Two rebuilding programs looking to prove last season was the exception, not the rule, meet on Friday, November 13 with a bowl push and a fresh head-coaching era both on the line.
Bush’s Picks
UABTEM
UABTEM
OverUnder
Best BetTemple
Temple enters as the more stable program right now — a second-year staff, a defense and receiving corps that mostly stayed intact, and a program trending up after nearly snapping a 5-year bowl drought. UAB is asking Alex Mortensen to be a full-time answer after just a handful of games as interim, which is a lot to price against a team that already showed it won't beat itself with turnovers. Back Temple to win this one outright.
UAB
+Mortensen debut upset of then-No. 22 Memphis
+Closed 2025 with confident 31-24 win over Tulsa
−Finished 4-8 overall, 2-6 in AAC play
−First year as true head coach after Dilfer firing
Temple
+9 offensive starters return, including All-AAC TE Clarke
+Nation-leading ball security, only 4 turnovers all 2025
−Missed bowl eligibility by 1 game, dropped last 4
−Starting QB job unsettled with Smolik still in contention
Temple heads into this one hunting the program's first bowl trip since 2019, and it starts with what's back: 9 offensive starters return from a group that leaned on discipline over explosiveness a year ago. Transfer addition Jaxon Smolik, who came over from Penn State, is in the mix to start behind center, giving K.C. Keeler an experienced arm to plug into an offense that protected the football about as well as anyone in the country. UAB is asking a very different question. Alex Mortensen, promoted from offensive coordinator to full-time head coach after taking over on an interim basis, gets his first real crack at building the program in his own image after Trent Dilfer's tenure ended in a midseason firing.
Mortensen's audition run wasn't nothing. He opened with an upset of then-No. 22 Memphis and closed the year beating Tulsa 31-24, evidence the Blazers can play with anybody when the roster buys in. But a 2-4 finish under him and a 4-8 overall record are the bigger picture entering year one as the guy in charge, not the guy filling in. Temple's not free of scar tissue either — a 5-3 start unraveled into 4 straight losses to close 2025, exactly the kind of November fade that would sting again in a conference game like this one. The market is treating this as a game between two teams still finding their footing, and that uncertainty shows up in the pricing more than either résumé does.
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TEM Temple
Where Temple separates itself is depth on the perimeter. JoJo Bermudez and Colin Chase both return at receiver, and All-Conference tight end Peter Clarke gives whoever wins the quarterback job a proven safety valve — the kind of returning production UAB simply doesn't have after a coaching change scrambled its own depth chart.
UAB Blazers
Nov 6?vs Charlotte—
Oct 30?@ South Florida—
Oct 15?vs East Carolina—
Oct 9?@ Memphis—
Oct 3?vs Samford—
Sep 25?vs Navy—
Sep 19?@ Louisiana—
Sep 12?vs UL Monroe—
Sep 3?@ Illinois—
Temple Owls
Nov 7?@ Navy—
Oct 30?@ East Carolina—
Oct 16?vs Charlotte—
Oct 9?vs UConn—
Oct 2?@ South Florida—
Sep 25?vs Army—
Sep 19?@ Toledo—
Sep 12?vs Penn State—
Sep 5?vs Rhode Island—
Recent form.
None of that locks anything in by mid-November. Both teams still have months of practices, scrimmages, and depth-chart shuffles between now and kickoff, and rosters built in July rarely look identical by fall. What's clear right now is the shape of each program's bet: Temple is betting continuity fixes what almost got it bowl-eligible, UAB is betting a full offseason under Mortensen beats whatever chaos Dilfer left behind.
UAB Blazers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Temple Owls
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Friday, November 13 won't be circled on many national calendars, but for these two programs it's a real data point — proof of concept for Temple's continuity bet, or an early answer for Mortensen on whether his program is actually trending in the right direction.
