For another week, Temple is learning to play as the favorite
Temple and Tulsa might be two football programs heading in opposite directions this season for now, but it sounds like K.C. Keeler sees a little bit of his Owls in the Golden Hurricane, who will host Temple Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Tulsa brings a 2-5 overall record and a 1-2 mark in American Conference play into Saturday’s game (3:30 p.m., ESPN+), but Keeler said Monday during his weekly media availability that he believes the Golden Hurricane’s record and their numbers in defending the run (11th in the league in rushing defense at 193.6 yards per game) are reflective of their schedule.
Tulsa, which is coming off a 41-27 loss to East Carolina last Thursday, has already played – and lost to – Navy, Tulane and Memphis, who are first, third and fourth, respectively, in the league standings.
“Navy kind of skews everything,” Keeler said when asked about Tulsa’s run-defense numbers. “When you play a Navy team, and then you have a physical team like Tulane who’s just a real physical group and can just run the ball at you, I think part of it’s their schedule. I think they don’t know how good they are.”
Keeler then equated that line of thinking to his own team, which did what it was supposed to do in routing Charlotte, 49-14, Saturday.
“Just like I said earlier, I talked about it to our kids, this a good team,” Keeler said. “I don’t think our kids knew how good they were. And part of it is getting in their brains that they are a good team. And so you practice like you’re a good team. It’s amazing. If you don’t think you’re a good team, that’s how you practice. If you think you’re a good team, then that’s how you practice. So a lot of it is that psychological stuff.”
For at least another week, Temple will have to once again take on the role of the team that is expected to win, as the Owls are currently six-point favorites per BetMGM heading into Tulsa. Keeler talked Monday about the team’s approach, injury updates and much more in an interview you can listen to here. Right tackle Diego Barajas and defensive tackle Allan Haye spoke with reporters as well.
The injury front
Left guard Eric King and tight end Ryder Kusch both missed last Saturday’s game at Charlotte, and Keeler believes he’ll have both players on the field at Tulsa this Saturday. Defensive tackle Sekou Kromah, who played just eight snaps Saturday and did not practice Monday, has progress to make before he can play.
“Has an oblique,” Keeler said of Kromah’s injury. “With those big guys, obliques are kind of brutal, so it’s going to be a kind of day-by-day thing. Nothing that’s serious, but one of those things that’s tremendously painful.”
“Not having him against Navy hurt us,” Keeler added, “because he’s that big guy that still can play on the edge. So he’s super dynamic, but he’s just a massive human being. So he’s a guy that might be a little questionable going into this thing. But we’ve got to get him back healthy, because what he can do as a pass rusher for us is pretty impressive.”
