OU’s blowout of Temple exposed Kirk Herbstreit and Dave Portnoy’s cold takes

While most of the negativity about the Oklahoma Sooners before they played the Temple Owls came out of Philadelphia, two of the biggest mouths in sports also had low expectations for Brent Venables' team.

Before the No. 13 Sooners blew out Temple 42-3, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit and Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy on Saturday morning both put OU on upset watch in what could have been a trap game sandwiched between a win over Michigan and SEC opener against Auburn for quarterback Jackson Arnold's return to Norman.

Kirk Herbstreit and Dave Portnoy put Sooners on upset watch vs. Temple

Portnoy didn't predict a complete upset, at least not outright, but he wrote in a post on X that he didn't expect the Sooners to jump on Temple early in Philadelphia and liked the Owls as 6.5-point underdogs in the first quarter.

Portnoy, and ultimately Herbstreit, were proven wrong almost immediately. After holding Temple to a three-and-out, the Sooners easily got down the field for a touchdown on their first drive, then converted a two-pointed conversion with a wild jump pass from tight end Jaren Kanak to punter Jacob Ulrich.

The Sooners also added a field goal in the quarter to lead 10-0 after the first, losing Portnoy some money he can certainly afford to lose. OU actually went up 25-0 before Temple ever put three points on the board late in the second quarter.

Herbstreit's take was even colder. He straight up put the Sooners on upset alert during ESPN College GameDay when the crew discussed matchups on the network throughout the day Saturday.

"Today is going to be one of those days in college football when you’re reminded it’s not just about Xs and Os, it’s about emotion," Herbstreit said. "Oklahoma had a huge win against Michigan at home. They've got Auburn next week with Jackson Arnold, their former quarterback coming into town.

"They play Temple today at Lincoln Financial Field at noon on ESPN2 probably in front of 18,000. Today has all the makings of this: 'Third-quarter score out of Lincoln Financial -- Oklahoma 17, Temple 17.' That's what it's going to be today. I'm telling you. Be careful with this game."

In reality, the Sooners already led Temple 42-3 in the third quarter, which is when Herbstreit predicted a tie game.

Herbstreit was so confident in this take that it went up on his personal X account, not just on the College GameDay account. However, he does claim he doesn't actually post on his own account, so maybe his son just agreed with his terrible take and posted for him.

And this prediction came just a week after Herbstreit was in Norman calling the Sooners' dominant 24-13 performance against Michigan. However, Herbstreit and everyone else on the GameDay cast except Pat McAfee also predicted Michigan to beat the Sooners last week.

When the Sooners host Auburn next week for a likely top-20 meeting in Norman, that matchup will also be one college football analysts around the country will try to predict, but it's clear they haven't yet learned about the 2025 Sooners.

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