Since Oklahoma’s Jovantae Banes ran the 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter on Saturday, college football is mulling over why the Sooners hit the road to Philadelphia to play at Temple’s home turf. It strikes as uncanny for a seven-time national champion to play at Temple’s Lincoln Field Stadium. But in a strange college football fashion, it’s all rooted in the former Temple head coach Matt Rhule‘s decade-old genius, for which Brent Venables is reaping the fruit.

In college football, schedules are drawn up in advance, stretching by a decade as well. It’s no surprise that less prominent programs are paid to play ‘away’ games at the blue-blood schools. Those come up with guaranteed payouts, cushioning their record box. For the less prominent teams, the paycheck becomes a lifeline to help them budget their athletic program. So, naturally, the Oklahoma traveling to Temple raises eyebrows.

“Since everyone keeps asking why Oklahoma is playing at Temple today,” Barstool Sports’ Liam Blutman wrote on X, “They scheduled a 2-for-1 series a decade ago when Matt Rhule had Temple humming.” It was 2016, and Temple was at the bottom of the ladder. Then Matt Rhule entered, armed with his three-year charm. Transforming the program from 2-10 to 10-3 by 2015, a wave of optimism was riding high in Philadelphia.

Blutman continued, “Temple was very aggressive in trying to schedule a respectable P4 program.. nobody took ’em up on it. OU ended up doing it with a keen interest in making their northeast alumni/fan base happy and trying to hit recruiting over there.” And just like that, the then-Athletic Director Pat Kraft saw an opportunity to lead the Owls in the national conversation. He gave Sean Padden, the then-Chief of Staff, a significant assignment for Temple to make its mark and enter the elite football club. His brief? “If you build it, they will come.”

Thus, Paddock ventured to find a blue-blooded powerhouse to send across the proposal. “I called all over the place,” said Padden. “I called USC. I called UCLA. I called Alabama. I called Florida. The guy from Florida, I can’t remember who it was, but he was the only one that was most honest with me. He was like, ‘Sean, you just won 10 games. I don’t know what’s going on up there.'”

But Temple found its calling in an eager Oklahoma, which was coming off a fresh four-year college football playoff appearance in five years. The Sooners accepted the proposal, which would bind both programs for a decade. In June of 2016, both programs declared a ‘two-for-one’ series. The result? According to the deal, Temple would open their 2024 and 2028 seasons in Oklahoma’s Memorial Stadium, while for the 2025 season, the Sooners will travel to Philadelphia. That’s the tale of Matt Rhule’s genius.

Though Rhule has moved to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, developing prized quarterback Dylan Raiola, the City of Brotherly Love is still reaping the fruition. Although after his departure from Philadelphia, the Owls have certainly dimmed down on the turf, winning barely 13 games over four years.

But Philadelphia boasts a passionate sports fandom. The Daily Pennysylvanian’s Andrew Stratton calls it, “There’s no city for Sports like Philly.” The Philadelphia Sports Complex houses four major American sports. Lincoln Financial Field (Football), Citizens Bank Park (Baseball), Xfinity Mobile Arena (basketball), and Flyers hockey. Not to forget the National Lacrosse League Wings team. Thus, Temple’s head coach, K.C. Keeler, found an opportunity on Saturday to revitalize the sports momentum that gushes through the bloodstream of Philadelphia.

“This is an opportunity for us to kind of see how good we are,” Keeler said per The Athletic. “We’re going to be playing some big-boy football this Saturday.” Undoubtedly, the optimism was high, but unfortunately, the Owls could not win over the Sooners. The game concluded in a 3-42 defeat.

Brent Venables’ Oklahoma clinches victory at Temple’s home turf

Brent Venables’ Oklahoma Sooners absolutely dominated the turf at Philadelphia. John Mateer‘s 51-yard rushing touchdown was among the highlights of the game, ultimately culminating in a 42-3 victory. The head coach’s response? “This is a very hungry, driven, humble, tough, high-standard group of young men that like to be pushed, liked to be challenged, they like to practice.” Mateer recorded 20 out of 34 passes, with one interception and a touchdown, tallying 282 passing yards.

The Owls had tallied 97 total points over their two matchups, 2-0, going into the 2025 season, but were steamrolled by the Sooners. The first quarter saw no action, resulting in a 25-0 score box. But Carl Hardin‘s 34-yard field goal during the second quarter saw some momentum, but that was it.

Temple’s QB E. Simons tallied 75 passing yards with zero interceptions. Although in the fourth quarter, neither of the teams was able to reach the endzone.”The moment just seemed a little bit too big for us,” K.C. Keeler said of the first half. Next Temple is gearing up to face off against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets next weekend.