After a disappointing 2020 season, the Owls start this year's campaign with a trip across the Delaware River to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Kickoff is set for 6:30pm and will air on the Big Ten Network and 97.5 The Fanatic. The former American Athletic Conference foes will play for the first time since Rutgers transferred to the Big Ten.This week marks the beginning of Rod Carey's third year at the helm for Temple. The Owls enter the season retaining 11 starters from last season, while welcoming in 11 transfers, nine from Power 5 schools. One of those transfers, quarterback D'Wan Mathis, transferred to Temple in December 2020 from Georgia, and was named the starting quarterback towards the end of spring practice. Among the returnees, four single-digit players: wide receivers Jadan Blue and Randle Jones, linebacker William Kwenkeu, and safety Amir Tyler come back for another season to lead the Owls. Two of the other single-digit players DT Daniel Archibong and WR Branden Mack departed for the NFL Draft. Blue and Jones will look to help fill the shoes of Mack with the help of Jose Barbon and Purdue transfer Amad Anderson Jr. On the defensive side of the ball, incoming transfers on the defensive line Jerquavion Mahone and Will Rodgers can help fill the void left by Archibong. Safety DaeSean Winston returns for the Owls after opting-out of last season due to COVID-19 concerns, while transfers Keyshawn Paul (UConn) and Cameron Ruiz (Northwestern) can help man the secondary.

LAST SEASON
2020 was a season to forget for the Owls as Temple finished with a 1-6 record in a COVID-19 shortened season. While every team deals with injury problems throughout a season, Temple dealt with a special situation last year as the Cherry & White lost 215 man-games due to COVID protocol, injury, opt-out, transfer rules, or suspension. That averages out to over 30 participants per game. Temple played five different quarterbacks and 22 different players for the first time in their careers, which ranked fourth-most behind Army (25), Navy (25), and Air Force (24).Wide receivers Blue and Mack continued to climb the Temple all-time receiving lists. Mack finished his career ranked sixth in receptions (131), seventh in yards (1,819), and fifth in touchdowns (15). Blue finished last season ranked third in receptions (139), and 17th in yards (1,477). Punter Adam Barry led the American Athletic Conference at season's end in punts inside the 20 with 17.

LAST TIME VS. RUTGERS
The last time that the Owls lined up against the Scarlet Knights was back on November 2, 2013 when Matt Rhule's squad fell by a score of 23-20. This was the last season that Rutgers played in the AAC before transferring to the Big Ten. The game was decided in the final minute as Rutgers QB Gary Nova hit WR Leonte Carroo for the game-winning touchdown. Late in the first quarter, now-Carolina Panthers teammates P.J. Walker and Robby Anderson linked up for a 26-yard touchdown. After exchanging scores across the next few quarters, Temple found themselves at the Rutgers 27-yard line leading 20-16 with under two minutes remaining. However, a failed fourth-down attempt gave the ball back to Rutgers who marched down the field for the game-winning touchdown.

UP NEXT
The Owls will be back in action next weekend when they travel to InfoCision Stadium to take on the Akron Zips. Kickoff will be at 3:30pm and will air on ESPN+.