Saturday marked a new era of Temple Owls football, and it certainly felt new for a team starved of recent success.
K.C. Keeler debuted as head coach of the program, and his winning ways immediately transitioned from his former stomping grounds of Sam Houston to his new home. Temple curb-stomped new MAC member UMass, 42-10, on the road to open the season. After four consecutive 3-9 seasons, a 32-point victory was a welcome sight. The Owls hadn’t defeated an FBS opponent by such a margin since 2019
— the last season when they qualified for a bowl game. It also marked the program’s first road victory since upending Akron on Sept. 11, 2021, ending the FBS’s longest road skid at 20 games.
Fueling Temple’s best showing in years was a familiar face. Evan Simon retained starting quarterback duties after winning a camp battle against Oregon State transfer Gevani McCoy, and Simon unleashed his best collegiate showing to date. The senior diced the UMass defense with 248 passing yards and a career-high six touchdowns, all while remaining efficient with 19 completions on 25 attempts and refraining from an interception.
Temple encountered its maximum adversity in the first quarter as UMass struck first on a Rocko Griffin touchdown run and held a 10-7 lead at the end of the period. Sandwiches in between the Minutemen’s lone scoring plays was Simon’s first touchdown strike of the year, a 21-yarder to tight end Peter Clarke.
Then in the second quarter, the Mount Joy, PA native went on a barrage. Simon delivered three separate touchdown passes in 15 minutes of game-changing action. Perhaps his finest of the day was the touchdown to take a lead that would never be relinquished. On that play, Simon faked a handoff and threaded the needle to hit Kajiya Hollawayne on a 24-yard corner route. He then connected with Clarke again for a 29-yard score to extend the lead and concluded the quarter with a pass to running back Terrez Worthy for a 13-yard touchdown.
Simon concluded a stellar season debut with two additional touchdowns to tight end Ryder Kusch in the fourth quarter, tying Adam DiMichele (2008 vs. Eastern Michigan) and Devin Scott (Rutgers) for the most single-game touchdown passes in Temple history. It was Simon’s second career game featuring 5+ touchdowns and zero interceptions — a feat he also accomplished in the Owls’ lone non-conference victory over Utah State in 2024.
For Simon, Saturday’s masterclass was an entire fall camp’s worth of work materializing. At one media availability a week prior to kickoff, the quarterback claimed he moved his air mattress into the facilities for two weeks, sleeping in the cold building to emphasize his commitment to bettering the Owls.
Simon and the Owls return home to Philadelphia for Week 2 as they host Howard of the FCS — also serving as Keeler’s first home game with the program.
