Temple football: Will Owls continue bowl streak in 2020?

Can Temple football keep up their unprecedented success and make the programs sixth straight bowl game and challenge for the AAC title?

For years, Temple was in a similar position to how schools like Rutgers and Kansas are viewed today in that they were the laughing stock of the FBS. Temple averaged a mere 1.9 wins from 1991 until 2006 and it did not seem like the program had much of a future in Division 1 football.

That changed when the program hired Al Golden, who was unsuccessful later as the coach of the Miami Hurricanes, turned Temple into a winner by his fourth season when he won nine games and then eight the next season. Golden left for the Hurricanes after the 2010 season, but the program has shown an ability to hire the up and coming coaches to the position and Temple has became a very consistent program.

From Steve Addazio to Matt Rhule to Geoff Collins and now Rod Carey, Temple is consistently among the most disciplined and physical teams in the group of five and they always demand a teams full attention whenever they meet on the field.

Temple’s 2019 season was filled with highs and lows. The highs were a 5-1 start with wins over Power Five schools Georgia Tech and Maryland and eventual AAC champion Memphis. The lows included blowout losses to Buffalo, SMU and UCF and a bowl game beat down at the hands of North Carolina that put a bit of a damper on the Owls 8-5 season.

The Owls’ consistency as a program will be tested more than it has in recent seasons because of some of the roster attrition that took place, especially on defense.

Temple football has the pieces to return to the postseason, but it will be tested in a big way.