The Stan Drayton era has come to an end on North Broad. Temple fired its head football coach with two games remaining after Drayton compiled a 9-25 record in a little less than three seasons.

We don’t want to remember the bad times, only the good.

So let’s rank his Temple victories from one through nine:

1. Navy

Drayton’s best Temple win was in 2023, against a Navy team that finished 5-7. They went up 17-0, almost blew it, then got their shit together and put together a couple of nice touchdown drives to claim a 32-18 home victory. The run defense really did a nice job, limiting the Midshipmen to just 144 yards on 48 carries, a 3.0 YPC average on the afternoon. The Owls struggled to run the ball themselves, but E.J. Warner showed up big time, completing 27 of 33 passes for 402 yards, four touchdowns, and two picks.

2. Tulsa

Tulsa is not a good team, currently 3-7, but the Owls played great defense in this game. They limited the Golden Hurricane to 240 total yards and a 2-11 third down mark, overcoming 10 penalties of their own for a 20-10 victory. It’s the fewest points they’ve allowed in 2024.

3. Utah State

The Aggies are a three-win team in the Mountain West, but Temple put together a whopper of a fourth quarter to take ’em out, 45 to 29. Evan Simon completed 17 passes, five of which were touchdowns, and ran the ball 11 times for 49 yards and a touchdown as well. His six-score day was the catalyst as Temple scored four second half touchdowns to run away with it.

4. FAU

Drayton’s final win was an overtime victory against the currently 2-8 Florida Atlantic Owls. They almost blew it, too, allowing FAU to storm down the field in less than two minutes, scoring a touchdown and hitting a two-point conversion to tie the game at 15. Temple escaped the battle of Strigiformes with a 39-yard field goal from Maddux Trujillo in what will go down as one of the greatest games ever played at Lincoln Financial Field.

5. South Florida

Temple’s only conference win in 2022 was against a USF team that went 1-11. This was the game in which Edward Saydee ran for 265 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. South Florida’s run defense put up the resistance of a wet Philly Pretzel Factory bag.

Edward Saydee had NO INTEREST in being tackled 🥶pic.twitter.com/L0fv66wz8h

— The Transfer Portal CFB (@TPortalCFB) November 5, 2022

6. Akron

Temple was down 21-7 in the 2023 season opener against a Zips team that finished 2-10. That’s when Warner and Saydee said “not so fast, my friend,” linking up for two second-half touchdowns to pull off the comeback, 24-21 your final score. Temple couldn’t run it for shit against a STOUT Akron run D, but Warner threw for 292 yards on 49 attempts.

7. Norfolk State

You don’t take the Norfolk State Spartans lightly. Temple showed out in this 41-9 victory with a 290-yard rushing effort, led by Joquez Smith and his 9.5 yards per carry. The Owls scored on 7 of their 9 possessions and added a safety for good measure.

8. Umass

The only shutout of the Stan Drayton era. Three Minutemen quarterbacks combined to go 11 for 26 for 80 yards and two interceptions. They finished 1-11 that season.

9. Lafayette

The only thing I remember about this game is that one guy blocked three punts. De’Von Fox his name was. Three punt blocks in one single game. Incredible.

That’s about it. All nine of Drayton’s wins came at home. Four were in-conference. There were some really close calls, like the OT loss to Navy, the two-point loss to Rutgers, and the 2022 season finale against ECU. Just not enough though. Best of luck to the man. His suffering is over.