2023 Ultimate College Football Preview -Temple

Welcome to the Ultimate College Football Preview for 2023. Every team in FBS Football will be covered in this daily blog release. All of your favorite teams from the ACC, AAC, Big 12, Big 10, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West, PAC 12, SEC, Sun Belt & even every Independent. Think of these daily college football previews as a cheat sheet going into next year.

2022 Recap:

Another college football review of a bad team. At least Temple won more then one game last year. But lets not kid ourselves this was a very bad team that somehow went 3-9 and not 0-12. The Owls were 106th in points per game on offense. Defense was better, being ranked 96th in points allowed per game. I do believe this is the first college football preview this year I have done where both sides of the ball were ranked 90th or worse. They were blown out in 5 of their 9 loses but the other 4 were competitive if you are looking for a positive. Also winning 3 games means they believe in the coach and just need some time to work in his system.

Head Coach:

Stan Drayton had a rough first year in Philadelphia but that is not uncommon. His team did not quit on him and won some games. Drayton has tons of experience coaching, but that is mostly running backs. He has been a running backs coach in the NFL and in college from 1993-2016. Even in his last stop at Texas (2016-2021) he was the Assistant Head Coach and Running Backs coach. I have to be honest I don’t know too much about his scheme or coaching style. I know he prefers running a 3-4 defense and spread on offense. It is hard to give a good bio on the man being a head coach who hasn’t even been a coordinator before. I guess it is a wait and see for the Temple Head Coach.

Key Players:

E.J. Warner is back at QB coming off his Freshman year where he showed signs off his fathers talent. Warner had 3,028 yards, on a 60.8% completion percentage, throwing 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Those aren’t terrible numbers for a first year player, and if the interceptions go down a little while the td’s go up he will be a good QB in the AAC. Right now though there is no LT or C listed on the offensive depth chart and only 4 WR’s none who contributed last year. The fall camp will be very important for chemistry in the offense. They will need to put playmakers in key postions to have a winning offense. If you look at the defense depth is also an issue only 5 positions have more than 1 player on the depth chart. They do have leading tackler OLB Jordan Magee back, last year he had 86 tackles, 9 TFL’s and 4.5 sacks. His two partners in crime Yvandy Rigby with his 82 tackles, 5 TFL’s and 2 sacks. Also Layton Jordan with 54 tackles, 18.5 TFL and 9 sacks. It is safe to say Temple has some LB’s that produce! Depth at DL and Defensive Back will be key. I think they could be the best defense in the AAC this year if they add pieces in fall camp.

2023 Prediction:

Looking at the Owls schedule for 2023, I am seeing a way to a bowl game at 7-5 more realistically 6-6. I think they go 2-1 in the non-conference vs. Rutgers, Akron and Norfolk State. I think they can go 4-5 or 5-4 in conference with an improved defense and offense. They will need to fill those roster gaps but I can see the light for the Philadelphia base Temple Owls. Maybe things start turning around slowly.