NCAA Football Temple Football

There are certain truisms that we hold dear, reminders that though changes around us rattle our worldview on a daily basis, these changes are but mere details on the bedrock of a static reality. Gravity makes things fall down. The sun rises and sets. Temple is horrible at football. We know these things.

Or do we? Temple could... maybe... possibly... not be bad in 2008. In fact, they could be one of the best in their conference.

As a matter of fact, as the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, there's a mountain of evidence that suggests Temple will continue their vast improvement of 2007. Their starting quarterback, Adam DiMichele, broke his leg late in the year during Temple's 3-game win streak (repeat: Temple had a 3-game win streak. Please pick up the pieces of your brain that have exploded out your ears). He's back.

Matter of fact, everybody's back--they lost just two players from last season's two-deeps, only one of whom started (at fullback, mind you).

Temple also features wunderkind Al Golden as the head coach. Golden, just 39, was mentioned as a potential suitor for the UCLA job this year, but he withdrew his name from consideration. That's just as well, because why spend winters in Los Angeles when there's Philadelphia?

The young coach was also instrumental in bringing what Scout.com called the conference's "best" recruiting class to Temple during this signing period. Of course, there are no 5-star players involved yet, but it's Temple--if a blue-chipper so much as scheduled an official visit, the NCAA would be swooping in with their helicopters and black SUVs with bulletproof windshields.

So... yeah, folks. Temple's practically the team to beat in the MAC in 2008. Temple. I think I need to lie down now.

Back in my day we didn't have any of this fancy video stuff. Our instant replay was re-enactments by the local street urchins. And the sun was hotter. Where are my Werther's Originals?

I'm sure this will make Temple, one of the six teams in the country with a longer active losing streak than Notre Dame, but the MAC has admitted it screwed Temple:

According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Mid-American Conference yesterday admitted that its officials blew the call when a touchdown reception by Owls wide receiver Bruce Francis was disallowed with 40 seconds remaining in the team's 22-17 loss to host Connecticut on Sept. 15.

The most infuriating part of the whole thing is that they went to replay, and despite it being completely, absolutely obvious that the guy's foot was in bounds the ruling on the field was allowed to stand. Michigan fans have seen this a couple times. In 2005, the worlds' most obvious incomplete forward pass was ruled a fumble that Domata Peko returned for a touchdown. This was reviewed and allowed to stand. At the time it was the worst call in college football history (since all the really atrocious calls before it hadn't been reviewed). It is no longer after the Oregon-Oklahoma onsides kick fiasco, which was also the doing of a well meaning but desperately old retired former official.

Maybe conferences should stop deploying decrepit old people to squint at these monitors? No reviewable plays require a knowledge of the rulebook beyond that of most serious observers. Surely there are some guys younger that JoePa who can be employed to not screw up critical calls. Clearly this old guy stuff isn't working out.

Let's face it, under most circumstances, teams, players and coaches shouldn't be bragging too much after playing (and usually beating) Temple. When you end up winning the game only because the refs completely screwed up a final play, calling an apparent Temple TD catch incomplete on 4th down and under a minute left in the game to let UConn survive 22-17, there is no bragging.

To UConn's credit, no one was crowing after this game. Dan Davis, the UConn defensive tackle was quite blunt.

"I am not even going to enjoy this game, to tell you the truth," Davis said. "We put the game in their offense's and the refs' hands. "We were lucky."

Even UConn Head Coach Randy Edsall didn't pretend otherwise.

"We got lucky," a red-faced and smiling Edsall said. "We were fortunate, but I'd rather be on this end than the other end."

The game was at Rentschler Field in Connecticut, but the officials on the field were from Temple's conference -- the MAC. They blew the call on the field and sent it up to replay where a Big East replay official ruled there was not conclusive evidence to overturn the call. Why?

None of the replay angles face Francis' chest, definitively showing the ball secured in his hands, one foot inbounds and the other foot not yet landed out of bounds. The best angle is partially obscured by a security guard - a giant yellow jacket - blocking the UConn season.

Judge for yourself. The ESPN Regional/Big East play calling crew seemed to think it was a score.

Hapless Temple found itself in a real ball game today against Connecticut.

With fourth and goal with less than a minute left trailing UCONN 22-17, Temple ran a reverse pass. The ball was lofted to the back of the end zone, tipped, and then caught by a Temple receiver. Update: Video below.

On-field officials ruled the receiver was out of bounds when he caught the ball. After watching several replays, it is abundantly clear to me that he 1)had possession of the ball and 2)got his left foot in-bounds while in possession of the ball.

That play's a touchdown. Period.

The replay crew disagreed and stuck with the on-field call. This is a travesty. This is a sham. This is a mockery. It's a traveshamockery and I'm embarrassed with the game's replay crew. Temple was robbed of a rare victory and I hope they raise a fit (in a professional manner, of course)with the Big East officials tomorrow.

They were robbed of a touchdown that would have all but won the game for them. They deserved that win but it goes down in the record books as a loss. How sad.

Navy still won, 30-19, but it was a lot better game than expected from the Temple Owls. Navy jumped out quickly, but Temple actually responded instead of folding quickly. Navy piled up tons of rushing yards but was forced to settle for field goals.

Temple showed more than a pulse. It actually looked like Head Coach Al Golden might be making progress with the team. At the very least, they have a shot of being considered better than FIU, FAU, Duke, Buffalo and other perennial bottom feeders of 1A football. At the very least, they might actually be relevant in the MAC in their first season as a full member.

The game also marked the return of Navy Fullback Adam Ballard. Ballard broke his leg at the end of last year in the Army-Navy game. In this game Ballard scored two of Navy's three touchdowns. Nice way to start a senior season.

Navy's offense remains as potent, but their defense definitely has some issues. The Midshipmen struggled with screens and short passes.

Temple may be right there for the worst athletic department with a (sort of) division 1-A football team. Their latest APR report card (PDF) has the football team headed for scholarship reductions by next season. The baseball, basketball and even the golf teams got passes this season with the "squad-sized" adjustments.

Still, that's just a couple programs that are having academic issues. It's not like the entire athletic department is in trouble with the NCAA.

The NCAA announced yesterday that it has put the entire Temple athletic program on probation for two years and handed down other penalties for two violations that occurred in the Owls' sports program in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years.

Oh.

The big screw-up involved an apparently desperate tennis coach. He purposefully used an ineligible player for 9 matches in 2005.

The athlete, a midyear transfer, was allowed to compete under the name of an eligible player who had left the team. The NCAA reported that Hoehne, who had coached at Temple for seven seasons, even went so far as to mumble the player's name during pre-match introductions so as to not obviously identify him and requested that opponents skip the introductions.

Hoehne, to no one's surprise was fired after this came to light and the NCAA has effectively declared him unhireable by colleges for the the next seven years with a "show of cause" penalty. The Tennis team's sparkling 3-9 record for the season has been changed by the NCAA to 0-12.

The athletic department also didn't do much in the way of oversight in its financial aid distribution in 2004-05 and 2005-06. It turns out that 36 student-athletes were found to have used the money for book purchases to purchase books not needed for their classes. The purchases were generally for a girlfriend, other interests, or just to resell for cash.

Temple's president has issued a press release accepting the penalties and saying that it will never happen again. After his first season at Temple, basketball Coach Fran Dunphy (pictured right) has to wonder why he left Penn.

Bearing the scary moniker as the absolute worst team in Philadelphia regardless of sport or level of competition, the Temple Owls have done it. A 28-14 win over Bowling Green. They have stopped the nation's longest current Division 1-A losing streak at 20. This is the Owl's first win for Coach Al Golden and the first Temple win since a 34-24 win over Syracuse in 2004.

Not that anyone saw this one. I'm curious. Temple was +1 in Turnovers (2-3), but every other number says Bowling Green or at least a wash.

• Time of Possession: BGSU 35:08, Temple 24:52
• Total Offense: BGSU 386, Temple 256
• Rushing Offense: BGSU 231, Temple 96
• Passing Offense: BGSU 155, Temple 160
• 1st Downs: BGSU 27, Temple 12
• Penalties: BGSU 7-84, Temple 9-81

Congratulations to Temple on that first win. Shame and humiliation to BGSU. I don't want to say the Falcons have to be concerned, but since Syracuse lost to Temple, the Orange have only won 5 games since.

Now the longest losing streak resides in Durham, North Carolina. Duke is now up to 16 with their 45-28 loss to Vanderbilt.

In perhaps one of the classier things I have heard of by a college football team in some time, the Temple football team decided by unanimous vote to donate their per diem, amounting to roughly $1,500.00, for one game to Clemson reserve defensive back, Ray Ray McElrathbey, who has custody of and is raising his 11 year old younger brother Fahmarr.

In the large scheme of things, $1,500.00 is not that much. But considering how amateur college football players, who are restricted in outside work they can do in earning spending money, and that they gave up 1/12th of their per diem money for the year to a total stranger on an opposition football team, well, it warms the heart.

This Clemson fan wants to publicly recognize the Temple football program and I wish Coach Al Golden and the team the greatest success. As tough a year as the winless Owls have had, it is great to see that not only are they being taught the best in caring and sportsmanship, but that they are living it out.

So from a Tiger fan, let me say Go Owls!

The text of the latter that Temple Coach Golden gave to Clemson's Coach Bowden before the game follows:

Earlier this year, when it was announced that Clemson would play Temple at Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium instead of Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field, it seemed like a win-win for Clemson fans in the Carolinas.

On second glance, this deal has had a history as long as a multi nation trade pact. So for someone just noticing, and checking his TV listings, here is how we got to this point:

Clemson was originally scheduled to play Auburn in a home and home series. Both agreed to mutually back out of the series. In return, Clemson got, at the time, Big East Temple, on the schedule for a two at home, one on the road deal.

During last year's Clemson v Temple, 37-7, matchup in Death Valley, Clemson approached Temple officials about "buying out" their home game in Philadelphia for a "home" game in Charlotte, NC. Temple agreed on the condition that they just end the series with Clemson after this matchup, so they could be free to schedule an actual home game in Philadelphia against Penn. St. next season.

In Charlotte, Raycom Sports/Lincoln Financial, yes the same people whose name is on the Philadelphia stadium, have been wanting to host more college football game in Charlotte, besides the Meineke Car Bowl in late December that already occurs. Clemson was willing, and they were ready.

So that is how we got to this point. Now the Raycom Sports people had hopes of a crowd of close to 50,000 in the 70,000 seat home of the Carolina Panthers, figuring that with Clemson just a two hour drive away, that could happen. Instead, the game promoters are hoping that maybe 35,000 people will actually show up, with a probable loss of money on the game.

Several factors worked against a very large crowd for the game.

1. The game is on Thursday night, difficult enough for Clemson fans to drive to Death Valley, let alone a 130 miles in the opposite direction. Because of a local NASCAR race on Saturday, the game had to be on Thursday.
2. The game is against Temple, perhaps the lowest rated team in Division IA football, meaning that casual fan interest will be depressed.
3. Temple will bring few fans with them, meaning that the spectators will be almost wholly Clemson fans.
4. After a Clemson game against nearby Wake Forest, just five days before, where almost 10,000 Clemson fans traveled to, their incentive to see the Tigers matched up against a lesser team in the same neighborhood is diminished.

All that said, the fact that there will still be over 30,000 paying customers at the game in mid-week is a bit astounding to me. That is the amount of fans a school like Clemson can hope to bring to an important bowl game after the holidays.

This Clemson fan will be at the game, hopefully with a series of game photos that will be posted on Friday. But at the same time, you have to wonder what market data the game's organizers were looking at that they hoped would gaurantee a larger crowd?