Temple head coach K.C. Keeler did a lot of talking this week leading up the Owls hosting the Oklahoma Sooners, but now, Keeler’s overmatched team has to go back it up.
The No. 13 Sooners leave Norman for the first time this season to play Temple at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Both teams enter Week 3 undefeated at 2-0 with similar stats, but the road to this point has been entirely different for both teams.
Score prediction for Oklahoma vs. Temple
Had Keeler kept his mouth shut, this could have been a trap game for the Sooners. After beating then-No. 15 Michigan 24-13 last week, a trip to Temple could have easily been overlooked with a matchup against No. 24 Auburn looming next week, when quarterback Jackson Arnold returns to Norman.
Keeler knew that, and even planned to use it to the Owls' advantage. However, he messed up by saying it loud enough for the Sooners to hear and take notice of undefeated Temple.
"I just think there’ll be a different energy, especially they have Auburn next week, than we have going on in our building," Keeler said during a radio interview this week. "And we’ll take all those things into consideration. Take all those things as a win for us. ...
“We obviously are gonna be playing a very talented team that’s made a huge investment in their program and a team that is a blue blood that aspires to win a national championship. There’s high expectations there. I think when people kind of went through their schedule and looking at the number of wins, I’m sure Temple was just a simple, ‘Yeah, check that one off.’ I don’t think we see it that way.”
Keeler has the Owls at 2-0 in his first season as Temple's head coach after leaving Sam Houston State. However, Temple's wins were blowouts against UMass and Howard. The Sooners' 2-0 start includes wins over No. 15 Michigan and Illinois State, which is a top-10 FCS team and could beat both of Temple's previous opponents. This will also Keeler's first time to ever coach against a ranked team.
No matter what the statistics show so far, the Sooners are far more talented and superior than Temple. The Owls are definitely better than they were last year when they lost to OU 51-3 in the season opener in Norman, but so are the Sooners.
Temple could had snuck up on the Sooners this time, but instead, Keeler didn't do anything quietly, so the Owls' cover was blown.
OU head coach Brent Venables hasn't been known to be much of a bulletin board material motivator, especially against the likes of Temple, but Keeler's comments and also saying he planned to make quarterback John Mateer "pay the price as a runner," was at least enough to get the Sooners' attention.
Prediction: Oklahoma 52, Temple 17
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