Following a pair of extremely tough matchups against Power Four squads in Weeks 2-3, Utah State’s final non-conference matchup will be a cross-country contest with Temple. It’s a matchup that will contrast the games at USC and home against Utah since the Owls are in essentially the opposite realm of those two P4 schools. Let’s just say Temple’s expectations across the country aren’t exactly high. It’ll give the Aggies a much more winnable game, something that could be very important if they fly into Pennsylvania with a 1-2 overall record.
This is the fourth installment in a series of 12 opponent previews that will go in-depth on each of the Aggies foes for the 2024 football season.
Game Info
- Game Day: Sept. 21
- Location: Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, PA)
- Kickoff Time: TBA
- TV Broadcast: None currently announced
Quick-Hit Info on Temple
- Head Coach: Stan Drayton (3rd season at Temple, 6-18 record)
- 2023 Record: 3-9
- 2023 Offense Rank: 109th (21.1 points per game)
- 2023 Defense Rank: 127th (35.7 points allowed per game)
- Returning Production Rank — 129th
- 2024 Preseason Consensus Ranking — 130th
History of Utah State vs Temple
This is the first-ever meeting between Utah State and Temple.
Temple Players to Watch
- Joquez Smith (RB)
- Dante Wright (WR)
- Tra Thomas (DE)
- Torey Richardson (CB)
- Andreas Keaton (S)
The Owls in 2023
Temple started the season with a thrilling victory via a second-half rally against Akron in the first week of the season. Quarterback EJ Warner threw for nearly 300 yards in the win and holding an opponent to 21 points was a pretty solid sign since Temple’s 2022 points allowed average was nearly 30 per game.
Unfortunately, that’s pretty much as good as the season got.
Excluding Temple’s Week 3 game against FCS side Norfolk State, the Owls would only win one more game the entire season and not until Nov. 4 when a win over Navy finally ended a five-game losing streak. In conference play, Temple went 1-7 and were outscored by an average of three touchdowns.
The 3-9 record to end the season marked the third straight year Temple has finished with that exact record, two of those coming under current head coach Stan Drayton
2024 Season Prospects
Most of Temple’s expectations can be summarized with its placement in various rankings. Not only was it picked to finish last in the AAC, but among national rankings are consistently picked as one of the bottom 10 teams in FBS. The preseason isn’t exactly painting a pretty picture for the Owls’ 2024 season.
Much of the pessimism comes from the fact that Temple have already not been very good and this past offseason it lost most of what few major contributors it did have. The Owls’ QB, Warner, led the AAC in yards per game but he transferred. Linebacker Jordan Magee is also no longer at Temple, having turned pro and gotten himself drafted in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. Also gone are the top two pass-catchers, the leading rusher and the top six leaders in tackles from 2023.
There’s not much left from last season. Though from a certain point of view perhaps that’s a good thing. Drayton has brought in more than 40 newcomers to this team and hopes these incoming player are the answer to the many issues the team has had the last few seasons.
In short, Temple is going to have a lot to prove using a lot of players that are going to be taking on their first major role at a Division I school.
With so many newcomers, position battles are rampant in several areas. At the most visible position, quarterback, the battle seems to be between Evan Simon and Forrest Brock. Three openings on the offense line will also create competition. At running back and wide receiver, though, the spots seem a little more settled. Joquez Smith will likely step into the RB1 spot after the departure of last year’s leading rusher Darvon Hubbard. And the top two wide receivers, Dante Wright and Zae Baines, seem to have their roles nailed down. None have been super productive, but Smith had 325 carries with a 4.6 yards per rush average with Wright reeling in 39 passes for 507 yards and four TDs and Baines posting 36/442/1. They aren’t stars but they are viable playmakers.
The defensive side of the ball is trickier since there are only three returners in the entire unit. The one area of the defense that will retain a decent amount of production last year is the defensive line, which is where all three returning starters are at. Defensive end Tra Thomas has the most stats of any of the players with his 5.0 TFLs and 3.0 sacks from last season (and similar numbers from his 2022 campaign). He only played eight games in 2023 so a bigger role and better health could bump that production up. Interior D-linemen Conlan Greene and Allan Haye round out the returners, though incoming FAU transfer Latrell Jean could jump to the top of the depth chart.
One of the biggest areas of improvement on defense Temple will try to implement is forcing turnovers. The Owls generated five whole turnovers in all of 2023 (ranking 130th in FBS). Three interceptions and two fumbles. It was a wrong turn from 2022 when Temple ranked 117th in turnovers forced with just 12. A potential issue is that two of the bigger additions in the secondary, Western Carolina transfer safety Andreas Keaton and UTEP transfer cornerback Torey Richardson don’t have deep histories of creating turnovers with just seven between them in 58 games played. But at the very least there’s experience and production both could bring to the table.
Preseason Game Prediction — Close Win
Temple is not expected to be a good team this year and it hasn’t fielded a bowl-worthy team since 2019. However, that’s not going to mean USU can walk onto the Owls’ turf and just flatten them. Perhaps that happens, but consider Utah State’s record on the road the last two seasons. It’s 5-7, with the Aggies being outscored by an average of 10.5 points despite the nearly .500 record. Those five wins were all against teams that finished with losing records (the best record among any of them was 4-8) and every game finished within one score. Utah State can and should win this game, but any win by more than eight points would be breaking a two-year trend.
