What better way to celebrate a walk-off Commandeer-in-Chief’s Trophy win than for your Army Black Knights to come home to a sold-out Michie Stadium crowd to try to win their fifth game? Even with the heavy home field advantage, however, this Temple team will present a serious challenge. 

This is not last year’s Owls team. This Temple team is now well-coached and well-led, allowing this team to improve in every possible facet of the game.

The passion. The battle. One step closer.#GoArmy x #BeatAirForce pic.twitter.com/NU8nMjmzV4

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 4, 2025

Temple Owls

The Owls travel to Michie needing just one win to become bowl eligible with three games to go. But Temple will be an underdog in all three of their remaining matchups. Moreover, the Owls are currently tied for the longest bowl drought in the American Conference, having missed out on the postseason each year since 2019.

First year Head Coach K. C. Keeler now leads the Temple Owls. Keeler previously coached at Delaware and Sam Houston State. Generally speaking, the Owls have lost to the four best teams they’ve played and have beaten the worst five. Recently, though, they let a 2-6 Tulsa squad take them to overtime before getting walloped by East Carolina this past weekend.

Offense

QB Evan Simon again commands this Temple offense. Simon has gone 143/229 passing for 1,690 yards and 21 touchdowns this season against just 1 interception and 13 sacks. He threw that lone pick this past weekend, ending the nation’s longest interception-free passing streak. WRs Kajiya Hollawayne, Jojo Bermudez, and Colin Chase have become Simon’s favorite targets as well as TE Peter Clarke. Meanwhile, RB Jay Ducker leads the ground game with 130 carries for 683 yards (5.3 yards/carry) and 6 touchdowns. RB Hunter Smith gets fewer carries but has been a little more explosive, posting 317 yards rushing and 2 rushing touchdowns on fully 6.6 yards/carry.

Despite Temple’s passing successes, they use a distinctly run-first offense. They run the ball on over 56% of their plays. With that mix, they seem to have become slightly better than average both through the air and on the ground, averaging 7.5 yards/passing attempt and 4.5 yards/carry. Like Army, the Owls like to hold the football and control the clock. Unlike Army, they’ve only turned the ball over twice all season.

If there’s one area for Army’s defense to exploit, it’s the Owls’ reliance on red zone passing. They’ve scored 15 of their 24 red zone touchdowns through the air. Most teams do not do it like this. And with the way Army likes to play tighter coverage inside the 20, there’s a real chance to force some field goal attempts and perhaps even another turnover or two.

Back to work.#TempleTUFF pic.twitter.com/qwFplxN2hY

— Temple Football (@Temple_FB) November 3, 2025

Defense

LB Curly Ordonez and S Avery Powell lead Temple’s defense. Collectively, these guys have almost 100 tackles on the season. But it’s not just them. As a defense, the Owls have a whopping 13 turnovers this year, putting the team at +11 on turnover margin, along with 15 sacks.

However, the Owls are just one of twelve teams that allow more than 5 yards/carry on the ground. In fact, the Owls currently own the nation’s 121st ranked rushing defense, giving up 192.2 yards/game on 5.2 yards/carry. On a per-carry basis, the Owls’s rushing defense sits eighth from the bottom. Against Navy, this team gave up a truly abysmal 6.6 yards/carry. This past week against ECU, they gave up 358 yards rushing on every bit of 7.0 yards/carry. Moreover, Temple’s defense has proven porous in the red zone. They’ve allowed 15 rushing touchdowns, 9 passing touchdowns, and 5 field goals from inside the twenty. Friends, they’ve only come up with 3 red zone stops all year.

Interestingly, Navy punted 4 times against Temple and got stopped for a field goal once. Each of those stops save one can be explained by significant self-inflicted negative plays, penalties, and/or passing incompletions on first down. In other words, the Mids mostly stopped themselves, and even then, it mostly happened in the first half. Temple’s defense got one clean stop all game and allowed the Mids to run all over them after their halftime adjustments.

Special Teams

Don’t expect PK Carl Harfin to miss. He’s gone 8/10 on field goals with a long of 52 yards. He’s a perfect 36/36 on extra points.

P Dante Atton has been a top 20 punter in the country this year. He punted 7 times last week without dropping a single punt into the end zone. His leg could become a serious advantage in Temple’s game control plan.

The best of the best! 😤@DanteAtton is the @RayGuyAward Punter of the Week!#TempleTUFF pic.twitter.com/1SCvDl1pKm

— Temple Football (@Temple_FB) November 4, 2025

Key Takeaways

Control the Ball, Control the Game

From a game control perspective, the Black Knights need to treat this like a CiC game. Temple will try to hold the ball every bit as much as Army does. But unlike last week at Air Force, Temple won’t likely give the ball up. So Army probably can’t afford to only have the ball for just 26 minutes again this week.

Stay on Schedule to Become Opportunistic

The Staff must call passing plays at opportune moments. Army probably can’t afford to punt four times this week because they got pass happy. That’s doubly true considering that Temple’s passing defense has been astronomically better than their rushing defense. Army’s offense will need to hit some explosive plays, but mostly, they need to stay on schedule. Luckily, Offensive Coordinator Cody Worley has been excellent with this all season.

Defense Wins

Army will need a few stops between the twenties this week. Though the Black Knights’ red zone defense has risen into the Top 20 with the way they’ve played this past month, the team still cannot afford to rely on just red zone defense through four full quarters this week. Temple probably won’t turn the ball over, so Defensive Coordinator Nate Woody must dial up some different ways to send the Owls’ offense back to the sideline.

ECU stopped Temple by stopping their rushing attack. If Army can do the same, the Black Knights should finish in good shape.

Army QB Cale Hellums knows how important the @ArmyNavyGame is, but he told #OffCampus there are steps to "making that game huge." @ArmyWP_Football took care of step 1 in week 10. #GoArmy@JacobHester18 | @EJManuel3https://t.co/LYQpiBEHZ1 pic.twitter.com/zXWjRUEXFG

— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) November 4, 2025

Final Thoughts

The betting line opened at Army (-5.5) and has since risen to Army (-6.5). That seems like a lot of points for two teams that look pretty similar on their overall numbers. ESPN’s SP+ system makes the Black Knights about a point better before factoring in home field advantage. The total currently sits at 46.5, and I don’t know who needs to hear this, but the AFF Crew would probably play the Under.

The game kicks at noon eastern on CBS Sports. Michie Stadium is sold out and expecting temperatures in the mid-50s with a chance of rain. Definitely bring your rain gear for the tailgate. Hopefully skies will clear for the actual game itself.

If radio is your thing, the Varsity Network has the call. And if you want the best gameday chat around, head on over to the Firstie Club!

Go Army! Beat Temple!!!