Temple Owls football
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| Temple Owls football | |||
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| First season | 1894 | ||
| Staff | |||
| Head coach | Al Golden | ||
| 1st year, 1–11 | |||
| Stadium | |||
| Home stadium | Lincoln Financial Field | ||
| Stadium capacity | 68,532 | ||
| Stadium surface | Grass | ||
| Location | Philadelphia, PA | ||
| League/Conference | |||
| Conference | Mid-American | ||
| Division | East | ||
| Team records | |||
| All-time record | 387–506–52 (.437) | ||
| Postseason bowl record | 1–1 | ||
| Pageantry | |||
| Colors | Cherry and White | ||
| Rivals | Penn State Nittany Lions | ||
| Website | Temple Athletics | ||
The Temple Owls football team participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Temple is a football only affiliate of the MAC because their primary conference, the Atlantic Ten Conference, is a Division I Football Championship Subdivision football league. The Owls were a football-only member of the Big East Conference from 1991 until 2004 (they never became a full-time BE member due to objections from Villanova). Temple played the 2005 and 2006 seasons as an independent then joined the MAC in 2007.
Al Golden is the current head football coach. He led the Owls to an 1-11 record in 2006-07, his first season. In his second season with Temple, Golden's record is 4-8, the first time the Owls have won four games in a season since 2002. Golden's overall coaching record with Temple is 5-19.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
Although Temple began playing organized football in 1894, the Owls' modern era began in 1925. That was the year that Henry J. "Heinie" Miller was hired as head coach, and for a time, the Owls were a regional power. To start the 1928 season, the Owls moved to Beury Stadium (later Owl Stadium, then Temple Stadium), which had a maximum capacity of 34,200. Miller coached eight seasons and compiled a 50-15-8 record.
[edit] Pop Warner
Following Miller's departure in 1933, the Owls made a national splash with the hiring of their next coach, the legendary Glenn "Pop" Warner. Warner had spent the previous 19 years at Pittsburgh and Stanford, winning three national championships. He ended his career at Temple, going 31-18-2 in six seasons. In 1934, the Owls went 7-0-2 in the regular season and were invited to play in the inaugural Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day, 1935, where they lost to Tulane, 20-14.
[edit] 1939-69
From the time Warner retired at the end of the 1938 season until 1963, the Owls experienced only 4 winning seasons. The team reached a nadir in the late 1950s, enduring a school record 21-game losing streak from the last four games of the 1957 season and through the entire 1958 and 1959 seasons. George Makris arrived as head coach to start the 1960 season and won his first game. Makris restored competitiveness to the Owl program, compiling a 10-year record of 45-44-4. Makris' tenure coincided with Temple's 10 years in the University Division of the Middle Atlantic States Conference.
[edit] The Hardin Years
After the 1969 season, the Owls became an independent again to upgrade their schedule and compete against the top teams in the East. Under new coach Wayne Hardin, who coached six years at Navy, Temple was up to the challenge. Hardin led the Owls to an 80-52-3 record over 12 years.
Temple went 9-1 in 1973 and 8-2 in 1974 and won 14 straight games at one point. Temple played regular season games in Japan's Mirage Bowl twice, losing 35-32 to Grambling in 1977 and beating Boston College 28-24 in 1978.
In 1979, the Owls had a 10-2 record and the most wins in school history. The Owls opened the season with a 38-16 win at West Virginia and later beat Rutgers (41-20) and Syracuse (49-17). Temple's only losses during the regular season were to nationally ranked Pittsburgh (10-9) and Penn State (22-7). In the game at Penn State, before a record-setting crowd, the Owls led 7-6 at the half. Following the 1979 season, the Owls defeated California 28-17 in the second Garden State Bowl. The crowd who witnessed Temple beat California (55,952) was the largest in the short history of that Bowl. 12 year old Marc Pepenelli, nephew of offensive coordinator Carmen Piccone, was one of the 55,952 fans in attendance.
Under Hardin, the Owls were one of the more stable Eastern football powers and often defeated local rivals West Virginia, Rutgers, Syracuse and Pitt. In the 1970s, Temple went 4-4 against West Virginia, 2-1 against Rutgers, 1-1 against Syracuse, 4-1-1 against Cincinnati and 2-0 against Connecticut.
[edit] Decline
When Hardin retired in 1982, the Owls hired Bruce Arians, then 30, to succeed him. Arians had some success, beating Pitt three times in his six years on the job. Arians had two winning seasons, going 6-5 in 1984 and 1986. Temple's six wins in 1986 were later forfeited for using an ineligible player.
Jerry Berndt, who took over for Arians in 1989, led Temple to their last winning season in 1990, when the Owls went 7-4. Temple joined the Big East Conference in 1991, but had difficulty competing against teams with better facilities and bigger budgets. During their fourteen years in the league, Temple won as many as three league games only once (1997: 3-8, 3-4 Big East) and failed to win any league games six times. Overall, they had a 14-80 record against Big East foes.
Berndt (11-33), Ron Dickerson (1993-97: 8-47) and Bobby Wallace (1998-2005: 19-71) were unable to halt the decline. Temple went 0-11 in Wallace's final year.
[edit] Current coach
On December 6, 2005, Al Golden, then the defensive coordinator for the University of Virginia under Al Groh, was named the new head coach. The Owls lost their first 8 games under Golden before beating Bowling Green during their Homecoming game on October 28, 2006. The win snapped a 20-game losing streak, one game short of the school record. The Owls finished 1-11 in Golden's first year. After his second season, Golden's record stands at 5-19. The Owls won 4 games in 2007, including three straight wins at one point in mid-season. During Golden's second season, Temple's defense was ranked 49th in the nation, as opposed to 118th in 2006.[1] The offense also improved from 118th to 113th, but it was clear that Temple's defense, despite their incredible youth, was the heart of the team.
[edit] Players
[edit] Awards
Offensive guard Bill Singletary was a first team All-American in 1972 and is the only Temple player to have his number (64) retired.
In 1974, Steve Joachim won the Maxwell Award as the top college football player and was a Walter Camp first team All-American.
In 1986, running back Paul Palmer was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy behind Vinny Testaverde and a consensus first-team All-American. Palmer is Temple's all-time leading rusher with 4,895 yards.
[edit] Owls in pro football
Several Owls have achieved notable success in the professional ranks, among them New York Jets lineman Joe Klecko. Others who have played or are playing in the NFL, including linebackers Al Singleton, Rian Wallace, Keith Armstrong, Santo Stephens and Lance Johnstone, wide receivers Steve Watson and Leslie Shepherd, tight ends Randy Grossman and Mike Hinnant (both with the Steelers), lineman Antwon Burton, Raheem Brock, Dan Klecko, John Rienstra, Jim Cooper, James Parrish, James Harris, Tim Terry, Larry Chester, Tre Johnson, safety Todd Bowles, free safety Anthony Young, cornerback Kevin Ross, running backs Paul Palmer, Stacey Mack, Todd McNair, Anthony Anderson, Zack Dixon and quarterback Henry Burris.
[edit] Other notable players
The program's most famous ex-player, comedian Bill Cosby, was a running back in the early 1960s. Another ex-player with famous ties, tight end Scott Haley, is the son of late Rock 'N Roll pioneer Bill Haley.
Temple alumni currently in the coaching ranks include Todd McNair, the running back coach at the University of Southern California. John Grackle was a coach for a small highschool team in Dallas, Texas. Dick Beck, the captain of the 1990 team, won a large school Pennsylvania state championship in the high school ranks as North Penn's head coach. George Curry,another alumnus, recently retired after leading Berwick to three USA Today mythical national high school championships.
[edit] Other information
[edit] Attendance milestones
During the 1986 season, the Owls averaged an all-time modern high of 34,543 fans to their games at Veterans Stadium and their games, regularly televised, did well in the local Neilsen ratings. Temple currently plays its home games at Lincoln Financial Field. From 1927 until the mid-1970s, the Owls played at Temple Stadium. Veterans Stadium and Franklin Field followed as home sites until the 2003 inaugural college game at Lincoln Financial Field between Temple and Villanova, which drew over 30,000 fans.
During the 1970s, Temple's chief rivals were Rutgers, Villanova University and Delaware. Rutgers became the chief rival into the 90s. Despite not playing Delaware since 1985, the Owls hold the distinction of drawing the largest crowd to Delaware Stadium, 23,619, on Oct. 27, 1973. Temple won that game, 31-8.
The school has a potentially large fan base to bring into the MAC, with over 250,000 alumni currently living within a 50-mile radius of Philadelphia. Temple University has 35,599 students and is located in the nation's fourth-largest media market.
The most attended Temple game, with 105,950 attendees, occurred November 11, 2006 at Beaver Stadium, home of Penn State. Temple lost that game 47-0. Nine out of the ten most attended Temple games occurred at Penn State. [2]
The largest attended home game was November 10, 2007, at Lincoln Financial Field, when the Owls played host to the Penn State Nittany Lions, which had an attendance of 69,029. [2]
[edit] Media Coverage
Eight Temple games were broadcast over Philadelphia television in 2005, the most in school history. The Temple radio network, which once included 12 stations from as far north as Sayre, N.Y. to as far south as Baltimore, Md., is now down to one flagship station, WPHT 1210 (AM), in Philadelphia. Harry Donahue handles the play-by-play with Steve Joachim doing the color. Past play-by-play broadcasters have included Dave Sims, who currently covers college football and basketball for ESPN; Ron Menchine, the former Navy play-by-play announcer and Howie Herman, currently a sports columnist in Massachusetts. Two Philadelphia newspapers, The Inquirer and Daily News, occasionally cover Temple football. Owlscoop.com and The Temple News, the university's student-run newspaper, regularly provides coverage of Temple football.
[edit] Notable facts
First year of football: 1894
Under Head Coach Wayne Hardin Temple's school-record 14-game winning streak over a period of two years from 1973 into 1974 was the longest Division I-A winning streak in the United States at the time.
Also under Hardin, Temple's most successful season was in 1979 when it went 10-2, and finished ranked No. 17 in both final polls.
Temple is 1-1 in post-season bowls. Their last bowl appearance was a victory in the Garden State Bowl in 1979 under Hardin. The Owls lost in the first-ever Sugar Bowl, which was played in 1935.
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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