Preseason camp primer: The schedule
Temple will kick off its preseason camp this week at the SUNY-Maritime College football facility in The Bronx, preparing for what initially looks like a challenging schedule.
The Owls will face two programs from the Power 5 in the season’s first three weeks. And in conference play, they will have to deal with two teams that finished in the Associated Press Top 25 poll last season.
Here’s a look at some of the key games on the 2021 schedule:
Rutgers
Thursday, Sept. 2, 6:30 p.m. – SHI Stadium
Big Ten Network
To start the season, the Owls will take a trip up the New Jersey Turnpike to play at Rutgers. Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano is in the second season of his second stint with the program, and the hope with his hire was that he could recapture the magic he had during his first tour of duty at Rutgers, which included a 5-1 record in bowl games and several national coach of the year awards back in 2006 when the Scarlet Knights went 11-2 and climbed as high as No. 7 in the AP Top 25.
If history is any indicator, the Rutgers team that went 3-6 in Big Ten play last season will not be the same one the Owls see in the Sept. 2 season opener. The Scarlet Knights’ three wins in last season’s COVID-delayed Big Ten schedule all came on the road – at Michigan State to open the season in October, at Purdue and at Maryland. Rutgers was the fourth-most improved team in America on offense last fall and averaged more than 13 points a game more than it did the previous season, and the Scarlet Knights return quarterback Noah Verdal and some playmakers at his disposal in wide receiver Bo Melton and running back Isaiah Pacheco.
And there’s an additional storyline with this game, of course. Cornerback Christian Braswell, defensive tackle Ifeanyi Maijeh and offensive lineman David Nwaogwugwu all left Temple for Rutgers via the transfer portal in the offseason, and secondary coach Fran Brown was a member of Matt Rhule’s former Temple staff and returned to North Philadelphia to work for Owls head coach Rod Carey for his first season before leaving to take his current job with Schiano.
BOSTON COLLEGE
Saturday, Sept. 18, noon – Lincoln Financial Field
ESPN2 or ESPNU
After a road game at Akron on Sept. 11 against a Zips team that went 1-5 last season, Boston College flies into Philadelphia in Week 3 for another tough nonconference matchup. The Eagles went 6-5 in head coach Jeff Haley’s first season last fall, and they look like they could be on their way up the ladder.
Last season, the 14-team ACC added Notre Dame to its schedule because of the pandemic. Out of the 15 teams that played an ACC schedule last year, eight of them finished with a record at or above .500, five of them finished in the CFP Top 25, and two them played in the College Football Playoff. The Eagles managed to be one of those eight teams with a record at or better than .500, finishing fifth in the ACC behind the five Top 25 programs. A missed two-point conversion attempt left them just short of going to overtime against then-No. 12 North Carolina, and Boston College was competitive against No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Notre Dame.
A trio of talented wideouts in Zay Flowers, who caught an ACC-best nine touchdowns in 2020, CJ Lewis and Kobay White will test a Temple secondary that’s relying upon two transfer portal additions at cornerback in Keyshawn Paul from UConn and Cameron Ruiz from Northwestern.
MEMPHIS
Saturday, Oct. 2, noon – Lincoln Financial Field
TV TBD
American Athletic Conference play begins in Week 5 when Memphis comes to town for Temple’s Homecoming. When these two teams faced off last season, quarterback Brady White led his Tigers to a 41-29 victory. While White may be gone, first team all-conference wide receiver Calvin Austin III, who caught 63 passes for 1,053 yards and 11 touchdowns a year ago, returns and landed on the 2021 Biletnikoff Award Watch List.
On the other side of the ball, new Temple quarterback and Georgia transfer D’wan Mathis will have to deal with Bednarik Award watch list defensive back Quindell Johnson, who tallied 81 tackles, three interceptions and eight pass break-ups last season. Memphis finished third in the American last year with an 8-3 record and shows no signs of slowing down.
CINCINNATI
Friday, Oct. 8, 7 p.m. – Nippert Stadium
ESPN
The Owls do not get a break in Week 6 and will travel to Cincinnati less than a week laer for a Friday night ESPN game to play a Bearcats team that will be fresh off a revenge game against Notre Dame. There were a good portion fans and football people in general last season that believed Cincinnati deserved the fourth and final spot in the College Football Playoff, not the Fighting Irish. Melvin Rice’s corners should have a fun time dealing with Davey O’Brien Award Watch List quarterback Desmond Ridder, and Mathis will have to contend with two Bednarik Award Watch List defenders and returning first-team all-conference selections in cornerback Ahmad Gardner and defensive end Myjai Sanders (10.5 tackles for a loss, seven sacks in 2020.)
UCF
Saturday, Oct. 30 – Lincoln Financial Field
Time and TV TBD
Fast forward to Week 9 and Carey will get his first matchup against former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn when Temple hosts UCF. Malzahn will go from Bo Nix at Auburn to Dillon Gabriel, the Knights’ O’Brien Award Watch List quarterback. One thing Malzahn will have with Gabriel this season that he didn’t have with Nix will be Jaylon Robinson, who caught 55 passes for 979 yards and six touchdowns and produced 18 plays of 20 or more yards. In a season where Temple’s defensive backs will be seeing some very good receivers, Robinson could prove to be as good as any of them.
HOUSTON
Saturday, Nov. 13 – Lincoln Financial Field
Time and TV TBD
Two of Temple’s last three games will be at home, starting with a matchup against cornerback Marcus Jones, running back Mulbah Car and Houston at the Linc. The Cougars, like the Owls, were hit hard by COVID last fall, so much so that they saw eight games get canceled or rescheduled. Jones, while a factor in the secondary, will be a test as a punt return specialist for a Temple program that’s still trying to shed its shaky special teams reputation. Jones logged 337 punt return yards and a touchdown en route to earning first-team all-conference honors as a return specialist.
TULSA
Saturday, Nov. 20 – H.A. Chapman Stadium
Time and TV TBD
The following week, Temple will go to Tulsa to play a Golden Hurricane team that joined Cincinnati as the only two teams from the American to finish in last season’s Top 25. Butkus Award winner Zaven Collins was drafted 16th overall by the Cardinals in April’s NFL Draft, but the defense still has defensive tackle Jaxon Player, who recorded 37 tackles and three sacks last season. The Golden Hurricane finished second in the American, lost the conference title game to Cincinnati 27-24, and lost 28-26 to unranked Mississippi State in the Armed Forces Bowl, falling just short of what would have been a few notable milestones.
A bounce back from 1-6 to bowl eligibility and six wins would be a step forward for Temple, but Carey’s Temple team will have to capitalize on every opportunity to grab a win, starting with the four nonconference games that will begin the season. They will also have opportunities in Weeks 8 and 13, when they’ll have a chance to beat USF for the second year in a row and get revenge on a Navy team that beat the Owls by two points in Annapolis in last fall’s season opener.