Temple Football traveled to Norman, Oklahoma, this week knowing they had an uphill battle ahead of them. The Owls were 43.5 point underdogs against the nationally ranked Sooners and didn’t formally announce their starting quarterback until seconds before the game.
Evan Simon and Forrest Brock were the leading candidates to start under center all offseason following E.J. Warner’s transfer to Rice. Brock got the starting nod, but it ultimately didn’t matter. Self-inflicted wounds ruined any chance Temple had at keeping the game competitive.
The Owls coughed up the ball four times in the first 30 minutes of play, with three fumbles and an interception. The Sooners turned those takeaways into 20 points and the Owls were unable to respond, putting up just three points on their way to their opening day loss.
Temple (0-1, 0-0 American Athletic Conference) was trounced by No. 16 Oklahoma (1-0, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) 51-3 in the season opener. The Owls never found a rhythm and didn’t enter Sooner territory until the final minute of the first quarter.
Brock struggled to get his bearings in his first full game at quarterback. He didn’t complete a pass on the first possession which led to a three and out. The next drive fared even worse after Brock fumbled and the Sooners recovered.
The Owls’ signal caller didn’t complete a pass until the three-minute mark of the opening quarter; a throw to running back Joquez Smith that resulted in a two-yard loss.
While Temple’s offense sputtered, Oklahoma’s was in full gear, carving up the Owls’ defense. Oklahoma marched down the field in less than three minutes in their opening drive and capped it off when quarterback Jackson Arnold threw the first of four touchdown passes, finding tight end Baur Sharpe to get the action started.
The Sooners wasted no time extending their lead after yet another failed Temple drive. This time Arnold found wide receiver Deion Burks in the endzone for the 14-yard score to push the deficit to 14-0. Keltner added a 50-yard field goal later in the quarter to put the Sooners up 17-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Brock connected with wide receiver Dante Wright for 28 yards early in the second quarter for his first completion for positive yards, but the drive stalled out. Brock finished the contest completing a mere 12 of 25 passes.
Temple was unable to get rid of the turnover bug and Oklahoma turned those extra possessions into points. Smith fumbled the ball inside the Owls’ 10 yard line and the Sooners recovered, allowing Burks to get his third touchdown of the night in his first game as a Sooner uniform to go up 34-0 at halftime.
The Owls’ best drive came in the third quarter — which was capped off with three points from a 49-yard field goal from kicker Maddux Trujillo, finally putting Temple on the board.
Despite the scoreboard, Temple’s defense saw improvement from last year, holding the Sooners to just three points after they scored 17 in both quarters of the first half. The Sooners scored 17 points in the second half but Temple’s offense couldn’t reward them for it.
Temple allowed just 64 yards in the third quarter but was plagued with constant mistakes. The Owls gave the ball up two more times and a tired defense was unable to stop theSooners backups — who found the endzone two times in the final 15 minutes to put the finishing touches on a dominant week one win.
Temple will look to flip the script when they travel to Annapolis, Maryland, to face Navy (0-0, 0-0 AAC) on Sept. 7 at 3:30 p.m.
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