Football rivalries renewed: Temple schedules new series vs. Rutgers and Delaware

Temple announced future football series against regional Football Bowl Subdivision schools Rutgers and Delaware on Monday.

Beginning in 2030, Temple and Rutgers will begin a four-game home-and-home series. The Owls and Scarlet Knights recently finished a three-game series from 2021 to 2023, with Rutgers winning all three, including a 36-7 victory two years ago in Piscataway, N.J.

The series will begin in Philadelphia on Sept. 7, 2030, and return on Sept. 10, 2032. In 2031 (Sept. 6) and 2033 (Sept. 12), the series will be played at SHI Stadium in Piscataway.

Rutgers holds a 24-15 series advantage over Temple. The Owls last beat the Scarlet Knights in 2002.

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Delaware and Temple will rekindle a rivalry that was played 32 years in a row from 1954-85. The Blue Hens won the last matchup.

The two-game series will be a home-and-home that begins in 2032 in Newark, Del., on Thursday night, Sept. 2. The 2033 game, Temple’s season opener, will be on Sept. 1 in Philly.

Owls coach K.C. Keeler played linebacker for the Blue Hens from 1978-80, and coached Delaware to its first FCS national championship in 2003 during his 11-year tenure. He coached current Delaware head coach Ryan Carty, who was a quarterback for the Blue Hens (2002-06) and was Keeler’s offensive coordinator at Sam Houston State from 2018-21.

“Since my arrival at Temple in December, I have said that we need to get back to recruiting within our footprint and playing nonconference games against teams in our area,” Keeler said in a release. “Having schools like Rutgers and Delaware on our schedule is great for our program, our student-athletes, and our fans. It will be exciting to see people come out and pack the stadiums.”

Carty alluded to a potential rivalry renewal between Temple and Delaware in an interview with The Inquirer earlier this year.

“It’s exciting that now Delaware and Temple are both FBS programs in the same area, and we’re excited about that opportunity,” Carty said in January. “Hopefully we can get them on the schedule and have a chance to have some fun, compete against each other as well.”

Delaware will play its first season in the FBS in 2025.

Keeler and his staff’s dedication to recruit the surrounding states to rebuild a pipeline to Temple was revealed this spring and the plan is starting to take shape.

After Temple hosted a number of players in the 2026 recruiting class last weekend, six players made their oral pledges to the Owls: WR Hunter Watson (St. Peter’s Prep, Jersey City, N.J.), RB Randall Blount (Pennsauken), QB Brody Norman (Mooresville, N.C.), OT John Watkins (St. Frances Academy, Baltimore), DB Yalik Carter (Appoquinimink, Del.), and QB Brady Palmer (St. Thomas Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). They join Uyi Igiehon (Hillside, N.J.) as players who have orally committed to Temple in the 2026 class.

Of the seven recruits, five come from New Jersey, Delaware, or Maryland.