida
11/21: vs. Memphis
11/28: vs. Connecticut
ESPN’s FPI has Temple finishing the year at 9-3, with losses coming to Penn State, Notre Dame, and Cincinnati, with the game against East Carolina being the least likely win.
This year’s Temple squad is a solid team and excels on defense. Their offense might not be one of the best in the nation, but if the defense holds their part and uses last year as motivation for this year, then the Owls can easily be in a bowl game this year, possibly contending for the AAC title.