While a bye week likely kept the taste of a heartbreaking loss to UConn in Temple’s mouth longer than head coach Stan Drayton would have liked, it also could have offered enough healing time for the Owls to have their man back under center this week against a 2-4 Tulsa team.

Evan Simon, a transfer from Rutgers, missed the game against UConn after taking a hard hit in the previous week’s loss to Army. As a result of that hit, which came when the game was well out of reach, Simon suffered a sternoclavicular (SC) joint injury to his throwing shoulder. In his place, Drayton handed the offense back to junior Forrest Brock, who started Temple’s first two games of the season.

Brock, who was dealing with a wrist injury of his own, completed 18 of 31 passes for just 136 yards and a pick but did rush for a touchdown in the game. Brock's wrist injury prevented him from taking snaps underneath center, however, and that loss ended with a botched snap to third-string quarterback Tyler Douglas at the goal line that led to a 96-yard fumble return touchdown for the Huskies.

Two weeks later, all of the attention is on whether or not Simon’s shoulder has healed enough for him to return to action. Either way, the Owls, who enter the game as a favorite over an FBS opponent for the first time since the 2023 season opener, should have their opportunities against a Tulsa team that has struggled mightily on defense.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN+.

At Monday’s press conference, Drayton declared that Simon was “good to go” to return to practice but cautioned that Simon’s progress this week would determine his availability for Saturday’s game.

“He hasn't thrown in three weeks,” Drayton said. “Can he throw consistently? Can he hold a practice continually? Throw with that arm? And what's the threshold in terms of fatigue and things like that? When a quarterback takes time off, he has to get that arm lubed up so that's what we're going to do and we'll see if he's ready to go.”

If the Lancaster County native can return for the Owls, recent results show that Temple’s chance of avoiding its first 1-6 start since the 2020 COVID season would be greatly higher than if he was to miss his second straight contest.

Midway through the season, Temple offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf has had Simon for half the games and Brock at the position for the remaining three. In Brock’s three starts, Temple has averaged just 11.3 points and 260.7 total yards per game. In the three Simon starts, the Owls have averaged a more respectable 26.3 points and 328 yards of offense a game. More importantly, the Owls are 1-2 in the three Simon starts and are 0-3 in the Brock starts.

Regardless of which signal caller starts for Temple, the Owls should be able to move the ball against a Tulsa defense that has been toward the bottom of the nation in almost every statistical category this season. The Golden Hurricane have given up an average of 36 points (No. 123 in the nation) and 427.5 yards of offense (No. 116) to opponents this season, including 52 points and 618 yards in the conference opener against North Texas. Defensive coordinator Chris Polizzi, who was on former Temple offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield’s inaugural Tennessee Tech staff, and his players have not fared much better in the red zone, as Tulsa is No. 128 in the nation in red zone defense.

Safety Dayne Hodge and cornerback NuNu Campbell have struggled in pass coverage for Tulsa this year, as the two have combined to give up 25 catches for 416 yards and five touchdowns off of 30 targets. That could set up for a big game for Temple wide receiver Dante Wright, who leads The American with 42 catches and 517 receiving yards. The Colorado State transfer is on pace to potentially become just the second Owl to surpass the 1,000-yard receiving mark in a season. Tulsa has allowed four different players to rack up 100-yard games against them this year so Wright should have the opportunity to keep pace with former Owl Jadan Blue, who caught 95 passes for 1,067 yards in 2019.

At running back, junior college transfer Terrez Worthy finally got his chance against UConn and did not disappoint. The former Lackawanna College product rushed 12 times for 95 yards and brought a spark to a Temple run game that had ran for a lackluster minus-5 yards against Army the week before.

Meanwhile, the Tulsa run defense was shredded by Army to the tune of 321 rushing yards. Outside of that game, however, Polizzi’s unit has held opponents to just 3.6 yards per carry. Whether it’s Worthy, Maryland transfer Antwain Littleton or somebody else, the Owls will likely look to establish the run to take the pressure off of Brock or a returning Simon.

All that being said, Tulsa has had its moments this year, as a number of players have been disruptive on defense. Kansas transfer linebacker Gavin Potter leads Tulsa with six tackles for a loss and TCU transfer Zach Marchselli is right behind him with five TFL. As a unit, Tulsa is ranked No. 16 in the nation with 7.2 tackles for a loss per game.

Redshirt-freshman Kirk Francis has started all six games for Tulsa at quarterback but perhaps it’s telling that Tulsa’s depth chart makes a point to list the quarterbacks in alphabetical order and not by first, second or third string.

Francis has struggled as of late, as he’s thrown just two touchdowns in the last five games after throwing for four in Tulsa’s 62-28 opening win against FCS Northwestern State. Francis, a former walk-on, threw for just 84 yards against Army and was replaced by Utah State transfer Cooper Legas, who completed four passes for 20 yards in the loss. Francis, Legas and Cardell Williams, last year’s starter, are all listed on the depth chart. Williams threw for three touchdowns in Tulsa’s win over Temple last year.

Tulsa’s identity is on the ground, however, as the Golden Hurricane are No. 48 in the nation in rushing offense at 182.5 yards per game. Missouri transfer Anthony Watkins is in his third year as the Tulsa’s starting running back and has rushed for 248 yards and three touchdowns this season after rushing for 889 yards last season.

In the same way that Temple may view this week’s game as an opportunity to right its ship, Tulsa is likely looking at Temple as an opportunity to figure out its offense. The Owls, after all, are ranked No. 124 in the nation in scoring defense and No. 101 in total defense. Temple’s defense did look better against UConn, however, as it held one of the nation’s top offenses to just 99 rushing yards and 23 offensive points. That performance against the Huskies stood out to Wilson.

“I see a defense that’s playing really hard and is doing a great job in pass defense,” Wilson said at his weekly press conference. “We’ve got to find a way to run the ball. They just held UConn…(which was) averaging 230 a game rushing…to [99] yards. That’s not a bad football team.”

“They controlled that game,” Wilson added. “They’re probably playing better defense than our guys are playing right now.”

At receiver, Kamdyn Benjamin, also a former walk-on, is right behind Wright as The American’s second leading receiver with 39 catches for 471 yards. Much like Temple with Wright, there’s a big drop off in production after Benjamin, however, as the next leading receiver, Corey Smith, has just eight catches for 120 yards.

East Carolina transfer Tyquan King has slid into a starting linebacker role for Temple and is currently No. 3 in The American in tackles. Single digit senior D.J. Woodbury, meanwhile, is No. 2 in The American in that same category. Temple’s defense forced three turnovers, including interceptions by defensive backs Jaylen Lewis and Elijah Deravil, in the loss to UConn, which was the team’s highest total since 2022.

If Temple wants a chance at its second win of the season, it will need to keep Watkins and the Tulsa ground game in check. Tulsa’s passing game has averaged just 191.6 yards per game this season against FBS opponents. If Everett Withers’ Temple defense can replicate the game it had against UConn’s rushing attack, Tulsa will be forced to rely on a quarterback room that has yet to fully click this offseason.

One area that Tulsa has really shown flashes in is with its special teams.

In the opening win over Northwestern State, running back Lloyd Avant returned a kickoff for a touchdown while Benjamin returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown of his own. As a team, Tulsa is No. 17 in the nation in kickoff return average and No. 29 in punt returns average.

Punter Angus Davies, like Temple’s Dante Atton, is a product of Australia’s ProKick Australia program. Davies originally committed to West Virginia as a member of the 2018 class before becoming a real estate agent in Australia for five years. This season, Davies has punted 32 times for a conference best 1,346 yards this season. Opponents have been able to return 12 punts for 241 yards, however, which puts Tulsa last in the nation in net punting.

Memphis transfer Seth Morgan has provided stability at the kicker position, as he’s hit seven of nine field goal attempts and also converted 16 of his 17 extra-point attempts.

For Temple, Atton is right behind Davies at No. 2 in The American in punting yards but has had much fewer returnable punts, as the Owls are No. 67 in the nation in net punting. Placekicker Maddux Trujillo, who has converted seven of his nine field goal attempts, including two attempts beyond the 60-yard mark, was recently named a midseason All-American by the Reese’s Senior Bowl.