Kicking off as part of the Week 3 college football action, the Temple Owls will take on the Toledo Rockets as part of the afternoon slate. The 3:00 p.m. ET kickoff will be the 12th meeting between these two programs. They last faced off in 2015 in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Looking at the odds for this week’s matchup, Toledo enters as a six-point favorite with -218 moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. Temple holds +180 to pull off the upset, with the game total set at 49.5 points.
This article previews both teams and offers a pick for the Week 3 CFB matchup.
Temple Owls vs. Toledo Rockets
Temple Owls
While the Temple football program has not finished with a winning record since 2019, it is trending in the right direction. K.C. Keeler has provided some real buzz as head coach, snapping a streak of four consecutive seasons in which the program finished 3-9. The Owls are looking to further improve off of this and enter this week with a 1-1 record.
Temple picked up an opening-week victory over Rhode Island by a score of 38-14. It was a competitive matchup through most of the first half, before Temple scored 21 unanswered points to secure the win. In their most recent matchup, the Owls fell to Penn State by a score of 27-9. This was still a result that Temple should feel largely encouraged by. They were able to keep the game scoreless through the entirety of the first quarter and took a 3-0 lead early in the second against the 16th-ranked team in the country. Temple also scored the first touchdown that Penn State has allowed all season in the late stages of the matchup, and ran for an impressive 176 yards against an expected strong defensive line.
Through the opening two weeks, the quarterback outlook has still not been stabilized. Both Ajani Sheppard and Jaxson Smolik have taken snaps in both games thus far. Temple has leaned on more of a rush-oriented attack regardless of who is under center, with just 38 pass attempts on the season compared to 74 on the ground. Keveun Mason headlines this effort with 34 rush attempts for 234 yards and a pair of scores so far this season. DeCarlos Young and Hunter Smith also play key roles in the rushing attack, while both quarterbacks get involved as well. No Temple pass-catcher has pulled in more than six receptions for 57 yards so far this year.
Toledo Rockets
The Toledo Rockets peaked at 23rd in the AP Poll in 2023 and then produced back-to-back 8-5 seasons. However, there was plenty of change heading into this season, with Mike Jacobs entering his first season as head coach and there being plenty of roster turnover around him. Toledo lost all but one starter from last year’s roster. Jacobs has a strong track record which includes back-to-back SoCon championships with Mercer, no losing seasons in 10 years as a head coach, and a career 94-23 record. But every new situation comes with new challenges, and this is a leap in competition level compared to Jacobs’ resume.
The Rockets opened the season with a 30-20 loss to Michigan State. The score was much closer than the game was in actuality. Michigan State led the time of possession battle 43:16-16:44 and picked up 26 first downs compared to just 10 for Toledo. But the Rockets still deserve some credit for hanging around and never letting the game get put fully out of reach. Toledo got in the win column for the second game, defeating Central Connecticut 63-10. Central Connecticut struck first with a field goal to open the scoring, before Toledo ripped off 56 unanswered points and pushed the game into blowout territory. They tallied 569 total yards of offense, while allowing just 139, and showcased what this team is truly capable of.
John Alan Richter serves as the starting quarterback and has completed 27 of his 45 pass attempts (60%), for 448 passing yards, five touchdowns, and an interception. Connor Walendzak and CJ Miller headline the rushing attack with 188 yards and two touchdowns between them. Adjatay Dabbs and Rico Bond are tied for a team-leading 135 receiving yards, with four total touchdowns between them.
Temple vs. Toledo Pick
There is fair reason for optimism for both of these programs this season, and this is quietly one of the better games on the Week 3 slate. Toledo has made it clear that they are not lowering their standard despite the coaching and roster turnover. But it has been difficult to get a read on how good this team truly is through their opening two matchups. The Rockets were statistically dominated in their opener against Michigan State but did enough to stay in the game. They then properly put a beat down on an inferior opponent in their most recent matchup and will look to carry this momentum into this matchup.
However, there is more stability with this Temple football program that I trust more. Keeler has a track record of winning more than he gets credit for. During his second season as the head coach of Delaware, the Blue Hens won the FCS championship. In his second season at Sam Houston, they were ranked in the FCS top-five and won 11 games. It was a low bar of expectation at Temple based on the results of the past few years. But Temple got off to a 5-3 start to the season last year, and the foundation has been laid for the Owls to further propel into this season. Temple adequately dealt with Rhode Island in their opener and executed their game plan to keep it largely competitive with a far more talented Penn State team last week. Showing the ability to provide resistance in the trenches on both sides of the ball against the Nittany Lions was extremely impressive.
Looking at the specifics of this matchup, I expect the Temple defense to keep Toledo in check throughout. They showed toughness against Penn State, and Toledo has not found an area where they particularly excel offensively. The Rockets have not been necessarily punished for it, but they have turned the ball over three times already this season.
Temple should be considered live underdogs in this matchup, and my lean is toward them winning outright. Playing on the road is difficult, and I expect points to be difficult to come by for both sides. But the gap between these teams is more narrow than the six-point spread indicates. I am backing Temple to cover and improve their against the spread record to 3-0 on the season, and this is a matchup that is worth taking a swing on the moneyline.
