Earlier this week, head football coach Matt Rhule left Temple after nearly four seasons at the helm of the Temple Owls. Here is a look at the Temple football program since 2008 (the first year that I have complete data). This time period only covers the last three seasons of head football coach Al Golden (2008-2010), Steve Addazio (2011-2012), and Matt Rhule (2013-2016*). After the figure below is a more detailed look at the Temple Owls football program during head coach Rhule's tenure based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model using data provided by www.cfbstats.com. (The vertical school color bars represent seasons where head coaches changed).
Matt Rhule [2013-2016]
2013
Temple finished the regular season at 2-10, and were bowl ineligible. The Owls
played against a “average” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Owls SOS was plus or minus
one standard deviation from the "leagues" average SOS. Temple's best
regular season victory was against #87 ranked Army (33-14)
and their worst
loss was to FCS Fordham (29-30). Temple was the #89 ranked team overall, with the #76 ranked
offense and the #101 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2014
Temple finished the regular season at 6-6, and were bowl eligible (but did not get a post-season bowl invitation), while playing against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Temple's
best regular season victory was against #14 ranked East Carolina (20-10) and their worst
loss was to #61 ranked Penn State (13-30). Temple was the #72 ranked team overall, with the #113 ranked
offense and the #5 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2015 [American Athletic Conference runner-up]
Temple dramatically improved this season to finish the regular season at 10-2 and played in the American Athletic Conference championship where they were defeated by the #9 ranked Houston Cougars by a score of (13-24). Temple went on to play a post-season bowl game against #21 ranked Toledo, where they again lost by a score of (17-32) to finish overall at 10-4. Temple played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS) up to this point in the season. Temple's best regular season win was against #46 ranked Memphis by a
score of (31-12) and their worst regular season loss was to #27 ranked Notre Dame by a score of (20-24). Temple was the #47 ranked team overall, with the #72 ranked
offense and the #22 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2016 [American Athletic Conference Champion]
The Owls finished the regular season 9-3 and defeated #36 ranked Navy in the American Athletic Conference championship game. After this game, head coach Rhule departed for Baylor. Temple has played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS) up to this point in the season. Temple's best regular season win was against currently ranked #27 South Florida by a
score of (46-30) and their worst regular season loss was to #44 ranked Memphis by a score of (27-34). Temple is currently the #10 ranked team overall, with the #20 ranked
offense and the #12 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.