Photos/Videos: Mike Nance & Jaden Harper
By: Jaden Harper
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple Owls entered the month of November with a 5-3 record, looking for one more win to get the team bowl eligibility for the first time since 2019.
After consecutive losses to East Carolina and Army, those chances looked slim, but not zero. Temple would need a major upset win at home against Tulane to cement a bowl game. The one win still eludes the Owls, as they fall to No. 24 Tulane, 37-13, in their final home game of the 2025 season yesterday afternoon.
Before the game, the graduating seniors were honored with Saturday being the final home game of the season.
"I got emotional because they really did buy in,” said Temple first-year head coach K.C. Keeler. “It was a new culture. And they’ve embraced it, and they’ve done a really good job.”
Temple vs. Tulane Nov. 22 - PSD Photos by Mike Nance
After the ceremonies, it was time for football. Tulane won the coin toss, putting Temple’s offense on the field first. On a third down rush needing one yard, running back Jay Ducker was able to pick it up, but it was negated by an illegal motion penalty by Kajiya Hollawayne, forcing the Owls to punt after an incomplete pass on third down and six.
The Green Wave would start their first drive on their own 28. On the second play from scrimmage, quarterback Jake Retzlaff would unleash a bomb downfield to top receiver Shazz Preston for a 69-yard touchdown, quickly putting Tulane up seven.
Temple would gain their first first down of the game on their second drive, but sputtered out on the next three plays, leading to another punt by Dante Atton. After gaining a first down, Tulane went for another big play, but the pass was broken up by Jaylen Castleberry. On third down, Retzlaff would connect with Zycarl Lewis Jr. for a 22-yard third down conversion. Tulane’s offense would stall after that, but they did enough to get into field goal range for kicker Patrick Durkin, who knocked down a 50-yard field goal to give Tulane a 10-0 lead in the first.
“They (Tulane) have great receivers and their quarterback is a really great player,” said Keeler. “We thought that they (Tulane) would kind of lull us to sleep a little bit and take those shots down field on the first drive of the game. We’re there, we just didn’t make a play. But they have the kind of speed on the outside where they can make those big plays.”
The Owls responded quickly with big plays to both Peter Clarke and Colin Chase, of 22 and 30 yards respectively. Temple quarterback Evan Simon capped off the drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to Clarke, who hauled it in in the back of the end zone to cut into Tulane’s lead, 10-7.
Tulane would get the ball back before the end of the first quarter, but an illegal formation penalty prevented them from doing anything. At the beginning of the second quarter, in a fourth down and short scenario, the Green Wave were in a tush push formation, but were flagged for a false start, leading to their first punt.
Temple’s momentum from the previous drive stalled instantly, as they went three and out, capped by a Sam Howard 9-yard sack on third down. On Tulane’s next drive, they tried some trickery, with receiver Jimmy Calloway set to throw the ball. The Owls defense blew the play up immediately but gave Tulane a first down due to a holding penalty on the play. On a throw to the end zone, Tulane receiver Tre Shackelford was able to draw Castleberry in for defensive pass interference. This set up Retzlaff to jog into the end zone a play later to give Tulane a 17-7 lead.
Temple and Tulane traded punts on consecutive possessions, with Cam’Ron Stewart ending the Green Wave’s drive with a sack of Retzlaff. It marked the Owls first sack since their matchup against Tulsa four weeks ago. Temple had only recorded five sacks in their last five games after having eleven in their first five.
QB Evan Simon finds Peter Clarke for a Temple TD:
Tulane QB Jake Retzlaff scores a rushing TD in the second half - PSD Video by Jaden Harper
“It’s a brand new defense, brand new offense, brand new special teams, a lot of moving parts with everything,” said Keeler. “These are all offseason projects that I need to take care of.”
Temple would not be able to muster any offensive on their following drive punting the ball away. On the punt by Atton, there was fair catch inference caused by Zyil Powell, giving the Green Wave prime field possession with a little over two minutes remaining in the first half. Tulane would be able to get into field goal range for Durkin, knocking down a 36-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining in the half.
The Owls would get the ball back before the end of the first half. Simon would complete a short pass to Ducker with 11 seconds remaining before taking a sack. He would find Hollawayne on the sideline with one second left to set up one final play. Simon threw it to Chase for nine yards who pitched it back to Ducker who pitched it to Hollawayne, who ended up throwing the ball away, where it was picked up by Tulane’s Javion White who returned it to the Temple 8-yard line to be tripped up by Ducker to prevent a catastrophic touchdown. Temple faced a 20-7 deficit going into halftime.
Tulane would start the second half with the ball, and gained yards before the offense even touched the ball, with Temple’s kick going out of bounds. The Green Wave took 12 plays to march the ball down the field, highlighted by a big fourth down conversion by Jamauri McClure, getting the needed three yards. They settled for another Durkin field goal to make the score 23-7. McClure dominated on the ground in this game, rushing for 122 yards in the contest as Tulane’s main running back.
Temple converted a third down on their next drive but could not add on, as a questionable illegal touching penalty was assessed to Chase on what would have been another Owls first down. They would decide to run the ball on second down and 15 and throw for short yardage on third down, forcing another punt.
With six minutes remaining in the quarter, Tulane would take up most of it, driving down the field for another Durkin field goal. Durkin had a monster game for the Green Wave, going 5-5 on field goals from 36, 38, 42, 50, and 52 and was perfect on extra points. His fourth quarter kick of 52 yards set a new career high for himself.
Post game press conference with Temple head coach K.C. Keeler after 37-13 loss to Tulane - PSD Video by Jaden Harper
Temple would start to move the ball as the third quarter winded down as Simon targeted Hollawayne twice, once resulting in a 17-yard reception and the other resulting in a pass interference penalty on Tulane for 15 yards. They would start the fourth quarter in Tulane territory looking to claw back into the game. Temple would get down to the Tulane three-yard line, with Simon completing a two-yard pass to Chase for a touchdown.
The passing touchdown by Simon gave him the most in a single season in Temple program history with 24. He passed former Temple QB E.J. Warner at the top of the list with 23 touchdowns. This helps cement one of the great seasons and careers as a QB for Simon at Temple in his final game at Lincoln Financial Field.
While the record-setting touchdown was one of the few highlights on the day for the offense, Simon was disappointed on falling short of securing one last home victory.
“We did not execute at a high level today. Tulane out-executed us and we shot ourselves in the foot way too many times to beat a ranked opponent today. It’s that simple,” said Simon.
As an offense, Temple was out-gained by over 200 yards, only accumulating 20 net rushing yards. This continued a cold streak for the Temple offense scoring 14 points, 13 points, and another 13 point performance during this losing streak.
After the Chase touchdown, Temple would go for two but would fail. On the kickoff, Tulane returner TJ Smith would return the ball all the way to the Temple 38, setting up an easy drive for the Green Wave. Retzlaff would find receiver Justyn Reid for a four-yard touchdown and would convert the two-point conversion to increase their lead to 21 points. Retzlaff dissected the Temple defense, completing 17 of his passes, throwing for 231 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for one.
Evan Simon completes a two-yard pass to Colin Chase, breaking Temple's single-season passing touchdown record - PSD Video by Jaden Harper
Temple would punt again after a near interception, setting up Tulane for another Durkin field goal, this one from 52 yards. The clock would run down after this, with Tulane claiming their ninth win of the season, defeating Temple, 37-13. It marks Temple’s third consecutive loss after starting the season 5-3. The loss also eliminates the slim chances of Temple making the American Conference championship game, an impressive feat after four consecutive 3-9 seasons and a 1-6 season in 2020.
“It’s so easy to point the finger at the kids, and that’s not how I operate. I want our guys to look internally first,” said Keeler. “Once the season is over, we will do a deep dive and say, ‘Okay, this is where we were, now we need to get at a higher level,’ and we need to look at ourselves first.”
Keeler also touched on defensive tackle Semou Kromah during the postgame press conference. Kromah, who currently has an operation scheduled for Monday, has missed the last six games with oblique and shoulder injuries. The senior was in uniform to warm up for the last two games but did not play in either.
“It was senior day and he wanted to go out with his guys,” said Keeler on Kromah, who was awarded a “single digit” for the Owls this season. “He’s going to get operated on. It’s a shame because the flashes he showed early in the season, he’s a guy you couldn’t lose because he just has a unique skillset that no one else has.”
This game was the second to last of the first year of the Keeler era, one that has been a massive success for the program. Even though the Owls will likely fall short of a bowl game, they played three top 25 ranked teams and faced stiff competition from Navy, a CFP contender. Simon blossomed into a QB who could lead a program, throwing 24 touchdowns to one interception. The defense took strides under Keeler’s staff, and Temple has regained traction as a program in general.
Next up for Temple (5-5, 3-3 American) is the season finale against North Texas on Friday. It marks the first time the Owls are playing on a non-Saturday this season, with their last Friday game coming back in 2023 against SMU at Lincoln Financial Field. It also marks the Owls sixth nationally televised game of the season and their first on ESPN’s flagship channel.
North Texas (10-1, 6-1 American) will continue to be amid a push to the American Conference Championship game and College Football Playoff, currently on the outside looking in. Their quarterback Drew Mestemaker was recruited by Keeler back at Sam Houston State, but he decided to take his talents to North Texas. For Temple, it is the Owl’s last opportunity to gain bowl eligibility for the first time in over 6 years.
“We have one more shot at this and the only chance we have of getting there is if we just take a deep breath, evaluate the things we can evaluate to make ourselves a better team, put everything aside and try to beat North Texas,” said Keeler. “We don’t have 24 hours to mourn this. This is our last shot. We’re in this thing together.”