It’s an interesting year to be a Temple fan as the Owls have done an incredible job of building their roster around their budding quarterback. How far can E.J. Warner fly in our Temple season predictions for 2023?
Temple Season Predictions: Predicting the Game-By-Game Results
Using groupthink, College Football Network analysts have painstakingly gone through every game for every team in the American Athletic Conference and across the country.
Find Every AAC Season Prediction per team: Charlotte | ECU | FAU | Memphis | Navy | North Texas | Rice | SMU | Temple | Tulane | Tulsa | UAB | USF | UTSA
Picking these games straight up with a projected score using the rosters as up-to-date as the last spring practice, how do the Temple predictions look for 2023?
Week 1 – Temple vs. Akron: Win, 30-19
The Akron Zips bring a unique brand of football to town against Temple. DJ Irons at quarterback and the talented offense from head coach Joe Moorhead will certainly present issues for Temple’s defense.
However, Akron’s biggest discrepancy will be depth in the secondary and Warner and Co. should be able to fly high over the Zips.
Week 2 – Temple @ Rutgers: Win, 22-21
With a potential Power Five win on the horizon, the game against Rutgers is is absolutely a winnable contest for Temple. The Scarlet Knights are struggling for relevancy in the Big Ten at the current moment, despite a minor resurgence back under the guidance of Greg Schiano.
Warner gives even the best defenses fits with his talented throwing ability and Rutgers is a few players away from being considered a great defense. The Owls throw it all over this team and make their names relevant on the big stage in Week 2.
Week 3 – Temple vs. Norfolk State: Win, 40-19
An easier game sandwiched in between two Power Five opponents comes at the right time. Lick your wounds and nurse your players back to health against Norfolk State as the Hurricanes loom large.
Week 4 – Temple vs. Miami (FL): Loss, 24-31
The Miami roster is full of high-profile recruits and a talented bunch of characters at every position. Still, since Mario Cristobal took over, that’s all they’ve proven to be: talent without elevation.
Temple should be able to hang with the Hurricanes who have questions at a few key positions in 2023. Can Warner throw on this talented secondary enough to push Miami to the brink? We think so.
Week 5 – Temple @ Tulsa: Win, 29-23
Back to AAC play for the first time in 2023, the Owls head to Tulsa for a matchup against the Golden Hurricane and their talented secondary. It’s a matchup of strength vs. strength with Warner against this defensive unit.
Edge, however, goes to Warner and the talented playmakers he has at every level. Finding a player like Dante Wright over the middle of the field to mitigate the strength of Tulsa’s outside cornerbacks in this one has a good ring to it.
Week 6 – Temple vs. UTSA: Loss, 26-37
The cream of the crop of newcomers to the conference, UTSA will be tough for any opponent to tackle this season, literally and figuratively. The Roadrunners have one of the greatest college football quarterbacks and even better stories on their roster with Frank Harris and his veteran leadership should pave the way for a UTSA victory.
The Roadrunners have a sound secondary and enough playmakers on the backend to hang with Temple’s aerial assault.
Week 7 – Temple @ North Texas: Loss, 26-29
The Mean Green should be a fun offense to watch yet again in 2023. Though they’re usually known for flying high like Temple will be in 2023, North Texas’ ground game should pave the way for some impressive offensive outings.
The Mean Green’s rushing attack can keep the ball from Warner and Co. and that’s the easiest way to defeat Temple in 2023.
Week 8 – Temple vs. SMU: Loss, 28-33
Speed. Speed. And more speed. That’s who SMU is in 2023.
This has the makings of a high-flying, high-scoring contest that is must-watch television for all involved.
Week 10 – Temple vs. Navy: Win, 22-18
The Navy offense should look a lot different than over the years but the fact remains: Under new tutelage, this roster is further from being complete than ever before. Temple’s offense should be able to throw all over this unit whenever they have the ball.
Week 11 – Temple @ USF: Win, 26-21
Heading to the West Coast of Florida for this one, the Owls take on USF and their talented yet incomplete roster here. The USF team is searching for answers all over the field in what looks like a rebuild away from Jeff Scott as head coach.
If they can figure important pieces out and get an answer at quarterback, they can hang with teams. However, that seems unlikely as Temple has the recipe to fly over the Bulls in this one.
Week 12 – Temple @ UAB: Loss, 24-25
UAB is heading in a new direction with Trent Dilfer as their head coach. This is the marquee matchup for both programs as this is a key game for both the Blazers and Owls in terms of standings in the AAC.
Temple and UAB may both be able to sneak away with a victory in this one but our analysts were more secure in the fact that UAB is a point or two better — on paper — that home-field advantage is enough to give them the win here.
Week 13 – Temple vs. Memphis: Loss, 30-33
A bowl game should already be secured here for Temple and a win against Memphis could do wonders at improving their national stock and their bowl game placement. It would also likely cost Memphis a potential trip to the AAC Championship Game as they’re projected to battle it out with SMU for that third spot barring any hiccup for Tulane or UTSA.
That being said, Temple has the makings of a team that should give Memphis a hard time because of its offensive philosophy. Week 13 matchups don’t get much better than this.
