Temple Football kicks off the 2024 season with a road contest against the #16-ranked Oklahoma Sooners tonight at 7 pm on national television this evening. Following back-to-back 3-9 campaigns, Temple Football Head Coach Stan Drayton does not have an easy task to begin the year tomorrow night. However, the 2024 season represents a season of change for Temple football and a tough test early on could set the team up for success moving forward this season.
Temple replaced almost 90 percent of its roster over the last two recruiting seasons meaning the roster construction should resemble Drayton’s vision of football more than it has in the previous years. In December 2021, Drayton replaced Rod Carey as the Head Coach at Temple inheriting a roster that lost significant starting players to the NCAA transfer portal.
Temple Owls Preview
A quarterback battle ensued during the pre-season between a pair of transfers, Evan Simon from Rutgers and Forrest Brock from Santa Monica College (JUCO). Brock has the inside edge on the starting position to open the 2024 season. However, the Head Coach indicated to Johnny Zawislak of OwlScoop.com that does not feel compelled to designate a starting QB between Brock, Simon or Tyler Douglas before kickoff on Friday night:
“I have a great competitive situation going on in that room right now, and I don’t want to lose that edge,” Drayton said. “It’s an iron-sharpens-iron mindset, and everybody in that room is just getting better. There’s a clear one, two and three. I’m just going to probably make that decision game day.”
Joining the signal callers in the backfield will be running back Joquez Smith in his first opportunity at a starting job. Smith racked up over 300 years last season in limited duty. Last season was a difficult year for the Temple offensive line which significantly disrupted the ground game. With some better injury luck in 2024, Temple should see improvement running the football this season… just maybe not against the 16th-ranked Sooners tonight.
On defense, the Temple Owls are replacing six players in the starting unit that might need some game-time situations to come together on the gridiron. Defensive Coordinator Everett Withers has a brand new crew to coach up entering his second season as an assistant to Coach Drayton. Tra Thomas and Conlan Greene are the only returning starters from the 2023 edition of the Owls. Thomas is not related to the former Eagles defensive star William “Tra” Thomas, however, the NFL veteran was the favorite player of the father leading to the name choice for the talented Temple defensive lineman.
#16 Oklahoma Sooners Preview
The Friday night kickoff will represent Oklahoma’s first game as a member of the prestigious SEC football conference. Sophomore gunslinger Jackson Arnold returns for his first regular-season start alongside most of the offensive cast that leads to a 10-3 season in their final year in the Big 12.
The Sooners’ defense features pre-season All-American linebacker Danny Stutsman. A first-team selection this season, Stutsman led Oklahoma last season with 104 tackles and 19 for no-gain or lost yards on the play in 2023. Safety Billy Bowman, also in his senior season for the Sooners, received second-team honors entering this new season.
The Oklahoma Sooners have eyes on a spot in the expanded 12-team college football playoffs if they can navigate a difficult SEC conference schedule successfully. Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables sees value in every matchup, even if the Sooners are the overwhelming favorites according to the betting community:
“… Chemistry and cohesion is a very important thing. Hopefully you get to a position of game control, that you can work your guys together through a good majority of the game, where you see fit. Whether it’s a rotating basis, or the back half of the game you get some of your guys in game experience too.”
That early season, in-game competition could prove to be incredibly valuable for the Oklahoma Sooners later this fall.
Temple vs. Oklahoma Series History
Friday night’s game will be the third overall contest between the two schools separated by almost 1,400 miles. It is the first gridiron battle between the schools since November 21, 1942, when Temple claimed a 14-7 home win. In 1940, Oklahoma also won their home contest in the series with a 9-6 win at Memorial Stadium. The Sooners will visit Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia next season as part of the series agreement between the schools.
Tonight’s Temple-Oklahoma game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 pm at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.
Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
