Temple beat Fiesta Bowl participant Connecticut by 14 points and won eight games in 2010, but when bowl bids were handed out, the Owls came up empty-handed. Then Al Golden left and became coach at Miami. The new man in Philly is Steve Addazio, who spent the past six seasons as an assistant at Florida.
Click the image for an enlarged view. Thanks to Cathy.
Temple was a college football graveyard when Al Golden was named coach in December 2005. The Owls had gone 1-11, 2-9 and 0-11 the previous three seasons under Bobby Wallace, and the school decided to take a shot on the young Virginia defensive coordinator. Golden's first team, stocked with young starters, went 1-11, but those young players became veterans and Golden's plan paid big dividends last season when the Owls won nine games and earned a berth to the EagleBank Bowl. There are 17 starters back in 2010, and Temple is favored to win the Mid-American Conference title. Thanks to Scott!
As a run up to the start of the season, the Wiz will display one poster each day until our supply is exhausted. Last year, the site displayed 69 posters.
Then we turn it over to readers, who will vote on the poster of the year. Until then, send your team's poster schedule to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
It wasn't the start Temple was looking for Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field. The Owls played host to Division I-AA Villanova in the inaugural Mayor's Cup game and lost, 27-24. This was a game Temple needed to win if it hoped to earn a bowl bid. Accomplishing that goal will be difficult considering that next on the schedule is a trip to Penn State, meaning a likely 0-2 start. Thanks to Kevin!
Legendary sportswriter Wendell Barnhouse recently left the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and is now a correspondent for Big 12 Sports.com. With 30 years experience of observing the college scene, his expertise is unmatched. In the spirit of Steve Harvey's Bottom Ten, Wendell will provide us a capsule look at college football's less fortunate, counting down the Bottom 25 teams in Division I-A football.
No. 22 Temple
Location: Philadelphia.
Nickname: Owls.
Conference: Mid-American, East Division.
Coach: Al Golden, fourth season, 5-19.
Division I-A history: 392-525-52 in 109 seasons, .431 winning percentage.
Last bowl season: 1979.
Best record last five years: 4-8 in 2007.
Rank(ed) because: The Owls were so bad for so long and attracted such little interest they were asked (not so nicely) to leave the Big East Conference. Temple spent two seasons as an independent before joining the MAC in 2007. Until the Owls can remove the stigma of their recent ineptitude, they'll be considered a Bottom 25 contender.
Negative number: Since its last winning season (7-4 in 1990), Temple is 35-156 in 17 seasons, a .224 winning percentage.
Possible victory: Connecticut, Sept. 6. If the Owls are so bleepy then why suggest they've got a chance to knock of a team from a BCS conference? Incentive, friends, incentive. UConn is one of the Big East teams that evicted the Owls from that league. Playing at home, Temple would like to prove its worth.
Biggest blowout: At Penn State, Sept. 20. The Nittany Lions aren't as fearsome as they once were but any team that travels to Happy Valley could wind up leaving whipped and sad. Even in defeat, Temple can measure itself based on the point spread.
Is there hope?: All four of Temple's victories came in the MAC. One of those wins came against Miami (Ohio), the team that won the East Division. With 21 starters returning, the Owls have a shot at winning the East or compiling a winning record.
Thanks to the Helmet Project.
This could be the season Al Golden's plan pays off. The Temple coach played a bunch of fuzzy-faced freshmen and sophomores in his first two seasons. His first team went 1-11, but last season the Owls were 4-8, winning four of their last seven. Dare we say bowl game in 2008? Thanks to Kevin for sending the poster schedule.
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