Toledo turns the page on the Jason Candle era in Week 3, and Temple's still trying to find out who's actually taking snaps by the time this one kicks off.
Bush’s Picks
TEMTOL
TEMTOL
OverUnder
Best BetToledo
Toledo's the more finished product here even with a coaching change — a stacked transfer class and a returning starting quarterback trump a Temple offense that still hasn't settled on who's playing quarterback. The Owls showed real fight early last season before completely unraveling in November, which makes them a shakier bet to trust in a non-conference spot like this. Toledo's the side backed by continuity at the skill positions and fresh talent up front.
Temple
+9 offensive starters and 80% of O-line back
+Deep receiving corps with Bermudez, Chase, Clarke
+Showed life with a 5-3 start in 2025
−Unsettled QB battle with no proven starter
−Closed 2025 on a 4-game losing streak
−Leading rusher Ducker gone, backfield wide open
Toledo
+11 all-conference transfers, including 2025 FCS DPOY
+Returning starter Richter and experienced O-line
+7-4 mark and near-title MAC finish in 2025
−First-year coach Jacobs replacing a decade of Candle
−Richter's proven track record is still thin
−New portal pieces need time to gel
This is as much about program direction as it is about a September scoreboard. Toledo enters year one under Mike Jacobs, hired away from Mercer after he won 20 of 26 games and back-to-back SoCon titles there. Temple, meanwhile, is still auditioning quarterbacks, with transfers Jaxon Smolik and Ajani Sheppard expected to compete deep into fall camp for a job neither has really owned before.
K.C. Keeler's first Temple team looked like a program on the rise before it wasn't. The Owls raced to a 5-3 start in 2025 and had bowl eligibility in sight, then lost four straight to close the year, including a 52-25 blowout to North Texas. The receiving corps is the reason to still believe — JoJo Bermudez, Colin Chase and All-Conference tight end Peter Clarke all return — but the ground game is a different story after leading rusher Jay Ducker graduated, with Hunter Smith the presumptive next man up.
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TEM Temple
TOL Toledo
Toledo isn't rebuilding so much as reloading. Junior quarterback John Alan Richter is back, the offensive line returns four players with starting experience, and the Rockets went out and grabbed one of the best transfer classes in the MAC — 11 newcomers with all-conference resumes, headlined by 2025 FCS Defensive Player of the Year Andrew Zock and a pair of Mercer defensive backs who combined for 16 pass breakups a year ago. That's a lot of new talent for Jacobs to plug in fast, but on paper it's a deeper, more physical roster than the one Candle left behind.
Temple Owls
Sep 12?vs Penn State—
Sep 5?vs Rhode Island—
Toledo Rockets
Sep 12?vs Central Connecticut—
Sep 4?@ Michigan State—
Recent form.
Toledo was picked to finish first in the MAC in the preseason poll last summer and backed it up with a 7-4 mark, sitting in a four-way tie for second, just a game off Western Michigan's pace. That kind of depth and recent success is why the Rockets are the more proven side here even with a new coach in place — Temple still has to show it can finish a season instead of fading down the stretch.
