At halftime Saturday, Temple honored the standard it has spent nearly a decade trying to reclaim.
Read more No. 16 Penn State pulls away from Temple, 27-9, at Lincoln Financial Field
Members of Temple’s 2016 conference championship team returned to Lincoln Financial Field during the Owls’ 27-9 loss to Penn State and gathered along the end zone for a halftime recognition.
The reunion celebrated the defining accomplishment of Temple’s modern era while recalling the toughness, resilience, and brotherhood that transformed an uneven start into a conference title.
Nearly a decade later, those qualities offer a blueprint for a program and a coach in K.C. Keeler, who is attempting to recapture its former success.
“It means everything [being recognized],” former quarterback P.J. Walker said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for the guys to get back and understand the value of the success we had while we were there playing and the appreciation we received.”
Temple entered 2016 carrying expectations created by the previous season, when the Owls started 7-0, defeated Penn State, 27-10, at Lincoln Financial Field, and reached the conference championship game. Their return trip did not follow the same path.
The Owls opened with a loss to Army and fell to 3-3 after losing at Memphis. With their hopes of an undefeated season gone, Walker said the team narrowed its focus to the goal still within reach.
“We were finally able to settle in and focus on what was important, and that was winning the conference,” Walker said. “One thing led to another and led to us being able to play in the conference championship and win it.”
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Temple did not lose again during the regular season. The Owls won their final six conference games before defeating then-No. 20 Navy, 34-10, in Annapolis, Md., to complete a seven-game winning streak and capture the American championship.
The turnaround was rooted in lessons learned before 2016. Walker arrived during Rhule’s first season in 2013, when Temple finished 2-10, and developed alongside players who eventually formed the core of consecutive 10-win teams.
“We were battle-tested,” Walker said. “The resiliency we showed day in and day out — we were pushed by Matt Rhule at a high level. When I say pushed, we were pushed, and we respected that. We knew the work we put in was a lot, and we weren’t going to let that work not pay off when it came to Saturday.”
That standard had become embedded within the locker room by 2015. Former Temple offensive lineman Kyle Friend and defensive lineman Matt Ioannidis, leaders on the team that preceded the championship group, said players became responsible for maintaining it.
“We pushed each other to the point where the coaches didn’t need to push us,” Ioannidis said. “We were harder on ourselves than the coaches could have been on us. We held each other accountable, and we stuck together in the tough games.”
Saturday illustrated the distance Temple still must travel and the possibility of beginning that climb. The Owls entered as considerable underdogs against Penn State but kept the game competitive throughout the first half before the Nittany Lions pulled away after halftime.
The loss on Saturday dropped Temple to 1-1 in Keeler’s second season as coach, but its ability to remain within striking distance offered a glimpse of the toughness its predecessors considered essential.
However, doing so has become more complicated in a college football landscape reshaped by the transfer portal and name, image and likeness compensation. Friend and Ioannidis were developed from lightly recruited prospects into NFL players, a path that defined Rhule’s Temple teams but has become increasingly difficult for subsequent Temple programs to replicate.
“It’s exciting to have a new coach who has a good track record,” Friend said. “I think it’s an interesting dynamic with NIL. That has changed the game drastically.”
For Walker, however, the foundation of Temple’s success was not dependent upon the era.
“I think the brotherhood meant more than anything,” Walker said. “The way we went out there and fought for one another and battled for one another made a huge difference during those 2015 and 2016 seasons.”
Walker believes Keeler can restore that culture by recruiting players willing to compete for opportunities and commit to one another. And, although the former Owls returned Saturday to celebrate their own achievement, Walker said their role now is to support the players attempting to create the program’s next successful era.
“I think Coach Keeler is a great coach,” Walker said. “I think he’s the right coach for this program. To see those guys continue building that legacy and building who they are as a unit — it’s awesome to see. I think they are doing it the right way.”