Temple Owls football

Temple Owls football
2016 Temple Owls football team
First season	1894
Athletic director	Patrick Kraft
Head coach	Matt Rhule 4th year, 27–23 (.540)
Stadium	Lincoln Financial Field
Seating capacity	68,532
Field surface	Desso GrassMaster
Location	Philadelphia
Conference	The American
Division	East
All-time record	455–581–52 (.442)
Bowl record	2–3 (.400)
Conference titles	2 1967 – Middle Atlantic 2016 - The American
Division titles	3 2009 – MAC East 2015 – AAC East 2016 – AAC East
Consensus All-Americans	3 John Rienstra, 1985 Paul Palmer, 1986 Tyler Matakevich, 2015
Colors	Cherry and White[1]
Fight song	"Fight! Temple Fight!"
Mascot	Hooter T. Owl
Marching band	Temple University Diamond Marching Band
Rivals	Penn State Nittany Lions Rutgers Scarlet Knights UCONN Huskies Villanova Wildcats
Outfitter	Under Armour[2]
Website	Temple Athletics

The Temple Owls football team represents Temple University in the sport of college football. The Temple Owls compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American). They play their home games at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The Owls were a football-only member of the Big East Conference from 1991 until 2004. Temple was expelled from the league due to a lack of commitment to the football program from university officials. Temple played the 2005 and 2006 seasons as an independent before playing in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) from 2007 to 2011. In March 2012, the Owls rejoined the Big East Conference, with football membership beginning in the 2012 season and all other sports beginning conference play in 2013. That same year, the conference was renamed the American Athletic Conference after several basketball-only schools split off to form a new conference that kept the Big East name. Temple is the last original Big East football member still in the The American. Five of the eight former members play in the ACC, while the other two teams play in the Big 12 and the Big Ten.

History

Beginnings

Temple began playing organized football in 1894, a decade after the school was founded. Physical education instructor and basketball coach Charles M. Williams organized an 11-man squad that won their first game against Philadelphia Dental College.^[3] For its first few years, the football team played small schools and there are few records of its games.

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. In the 1927 season, after wildly mismatched victories over Blue Ridge College (110–0),^[4] Juniata (58–0), Gallaudet (62–0) and Washington College (75–0), Temple seemed to upgrade its schedule. Their only loss that season came from Dartmouth, and a 44-year long rivalry with Bucknell College began with Temple posting a 19–13 victory. To start the 1928 season, the Owls moved to Temple Stadium, and won its first six home games in shutouts. Miller coached eight seasons and compiled a 50–15–8 record, with two notable victories over growing regional football power Penn State.

Pop Warner era (1934–1938)

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 undefeated Tulane, 20–14. In 1936, the Owls were ranked in the AP Poll in its first year for two weeks.^[5] In Warner's last game, Temple upset Florida 20–12, who were coached by future Temple coach Josh Cody.

Post-Warner era

From the time Warner retired at the end of the 1938 season until 1963, the Owls experienced only 4 winning seasons. Warner's top assistant, Fred H. Swan, took over as head coach in 1939. He lasted one season before Temple hired SMU coach Ray Morrison. During this time, Temple had several successful seasons and had All-American (honorable mention) and All-Star players. The Owls got off to a 6–1 start in 1941, defeating rivals Penn State, Bucknell, and Villanova that season. The 1945 season brought a 6–0 start and hopes of going to one of two bowl games: the Orange Bowl and the prestigious Cotton Bowl. However, even with a 7–1 season record, Temple did not receive either bid. After the 1940s, Temple's program began to decline. 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 era (1960–1969)

George Makris arrived as head coach to start the 1960 season and won his first game, against Kings Point. 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 Conference, during which they won the 1967 conference championship. In 1966, led by a Temple single game record five touchdown passes by quarterback John Waller to receiver Jim Callahan (whose first 10 receptions that year went for touchdowns, all thrown by Waller), Markis brought "the Old Shoe" back to Broad Street by defeating Bucknell for the first time in 12 years.^[6]

Wayne Hardin era (1970–1982)

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. 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 State 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.^[7]

Hardin led the Owls to an 80–52–3 record over 12 years. Under Hardin, the Owls were one of the more stable Eastern football powers and often defeated local rivals West Virginia, Rutgers and Syracuse. 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. They also came the closest to beating Penn State since the 1940s, losing by one point in both 1975 and 1967.

Bruce Arians era (1983–1988)

When Hardin retired in 1982, the Owls hired Bruce Arians – then 30 years old – to succeed him. The previous season, Arians worked under Alabama coaching legend Paul "Bear" Bryant as running backs coach. At Temple, 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 when the defense was ranked 21st in the nation beating East Carolina, Pitt, and West Virginia and 6–5 1986. Unfortunately, Temple's six wins in 1986 were later forfeited because the Owls' roster included an ineligible player.

Decline (1989–2005)

Jerry Berndt, who took over for Arians in 1989, led Temple to their last winning season for almost twenty years 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. The Owls would not win a conference game until 1995, In 1998, the Owls upset the #14 Virginia Tech Hokies in their first-ever Big East road win and their first victory over a ranked opponent in 11 years.^[8] In that game, Temple utilized their third-string quarterback and had 10 players making their first starts of the season due to injuries. However, Temple would only win 16 conference games during their 14-year run in the league. Temple won as many as three league games only once (1997: 3–8, 3–4 Big East) and went winless in league play six times.^[9] Overall, they had a 14–80 record against Big East foes during their time in the conference.

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. In part due to the Owls' noncompetitiveness, poor fan support, and lack of institutional support, the Big East voted to expel the Owls at the end of the 2004 season.

Al Golden era (2006–2010)

Virginia defensive coordinator Al Golden was named head coach ahead of the 2006 season. The Owls lost their first 8 games under Golden before beating Bowling Green during their Homecoming game on October 28, snapping a 20-game losing streak, one game short of the school record. The Owls finished 1–11 in Golden's first year.

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.^[10] The offense also improved from 118th to 113th, but it was clear that Temple's defense, despite their incredible youth, was the heart of their team. The Owls won 5 games in 2008, their most since 1990. After his fourth season, Golden's record stood at 19–29.

In 2009, the Owls went 9–4, their best record since 1979 with three of four losses being competitive including a last-second loss to Villanova. The lone exception was a lopsided 31–6 loss to a Penn State team that finished 11–2 with a #8 ranking. Temple accepted a bid to play in the EagleBank Bowl, where they faced the UCLA Bruins. In the Owls' first post-season appearance since the 1979 Garden State Bowl, the Owls lost 30–21 to the Bruins.

In 2010, the Owls lost a crucial game to Ohio University which would have clinched them a MAC Championship berth. The week after, Temple added another loss to Miami (Ohio), and coupled with losses to Penn State and Northern Illinois, the Owls finished at 8–4 for the season but did not receive a bowl bid.

In December 2010, Golden was hired as the head coach of the University of Miami Hurricanes.

Steve Addazio coached the Owls from 2011–12 before becoming the Boston College head coach. During the 2011 season, the Owls reached their fourth bowl game ever after posting a 9–4 record. In a dominating win over Wyoming, the Owls secured their second bowl win in team history. The following season, Temple went 4-7 in its first season back in the Big East. Following the season, Addazio left Temple to become the head coach at Boston College.

Matt Rhule era (2013 to present)

Matt Rhule, who had previously served as a Temple assistant coach from 2006–2011, was named Temple's head coach in December 2012. Rhule was previously serving as the Assistant Offensive Line Coach for the NFL's New York Giants. Rhule beat out his former colleague, University of Miami defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio for the job.^[11]

In Rhule's first season as head coach, Temple struggled and won just two games. Despite the record, however, Rhule and his staff assembled the No. 2 recruiting class in the American Athletic Conference for the Class of 2014.^[12]

During Rhule's second year as head coach, Temple showed considerable improvement over its previous season record. Temple defeated Vanderbilt University, 37–7, in its opening game for the program's first win over an SEC opponent since 1938.^[13] Later in the season, Temple upset the #21 East Carolina Pirates for its first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since 1998. Overall, the 2014 Temple Owls football team finished at a bowl-eligible mark of 6–6 but did not secure a bowl bid. Rhule's contract was extended until the 2019–20 season in July 2015.^[14]

Rhule began the 2015 season by beating Penn State, his own alma mater, 27–10 in front of a sellout crowd of 69,176 – a record for a college football game at Lincoln Financial Field.^[15] The win against Penn State was the school's first since 1941. The Owls also set an American Athletic Conference record for sacks in a game by recording 10 against highly touted NFL prospect Christian Hackenberg.^[16] One of the 10 sacks came on a two-man rush against Penn State's offensive line and was featured on ESPN's "Not Top 10."^[17] The Owls followed up their historic win by going on the road and knocking off American Athletic Conference preseason favorite Cincinnati 34–26. In front of a "white out" crowd, Temple's defense caused another frustrating day for a top NFL prospect in Cincinnati's QB Gunner Kiel. Kiel was intercepted four times in the second half, including a game clinching interception by Tyler Matakevich in the Owls' own end zone with 13 seconds left.^[18] Jahad Thomas ran for 193 yards and a touchdown with 2 catches for a total of 17 yards. Thomas added another touchdown on a 100-yard kickoff return to begin the 2nd half.

The Owls continued their hot start with a close 25–23 win at Massachusetts. Temple gave up a touchdown with 1:20 left in the 4th quarter to fall behind 23–20. Facing an extra point that would have forced the Owls to score a touchdown in order to win, defensive lineman Martin Praise-Oguike blocked the UMass extra point, which was then recovered by cornerback Stephaun Marshall and lateraled to safety Will Hayes, who returned the conversion all the way to the end zone for 2 points. Quarterback PJ Walker then led the Owls 50-yards in a little over a minute, setting up the game winning 32-yard field goal that was made by kicker Austin Jones.^[19] After a bye week, Temple traveled to Charlotte and stomped the 49ers by a score of 37–3. Robby Anderson caught 2 touchdowns and Nate L Smith recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown in the win that sent Temple to its first 4–0 start since 1974.^[20]

Temple beat Tulane 49–10 in week 5, followed by a 30–16 win at home against UCF. Playing in a sold out Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium, Temple won a harrowing victory in a nationally televised game against East Carolina, marking the program's first 7–0 start since its inception in 1894. Temple was in the national spotlight as ESPN's College GameDay took place at Temple for the first time in school history. The #21 Owls later that night took on #9 Notre Dame in primetime on ABC. The game was widely considered to be the program's biggest game since the 1935 Sugar Bowl.^[21] Despite the Owl's leading 20–17 with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter, the Fighting Irish rallied with a late touchdown to beat Temple 24–20, ending Temple's unbeaten start.

Temple followed up the nationally significant game vs Notre Dame with a win vs SMU, an away loss to USF and wins in both remaining home games vs #21 Memphis and UConn. Finishing 10–2 in the regular season for only the second time in school history, the Owls clinched a berth in the inaugural AAC Championship vs the Houston Cougars, where they lost 24–13. They ended the season with a 32–17 loss against the Toledo Rockets in the Boca Raton Bowl.

Rhule led the 2016 Owls to a 9-3 overall (7-1 AAC) record and another AAC East title, becoming the first team in league history to repeat as division champions. In the 2016 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, the Owls beat the Navy Midshipmen 34-10 to win their first major conference title and first conference title since the 1967 Middle Atlantic Conference title.

Yearly records

Year	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Independent (1894–1959)
1894	Charles M. Williams	4–1–0
1895	Charles M. Williams	1–4–1
1896	Charles M. Williams	3–2–0
1897	Charles M. Williams	3–3–0
1898	Charles M. Williams	2–5–0
1899	John Rogers	1–4–1
1900	John Rogers	3–4–1
1901	Harry Shindle Wingert	3–2–0
1902	Harry Shindle Wingert	1–4–1
1903	Harry Shindle Wingert	4–1–0
1904	Harry Shindle Wingert	3–2–0
1905	Harry Shindle Wingert	2–0–1
1906	No varsity team
1907	Horace Butterworth	4–0–2
1908	Frank W. White	3–2–1
1909	William J. Schatz	0–4–1
1910	William J. Schatz	3–3–0
1911	William J. Schatz	6–1–0
1912	William J. Schatz	3–2–0
1913	William J. Schatz	1–3–2
1914	William Nicolai	3–3–0
1915	William Nicolai	3–1–1
1916	William Nicolai	3–1–2
1917	Elwood Geiges	0–6–1
1918	No varsity team due to World War I
1919	No varsity team due to World War I
1920	No varsity team due to World War I
1921	No varsity team due to World War I
1922	M. Francois D'Eliscu	1–4–1
1923	M. Francois D'Eliscu	0–5–0
1924	Albert Barron	1–4–0
1925	Heinie Miller	5–2–2
1926	Heinie Miller	5–3–0
1927	Heinie Miller	7–1–0
1928	Heinie Miller	7–1–2
1929	Heinie Miller	6–3–1
1930	Heinie Miller	7–3–0
1931	Heinie Miller	8–1–1
1932	Heinie Miller	5–1–2
1933	Glenn "Pop" Warner	5–3–0
1934	Glenn Warner	7–1–2
1935	Glenn Warner	7–3–0			L 20–14 Sugar Bowl
1936	Glenn Warner	6–3–2
1937	Glenn Warner	3–2–4
1938	Glenn Warner	3–6–1
1939	Fred H. Swan	2–7–0
1940	Ray Morrison	4–4–1
1941	Ray Morrison	7–2–0
1942	Ray Morrison	2–5–3
1943	Ray Morrison	2–6–0
1944	Ray Morrison	2–4–2
1945	Ray Morrison	7–1–0
1946	Ray Morrison	2–4–2
1947	Ray Morrison	3–6–0
1948	Ray Morrison	2–6–1
1949	Albert Kawal	5–4–0
1950	Albert Kawal	4–4–1
1951	Albert Kawal	6–4–0
1952	Albert Kawal	2–7–1
1953	Albert Kawal	4–1–4
1954	Albert Kawal	3–5–0
1955	Josh Cody	0–8–0
1956	Peter P. Stevens	3–5–0
1957	Peter P. Stevens	1–6–0
1958	Peter P. Stevens	0–8–0
1959	Peter P. Stevens	0–9–0
Middle Atlantic Conference (1960–1969)
1960	George Makris	2–7–0	0–5–0	7th
1961	George Makris	2–5–2	1–2–2	6th
1962	George Makris	3–6–0	2–3–0	4th
1963	George Makris	5–3–1	1–2–0	4th
1964	George Makris	7–2–0	4–1–0	T-2nd
1965	George Makris	5–5–0	3–2–0	3rd
1966	George Makris	6–3–0	2–2–0	3rd
1967	George Makris	7–2–0	4–0–0	1st
1968	George Makris	4–6–0	2–2–0	5th
1969	George Makris	4–5–1	1–2–1	5th
Independent (1970–1990)
1970	Wayne Hardin	7–3–0
1971	Wayne Hardin	6–2–1
1972	Wayne Hardin	5–4–0
1973	Wayne Hardin	9–1–0
1974	Wayne Hardin	8–2–0
1975	Wayne Hardin	6–5–0
1976	Wayne Hardin	4–6–0
1977	Wayne Hardin	5–5–1
Mid-Continent Conference (1978–1979)
1978	Wayne Hardin	7–3–1
1979	Wayne Hardin	10–2–0			W 28–17 Garden State Bowl		#17
1980	Wayne Hardin	4–7–0
1981	Wayne Hardin	5–5–0
1982	Wayne Hardin	4–7–0
1983	Bruce Arians	4–7–0
1984	Bruce Arians	6–5–0
1985	Bruce Arians	4–7–0
1986	Bruce Arians	0–11–0
1987	Bruce Arians	4–7–0
1988	Bruce Arians	4–7–0
1989	Jerry Berndt	1–10–0
1990	Jerry Berndt	7–4–0
Big East (1991–2004)
1991	Jerry Berndt	2–9–0	0–5–0	8th
1992	Jerry Berndt	1–10–0	0–6–0	8th
1993	Ron Dickerson	1–10–0	0–7–0	8th
1994	Ron Dickerson	2–9–0	0–7–0	8th
1995	Ron Dickerson	1–10–0	1–6–0	7th
1996	Ron Dickerson	1–10	0–7	8th
1997	Ron Dickerson	3–8	3–4	T-5th
1998	Bobby Wallace	2–9	2–5	T-6th
1999	Bobby Wallace	2–9	2–5	T-5th
2000	Bobby Wallace	4–7	1–6	7th
2001	Bobby Wallace	4–7	2–5	6th
2002	Bobby Wallace	4–8	2–5	T-6th
2003	Bobby Wallace	1–11	0–7	7th
2004	Bobby Wallace	2–9	1–5	T-6th
Independent (2005–2006)
2005	Bobby Wallace	0–11
2006	Al Golden	1–11
Mid-American Conference (2007–2011)
2007	Al Golden	4–8	3–3	T-4th (East)
2008	Al Golden	5–7	4–4	T-2nd (East)
2009	Al Golden	9–4	7–1	T-1st (East)	L 30–21 EagleBank Bowl
2010	Al Golden	8–4	5–3	3rd (East)
2011	Steve Addazio	9–4	7–1	2nd (East)	W 37–15 New Mexico Bowl
Big East (2012)
2012	Steve Addazio	4–7	2–5	7th
American Athletic Conference (2013–present)
2013	Matt Rhule	2–10	1–7	T-9th
2014	Matt Rhule	6–6	4–4	6th
2015	Matt Rhule	10–4	7–1	1st (East)	L 17–32 Boca Raton Bowl
2016	Matt Rhule	9–3	7–1	1st (East)
Total:		455–581–52
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll.

^{[3] [22] [23] [24] [25]}

Coaching history

Coach	Years	Seasons	Record	Pct.	Bowls
Charles M. Williams	1894–1898	5	13–15–1	.466
John Rogers	1899–1900	2	4–8–2	.357
Harry Shindle Wingert	1901–1905	5	13–9–2	.583
Horace Butterworth	1907	1	4–0–2	.833
Frank W. White	1908	1	3–2–1	.583
William J. Schatz	1909–1913	5	13–13–3	.500
William Nicolai	1914–1916	3	9–5–3	.618
Elwood Geiges	1917	1	0–6–1	.071
Francois M. D'Eliscu	1922–1923	2	1–9–1	.136
Albert Barron	1924	1	1–4–0	.200
Henry J. Miller	1925–1932	8	50–15–8	.740
Glenn "Pop" Warner	1933–1938	6	31–18–9	.612
Fred H. Swan	1939	1	2–7–0	.222
Ray Morrison	1940–1948	9	31–38–9	.455
Albert P. Kawal	1949–1954	6	24–28–3	.464
Josh Cody	1955	1	0–8–0	.000
Peter P. Stevens	1956–1959	4	4–28–0	.125
George Makris	1960–1969	10	45–44–4	.505
Wayne Hardin	1970–1982	13	80–52–3	.604	1–0
Bruce Arians	1983–1988	6	27–39	.409
Jerry Berndt	1989–1992	4	11–33	.250
Ron Dickerson	1993–1997	5	8–47	.145
Bobby Wallace	1998–2005	8	19–71	.211
Al Golden	2006–2010	5	27–34	.443	0–1
Steve Addazio	2011–2012	2	13–11	.542	1–0
Matt Rhule	2013–present	4	26–23	.531	0–1
Totals[26]	1894–present	118	455–581–52	.442	2–3

Awards and Honors

National awards

• Maxwell Award
  • Steve Joachim – 1974
• Chuck Bednarik Award
  • Tyler Matakevich – 2015
• Bronko Nagurski Trophy
  • Tyler Matakevich – 2015

Conference awards

Big East Conference

• Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year
  • Dan Klecko – 2002
• Big East Conference Freshman of the Year
  • Tyler Matakevich – 2012
• Big East Conference Special Teams Player of the Year
  • Matt Brown – 2012

Mid-American Conference

• MAC Coach of the Year
  • Al Golden – 2009
• MAC Freshman of the Year
  • Bernard Pierce – 2009
• MAC Offensive Player of the Year
  • Bernard Pierce - 2011
• MAC Defensive Player of the Year
  • Adrian Robinson - 2009

American Athletic Conference

• American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year
  • Tyler Matakevich – 2015

College Football Hall of Fame

• Glenn Warner – coach
• Ray Morrison – coach
• Wayne Hardin – coach

Consensus All-Americans

• John Rienstra – 1985
• Paul Palmer – 1986
• Tyler Matakevich – 2015

Owls in pro football

Drafted players

Home stadium

When Temple first began its football program, the team had no official home field, eventually settling into Vernon Park in Germantown. From 1928 until 1977, the Owls played at Temple Stadium, also referred to as Owl Stadium and Beury Stadium.^[27] Temple Stadium encompassed 32 acres of land in the West Oak Lane neighborhood in North Philadelphia, with a capacity of nearly 20,000 people. In 1978, the team moved to Veterans Stadium. During the 1986 season, the Owls averaged an all-time high of 34,543 fans to their games at Veterans Stadium and their games, regularly televised, did well in the local Nielsen ratings. Veterans Stadium remained their home field through the 2002 season. Lincoln Financial Field has been Temple's home field since 2003, with the first home game being the inaugural college game at Lincoln Financial Field between Temple and Villanova, which drew over 30,000 fans.

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.^[28]

The largest attended home game was October 31, 2015, at Lincoln Financial Field, when the Owls played host to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, which had an announced attendance of 69,280,^[29] while the actual attendance was north of 70,000. Temple lost the game 24–20. The 2015 season marked the first time two Temple home games (the season-opener against Penn State and the ABC primetime game against Notre Dame) sold out at Lincoln Financial Field since the team moved there in 2003.

Media coverage

Eight Temple games were broadcast over Philadelphia television in 2005, the most in school history at the time. At one point, Owls football games aired on 12 stations from as far north as Sayre, Pennsylvania to as far south as Baltimore. After that, games aired on only one station, WPHT 1210 (AM) in Philadelphia. Harry Donahue handled the play-by-play with former Temple Owl Steve Joachim doing the color. WHAT 1340 AM airs games in Spanish. 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.

Since rejoining the Big East Conference in 2012, and remaining in the conference when it became the American Athletic Conference, every Temple game has appeared on television.^[30] Radio-wise, the games are broadcast on WPEN 97.5 The Fanatic. Harry Donahue continues to handle the play-by-play while former Heisman Trophy runner-up and Temple running back Paul Palmer handles the color commentary. Harry Mayes is the sideline reporter.^[31]

Temple football is covered by a number of outlets, including the student newspaper, The Temple News; traditional newspapers such as The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News; and online outlets such as CSN Philadelphia and OwlScoop.com. On October 31, 2015, ESPN College GameDay came to Philadelphia for the first time since 2002, and the first time for the Owls Football team (in 2013, Temple Men's Basketball co-hosted ESPN College GameDay in conjunction with LaSalle University at The Palestra). College GameDay would return to Philadelphia later that year to cover the Army–Navy Game. That game was also the Saturday Night Football primetime game on ABC, the first time that a Temple football game had been featured on the program.

In the polls

Temple first entered the AP poll in 1936, its first year of existence, at #19 after week 4. It dropped to #20 the subsequent week, and fell out of the poll after week 6.^[32] In 1941, Temple was again ranked in the AP poll for two weeks; #17 after week 2 following a 14–0 win against Penn State (their last win against the Nittany Lions for 74 years), and #13 after a 41–14 win over the Bucknell Bison. As of 2015, this was their highest AP ranking ever. They fell out of the AP poll after week 5. The Owls would not return to the AP poll until 1974, when they were ranked #19 for one week.^[33]

During the 1979 season, Temple entered the AP poll at #18 after week 10 following a home win against the Akron Zips.^[34] They fell out of the poll the next week but returned after week 13, and finished the season ranked #17 in both the Coaches and AP polls.^[35]

During the 2009 season, Temple received votes in the AP poll for four weeks and the Coaches poll for two, but did not reach the top 25 in either poll. They received votes in the AP poll for four weeks and the Coaches poll for eight during the 2010 season, including the preseason, but remained unranked.^[36] During the 2011 season, the Owls received votes in the Coaches poll for three weeks and received votes for the 2014 season preseason for the same poll.^[37]

Temple finally gained poll exposure during the breakthrough 2015 season. the Owls were ranked for six out of 14 weeks in the AP & Coaches polls, and received votes during six other weeks. Those weeks were the university's first national rankings since 1979. Also in 2015, Temple was ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings, marking the first time any Pennsylvania collegiate team was ranked by the College Football Playoff selection committee. The Owls were ranked #22 in consecutive weeks during which their record was 7–1 and 8–1. Temple was ranked #24 in the final regular season CFP rankings.

2015 Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	21	23	21	RV	25	22	24	RV
Coaches	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	22	23	21	RV	25	20	24	RV
CFP	Not released									22	22	NR	24	21	24	Not released

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of August 24, 2016

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
vs UMass	vs Villanova	vs Bucknell	at Rutgers	vs Rutgers	at Rutgers	vs Rutgers	at Oklahoma	Oklahoma
at Army	at Maryland	vs Maryland	vs Idaho	vs Boston College	at Duke	vs Duke
at Notre Dame	at Boston College	at Buffalo
vs. Villanova	vs Buffalo	vs Army

^[38]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Temple Owls football.

• Official website