Temple will kick off their 2024 season on Friday night, August 30, in Oklahoma, with the game airing on ESPN at 7 p.m. EST.

This season marks the third under head coach Stan Drayton. In his first two years, when he piloted the program to identical 3-9 records, Drayton fielded a team that was mostly inherited. The 2024 version is built much more to his core identity. 

Having taken the reins on signing day in December 2021, Drayton now has the benefit of just a second full cycle of recruiting. There are just six players remaining from his initial roster and an influx of 101 new players under his recruitment or 89.4 percent. 

Like all football programs, all eyes will be on the quarterback position. Gone is incumbent starter E.J. Warner and there is an ongoing competition for the starting position that has taken some twists and turns prior to opening day. Forest Brock, a 2023 JUCO transfer looked sharp in practices but 2024 transfer portal addition, Evan Simon (Rutgers) has been on his heels all along. Along the way, Tyler Douglas, Pat Keller, and Chris Dietrich have pushed the group to become better. 

Coming off back-to-back 3-9 seasons and ending spring with an unsettled quarterback situation, it's not surprising that the prognosticators have Temple at the bottom of the American Athletic Conference in the preseason polls. However, the 2024 Temple Owls are not similar in makeup to the 2022-23 editions. Drayton has finally put his stamp on the Owls and the roster is much more talented and deeper. The results will be measured on the field in 2024. 

TEMPLE-OKLAHOMA HISTORY 
This matchup marks the third time that Temple and Oklahoma have competed in football. The all-time series is tied 1-1. Oklahoma won 9-6 at Memorial Stadium in 1940, followed by the Owls besting the Sooners two years later by a final score of 14-7 at Temple Stadium in Philadelphia. 

The two teams will meet again twice more before the decade's end, with the Sooners set to visit Temple in 2025 and Temple returning to Norman in 2028. 

UP NEXT 
The Owls will be on the road again next week as they head to Annapolis, Maryland to take on the Navy Midshipmen in the first American Athletic Conference game of the season. Kickoff is set for 3:30 pm and will air on CBS Sports Newtwork.