American Athletic · K.C. Keeler, year 2 (6-9) · Lincoln Financial Field · 69,879 · 37,599 avg in 2026
LastL 48–49 at Toledo · Sat Sep 19 · Ajani Sheppard 164 pass yds, 3 TD, 66 rush yds
Nextvs Army · Fri Sep 25 · 4 pm ET · Lincoln Financial Field · Army by 3 · series 7-8, lost the last 4 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 22 · through week 3
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 5 | #90 | #106 | -14.5✓ | Rhode Island | W 38–14 61 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #91 | #38 | +24.5✓ | Penn State | L 9–27 116 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #92 | #49 | +4.5✓ | @Toledo | L 48–49 148 | 1-2 | 0-0 |
| 4 | Sep 25 | #96 | #41 | +3 | Army | |||
| 5 | Oct 3 | #96 | #55 | @South Florida | ||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | UConn | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | Charlotte | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | @East Carolina | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | @Navy | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | UAB | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 20 | Rice | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 27 | @Memphis |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 19 | @Toledo | L 48–49 | 425 | 1 | 33:38 | +0.332 | 39.7% | 148.5% | Season-high EPA/play |
| Sep 12 | Penn State | L 9–27 | 283 | 1 | 31:11 | +0.088 | 41.4% | 113.7% | Season-low EPA/play |
| Sep 5 | Rhode Island | W 38–14 | 369 | 1 | 30:54 | +0.170 | 46.0% | 113.6% | Best success rate |
| Season average (3 games) | 359 | 1.0 | +0.197 | 42.4% | 125.3% | ||||
Temple is the North Philadelphia program that Matt Rhule dragged to an AAC title and a top-25 ranking, then watched slide back to the bottom — and is now handing the rebuild to a 275-win coach who refuses to be realistic about how fast the Owls can climb.
Fans are sick of being the program everyone treats as a coaching stepping-stone — the place a Rhule or an Addazio uses to get to the next job. They want Keeler's refusal to be realistic to mean…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 5-7 · last season
✓ measured from 12 games · ranks are among American Athletic teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Cold. 3-7 over the last 10, and lost the last two.
I think Ajani’s strength has been him pulling the ball down and running and some of those designed runs
Next Sep 25
vs Army · at home
~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-22
the open questionwhere does it go from here?
K.C. Keeler begins his tenure at Temple, inheriting a 5-7 losing record and a program seeking to redefine its identity beyond its 2016 AAC championship legacy.
our readdeveloping
Hunter Smith gets meaningfully MORE work in the fourth quarter with a lead than his overall workload would predict.
our readbackground
Hunter Smith sees a real spike in usage once the game is out of reach.
our readbackground
Jovanni Bermudez is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks.
our readbackground
Kajiya Hollawayne is used almost exclusively underneath -- a low share of his targets are downfield shots.
our readbackground
Peter Clarke is used almost exclusively underneath -- a low share of his targets are downfield shots.
our readbackground
Temple enters 2026 rated No. 88 in 2025 SP+ (-5.1), up 39 spots from 2024.
our readbackground
Outcome band · Temple · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The optimistic read: momentum, and the 'this is real' takes.
The analytical counter: rankings, results, and 'the hype is ahead of the tape' takes.
This event was in 346 of 1425 board posts (24%) over the last 60 days — a fanbase consumed by it. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
Temple is the American Athletic program whose 2016 10-4 + AAC championship under Matt Rhule + Lincoln Financial Field NFL-stadium-shared identity define what Philadelphia-G5-football looks like.
The program ledger
since 2025$55M gift terminated amid investigation
A $55M gift yanked mid-investigation is the last thing a program at #68 nationally and already sweating IOL depth needed — Keeler's rebuild just lost a financial floor it was counting on.
Temple updates depth chart
Keeler's April depth chart drops with IOL pressure still unresolved and a class ranked 68th nationally — the Fordham tape showed the Owls can fight, but the interior needs bodies before that fight means anything in the AAC.
Kromah seeks fifth year eligibility
Kromah chasing a fifth year while K.C. Keeler's IOL room is already thin at #123 nationally — Temple can't afford to lose the depth it does have along that line.
Win total (line at 6.5) still unmoved 13d after "$55M gift terminated amid investigation"
The market hasn't budged since "$55M gift terminated amid investigation" broke on 2026-09-08 — either the books see it as already priced in, or this one's genuinely slipped past them.
Win total (line at 6.5) still unmoved 12d after "$55M gift terminated amid investigation"
The market hasn't budged since "$55M gift terminated amid investigation" broke on 2026-09-08 — either the books see it as already priced in, or this one's genuinely slipped past them.
Win total (line at 6.5) still unmoved 11d after "$55M gift terminated amid investigation"
The market hasn't budged since "$55M gift terminated amid investigation" broke on 2026-09-08 — either the books see it as already priced in, or this one's genuinely slipped past them.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
PA leads the 2026 class with 10 commits. National footprint reaching 12 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
110 signees across 22 states, 2023-2026. PA leads the pull.
That is 8.8% of every high-school FBS signee PA produced over those cycles — second only to Penn State, 3 signees back. The full map →
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Temple player grew up 96 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Lincoln Financial Field. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 107 of 119 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
Fan confidence in a typical range for this program right now
30th percentile among FBS programs
Losing the penalty battle: 12 penalties committed vs. 14 drawn on opponents, a 27-yard deficit.
115 penalty yards committed vs. 88 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Temple · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026