By Mike Gibson
The Tonight Show host opened his guest stint on Monday night, Oct. 11, 1982 with this line:
“I love Louisville. I love Louisville because Temple beat them, 55-14, in football Saturday night. Crushed them. I love Louisville.”
The guest host, a comedian named Bill Cosby, received loud applause from those in the audience who loved Louisville the town and Temple football.
Then Cosby went right into a hilarous routine about his playing days at Temple.
Louisville football fans did not appreciate the mention as much and flooded NBC with letters (this was before the days of email).
Evidently, there were few Louisville football fans in the Burbank audience.
There are many more Louisville football fans today.
Winning can do that for a program.
There was a time not all that long ago when Temple was not only where Louisville is now, but was much better than Louisville. History shows that the Owls are 3-1 all-time vs. Louisville, with their only loss coming, 21-12, on the road in 2003. Temple has beaten Louisville by an average score of 24-12.
Louisville is rated about 105 slots ahead of Temple in the current rankings.
Temple coach Al Golden is confident that the Owls are headed in the direction Louisville is now.
Golden is not a patient man and both he and Temple fans hope they can get there sooner rather than later.
What follows below is what can happen when a superbly-coached Temple team takes the field, an account of the Owls’ 55-14 win at Louisville a generation ago.
By Jere Longman
Inquirer Staff Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There was great optimism in the Louisville athletic department last night. Basketball practice starts Friday.
Football? Well, that’s another story. Football here ranks a distant fifth to varsity basketball, intramural basketball, fast-running horses and slow-sipping bourbon.
It’s not hard to see why.
Take last night’s 55-14 humiliation by Temple (3-3). The Cardinals jumped ahead early but were helpless as the Owls steamrolled ahead, 27-7, by halftime.
Led by linebacker Tom Kilkenny, the Owls tuned up for Pittsburgh by sacking quarterbacks Dean May and Scott Gannon eight times and intercepting May twice.
”Our defense gave us good pressure to make the offense go,” said Temple coach Wayne Hardin.
Louisville’s defense was as inept as its offense, surrendering 402
yards and resuscitating the Owls repeatedly with mental lapses.
Temple played with injuries to several of its running backs but still
delivered 277 rushing yards. Harold Harmon rolled up 108 yards in the first half before exiting with a bruised heel. Rod Moore, understudy to injured fullback Brian Slade, scored twice in the first half.
Quarterback Tim Riordan completed 8 of 11 passes for 132 yards and a 38-yard
touchdown.
Early in the third quarter, Louisville (2-3) closed to 27-14, but its defense was too leaky to contain anyone stronger than Wisconsin-Stout. First, the Owls drew the Cardinals offside on a fourth-and-one at the 38, then repeated the trickery to gain first-and-goal at the eight. Riordan rolled right, and tightroped his way into the end zone, putting the game out of reach, 34-14.

“We’ve come close before, but recently our offense has been
sputtering,” Hardin said.
“I don’t know of another team in the country who could lose their top three runners (Jim Brown, Slade and Joe Baiunco) and still play the way these kids played.”
For good measure, cornerback Anthony Young intercepted May late in the third quarter and returned the ball 54 yards to the Louisville four. A facemask penalty put the ball at the one, backup tailback Sherman Myers (58 yards rushing) vaulted over and the margin was now 41-14. The audience of 19,223 at Cardinal Stadium was not amused.
Early in the fourth quarter, a group of students began singing, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over,” but Temple scored twice more before anyone could find the switch.
Gannon was flushed from the pocket at the four, only to be rammed by
nose tackle Bob Shires. The ball bounced into the end zone and was
pounced on by Jerry McDowell.
With 5 minutes, 29 seconds left, Young fielded a punt and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown, pulling Temple ahead, 55-14. That was the most points the Owls had scored since 1978, when they rang up 56 on that vaunted football power, Akron.
“Anthony Young had another outstanding night,” Hardin said. “That was
our first TD on a punt return in about 10 years.”
The outcome was quite unexpected and embarrassing in Bluegrass
Country.
Fueled by an earlier win over Oklahoma State of the Big 8 Conference, the locals figured Louisville football finally was emerging from the shadows of its basketball team.
Indeed, Denny Crum, the basketball coach, has been appearing on television boosting Bob Weber’s football program. The local media wondered whether Louisville’s big problem this weekend would be taking Temple too lightly.
Now Louisville’s big problem appears to be regaining whatever shred of
credibility it once enjoyed. Some schools don’t score 55 points on the
Cardinals’ basketball team.
“We just got an old-fashioned whipping,” Weber said. “We played much poorer than I ever thought possible. The first half, we were just standing around, and the second half was just an after-the-fact happening for us.”
Temple grabbed a quick 3-0 lead on Bob Clauser’s dying-quail field
goal of 39 yards.
Frank Minniefield gave Louisville some false confidence, fielding a punt and slashing up the middle for an 88-yard touchdown. The Cardinals were temporarily ahead, but it was all a mirage.
Temple quickly regained the lead, 10-7, driving 80 yards to score in
seven plays.
“What bothers me is that we started so slow and never got into the
game mentally,” Weber said.

By Mike Gibson
Lousiville was the No. 1 football team in the country last Saturday.
Huh?
Right now, you’ve got to be thinking, “No. 1? Isn’t Louisville No. 13?”
And you’d be right.
Yet in the context of a casaul remark made on a huge stage, Louisville was No. 1 for a few minutes last week.
It was made in the middle of a busy day by ESPN college football studio analyst Mike Gottfried.
And it came about 15 minutes before star running back Michael Bush was injured in the big win over Kentucky enough to be out for the season.
“I think, right now, Louisville is my No. 1 team,” Gottfried said.
Gottfried went on to explain his reasons, but Louisville fans had to be happy at being at least mentioned as a No. 1 in a marquee sport not named basketball.
And they were for at least a few hours in Gottfried’s mind.
Whether they are No. 1 or No. 13, an elite team is coming into Philadelphia for a noon showdown with Al Golden’s Temple Owls.
Most people don’t think the Owls are ready, but that’s why the games are played on the field and not in the newspapers or even through the eyes of ESPN color analysts.
Nobody is giving the Owls a chance and they might be right.
But football is played with a ball that takes some curious bounces at times and should quarterback Adam DiMichele be able to get the ball into the right Temple playmakers, Tim Brown, Mike Holley and some of the Owls’ talented wide receivers in the kind of space where they can make plays, it could be interesting.
This much is known: In a week when Bush gets injured, the talk on the Louisville board is dominated by this response to a creative post from Temple fan MH55. As of midnight tonight, 36 Cardinal fans have responded to Mark’s post, the most of any on that site’s first page.
The defense will have to be even more physical than it was in Buffalo in order for the Owls to shock the world.
Or at least the part of it where Mike Gottfried lives.

By Mike Gibson
On the first-ever Al Golden Radio Show Monday night, the first-year Temple University head football coach wanted to talk about the positives of his team’s overtime loss at Buffalo.
That didn’t mean he was ready to gloss over the negatives.
At the South Philly Taproom, Golden talked about both the good and the bad and fielded questions from athletic supporters Fred Altenberger and Bob Morrison during his first half-hour radio show.
He also mentioned that starting running back Tim Brown might have been suffering from a lack of conditioning due to having missed about 23 of the 29 practices coming into the game and, almost as an afterthought, said “(Keith) Holt will be back in the lineup” for Saturday’s game with Louisville.

The highlights, using Golden’s words:

• “The positives are that we competed. We knocked two of their players out and hit their quarterback a ton. Our kicking game, which we placed a great emphasis on, we did a great job and (punter) Jake Brownell did a great job and had three balls downed inside the 12.
• “Another one, we played 18 freshmen in the game. I’m excited about both those quarterbacks. …
• “Adam (DiMichele) is our starter right now and Vaughn (Charlton) was a little bit nervous during the game and a little bit nervous in the pre-game and that’s not untypical of that situation. He’s got those first-game jitters out of the way and we’ll just have to move forward.
• “We won the hidden yardage game and when you can punt and change the field and not get points, it’s the function of something else. We didn’t execute well enough on offense.”

Golden also said he “doesn’t know what Ben’s status is,” meaning starting tight end Ben Hendy (broken thumb) and his availability for the Saturday noon home opener against Lousiville at Lincoln Financial Field (seating chart pictured above).
He also praised true freshman linebacker Junior Galette, who was named the Owls’ defensive player of the game.
“Junior is a young man who plays with such a great motor and is one of our more physical players,” Golden said. “I don’t care what Division 1A program you are looking at, speed is what you are looking for and Junior’s got that at that position. He’ll be challenged this week by this group coming in and I think he’ll respond. He’s a tough kid.” That’s when Golden mentioned Holt would be back in with the starting linebacker group. On Aug. 24, Golden spoke highly of Holt in this New Jersey newspaper story.
Morrison asked Golden if he would considering using two large backs to help protect DiMichele and also on short-down situations at the goal-line.
“It depends, Bob, on what the opponents are doing,” Golden said. “Our failure at the goal line was the result of individual breakdowns and not a function of protection. We had some young guys who were not ready for those moments and those looks that we got. The bottom line is to protect the quarterback and we’re going to do that.”

Golden on Tim Brown:

“When coach (George) DeLeone changed the running attack at halftime, Timmy ran the ball well. Timmy got tired and because we don’t talk about injuries, few people know that Timmy missed almost two weeks of training camp. He’s not really in condition right now. He made it for 6 or 7 practices of the 29 practices and I expect him to continue to get the carries and get stronger. … Timmy’s nifty and there’s a fine line between hitting the hole and getting your butt through it and Timmy’s just going to have to do that (in goal-line situations).”

On the play at the goal line:

“I made the decision after 2d down we were going to go for it. We had 3rd and a foot and I told George to use 2 plays do it right here but we lost yardage and and once it’s 4th and 3 that’s a completely different animal. We screwed up the execution of that play on third down we had a player go the wrong way.”

Altenberger mentioned that the offensive line seemed to get worn down in Buffalo and mentioned the use of a fullback in short-down situations.
“In terms of the offensive line, we’d like to have more depth at that position,” Golden said. “Any way you can move the chains, we’re going to find a way to do it.”
Golden on the penalties:

“We counted 9 in the game and that’s not one of the characteristics I want of my team. I’ll tell you the one that really killed us came start of the second half. We got the ball to the 45-yard line and got called for a block in the back and I looked at the films and today this is a mystery call. I already sent it in to the MAC (for review). It came at a critical junction of the second half. We had a chance to start at midfield and we get pushed back to the 13. That really hurt us.”

By Mike Gibson
I’m a bottom-line kind of guy and I’m not happy unless Temple University wins in football.
Unfortunately, in a city with so many entertainment options, Philadelphia fans demand results and not promise.
The worst thing about losing to Buffalo is that a crowd of 25K for Louisville might drop below 20K, perhaps to as low as 15K.
A win over Buffalo, even in overtime, might have meant 30K.
Temple fans are not going to support a loser.
It just ain’t happening.
The best thing about a 9-3 overtime loss at Buffalo might have been that new Temple coach Al Golden appeared as ticked as I was, something you could never say about his predecessor.

I’ve got to hope Buffalo is better than the 118th team in the nation.
Ten things to take from Thursday night:
1. Golden yelling at the team and the team all pumped up for the hoped-for touchdown drive.
2. Awful offensive line performance in pass protection. It would have be nice to see new quarterback Adam DiMichele with a four-second look at the secondary.
3. Defense came up big in four quarters, but not in overtime.
4. Defense would have come up with a fumble in OT, but Buffalo was called for a false start.
5. If the offense responded with their backs to the wall, driving 75 yards, why didn’t they show that sense of urgency earlier?
6. Got to get the ball more to Tim Brown and Mike Holley IN SPACE. That means Brown on screens and Holley on 8- or 9-yard slants. It also means Brown, not Page, on punts and kickoffs. Spell Brown more with Jason Harper during plays from scrimmage to get Brown the space that punts and kickoffs allow.
7. Pass to tight end Ben Hendy was open all day. Might have worked on play-action fake to Brown at the goal line.
8. Great games by Walter Mebane, Junior Galette, Ryan Gore, Phil Simpson.
9. Need a pick from the secondary, especially when two guys are draped all over the Buffalo guy who catches a ball.
10. The animation and the caring on the TU sideline was definitely a 100 percent turnaround.

By Mike Gibson
If you can’t make Temple’s opening football game at University of Buffalo Stadium (pictured) and are wondering where all those loud “LET’S GO TEM-PLE!!!” chants are coming from, chances are it will be Section 210, West Grandstand.
Or 209.
Or 211.
Or all three.
But the central area appears to be 210.
That’s the general area, about the 10-yard-line behind the Owl bench, where the majority of the Temple fans will be sitting come the 7 p.m. kickoff.
A Temple fan named Ken Mayo has been working hard to get his fellow members of what Al Golden proudly calls “Owl Nation” to the University of Buffalo.
He’s prodded, cajoled and set up buses for those interested in supporting the Owls.
He’s set up an email network of those interested in going to the game and, within a couple of days of the call, said he received over 100 emails from Temple fans interested in supporting the first game of the new Golden Era.
Between the buses, full cars, trains and planes, Owl Nation could be represented by anything from a base low of 500 fans to an estimated one or two thousand.
Anything more would be a pleasant surprise.
Few expect anything less, particularly after an estimated 2,000 people turned out for Fan Fest on Wednesday, what Golden called an “encouraging sign.”
Mayo is hosting a tailgate for $32 a person.
Many Owl fans will be hosting their own impromtu satellite tailgates as well.
Other items of interest for Owl fans:

• All seats in the stadium are $15. Plenty of tickets still available for the game. Good idea to ask for seats in 210, 209 and 208 sections, if purchasing at stadium ticket window.
• The stadium seats 29,013. No more than 20,000 fans are expected.
• The Temple football game will be on CN8, with Chris Carrino handling the play-by-play and Jon Ritchie the color and available on the internet in streaming video at CN8tv.com. The game will also be broadcast over 990 AM in Philadelphia, a 5,000-watt station that can be heard in 3 states (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware) at night.
• It will also be the opening game for former Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill, the new UB head coach. Here is the UB roster. Tight end Chad Upshaw is probably the Bulls’ best player. Defensive back Kareem Byrom is also outstanding.
• Golden is Temple’s 24th head coach and the depth chart is expected to be released either today or tomorrow. Here is the Owls’ current roster.
• If driving to the game, it’s about a 7-hour trip from Philadelphia. Here are the directions from the Temple campus.

By Mike Gibson
Moving forward.
If Temple University head football coach Al Golden said it once yesterday, he said it 20 times.
It probably should be the team slogan, Golden says it so much these days.
Temple University’s football program moved forward with a successful media day/fan fest at Lincoln Financial Field that drew a lot of people on Wednesday.
A lot of people.
Media Day isn’t quite practice.
Not a game, not practice, but an impressive crowd nonetheless.
According to Golden, 2,000 Temple football followers came out to see the Owls.
To borrow a rant from Allen Iverson, we’re talking about Fan Fest.
Not practice.
Not a game.
Fan Fest.
Perhaps even more important than the estimated 2,000 there, Golden got a good 12 minutes on Comcast during the Fan Fest and made it into the living rooms of about 100,000 more Philadelphia area fans on Daily News Live Wednesday.
Some highlights of the interview follow below.


Michael Barkann, the host of the show, started by saying this: “By 2013, the Temple University football program will be on top of the world and Al Golden is going to tell us that right now. Al, what is the message you want to convey?”
Golden: Mike, as you can see behind me, there’s about 2,000 people here. It’s a new Temple Era and we’re thrilled with the start here.
Barkann: What does this season look like to you?
Golden: I’m not Nostradomas either, Mike, I’m just trying to win one game right now. People don’t want to hear the cliche but we’re getting ready to do something real special right now at Temple and we have so much support and, if you look beihnd me right now, it’s real exciting.
Mike Kern: When you are starting from where you are starting, what’s the biggest thing you had to do?
Golden: The first thing was to instill some discipline and team pride and unity. We sat down with each kid and the top thing they wanted us to do was to achieve was team unity and we had to get the academic issues behind us and I’m thrilled what the kids are doing academically. Now you can start to win and now you can develop of progam.
Kern: What are your goals in terms of wins and losses?
Golden: Mike, as I said to you uin the past before, I haven’t really tried to quantify it . I’ve really just been focused on us. I can’t tell the strength coach, who gets in there at 5 a.m. or the offensive and defensive coordinators who get in at 5:30 a.m. that we’re just trying to win a couple of games. We’re going to try to win every game. That’s what these kids deserve and that’s what Temple University and Philadelphia deserve.
Barkann: Sports Illustrated had a rather unflattering opinion of your team. In light of things like that, how do you sell the team to recruits?
Golden: We’re still selling it. There’s so much going on, our facilities are excellent. We have a tremendsous schedule coming out. There’s a lot to sell. There’s $450 million worth of infrastructure and that’s a $512 million stadium that I’m looking at. We have a lot to sell.
Barkann: On Saturday, Oct. 21, 3 p.m. start, we’ve got your game at Northern Illinois and on Wednesday, Sept. 13, The Al Golden Show premiers. What does that do for your program?
Golden: Anytime on TV, either here or on an informercial or for a 3 1/2 program on Comcast like our Northern Illinois’ game, that’s a 3-hour infomercial on your program. Moving forward, we’re really excited. One thing a lot of people don’t know about is that the MAC is going to be boardcast to a lot of affiliates, something like 16 to 21 million people beginning in 2007 and we’re excited to be a part of that.
Kern: You have a first game scheduled in a week. Talk about that.
Golden: Mike, I’m so focused on the process and the product will take care ot iitself. People have asked me, ‘Is this what you want?/ Well, we’re just beginning. The goal isn’t to be a head coach, the goal is to be a successful head coach and I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t believe in my heart that we weren’t going to be successful. I know that’s going to be the case and this is evidence behind me, the tip of the iceberg, of what we can achieve in Philadelphia.

Editor’s Note: This is probably the only non-Temple football story you’ll ever read on this site. This is a completely true story. Skip Wilson has told it many times in my presence at banquets over the years.
By Mike Gibson
One of the benefits of being a sportswriter is being able to help the kids, in ways large and small.
Sometimes even when you are not much more than a kid yourself.
I was a 22-year-old kid sports writer for the Doylestown Intelligencer when I was able to help out another kid, a 17-year-old pitcher at Souderton High School named Jamie Moyer.
Being the newest member of the sports staff, my job was to cover the games of the outlying circulation high school teams that spring so I saw a lot of Moyer’s senior year at Souderton, in addition to covering games involving Souderton rivals Pennridge and Quakertown.
During the summer, another part of my job was covering American Legion baseball via phone roundups every night.
That would put me on the phone with Jamie’s dad, Jim Moyer, who was the head coach of the Souderton American Legion team.
Now Jim Moyer is just about the nicest guy you’ll ever talk with, either in person or on the phone.
Often, my conversations with the older Moyer would go for 10-, 15- and 20-minutes, grabbing the routine information involving hits, errors and how the runs scored.
“Do you have a feel on where Jamie’s getting drafted,” I asked Jim.
“I don’t think he is,” Jim said. “In fact, he’s getting very little interest from the colleges. We’re kind of concerned.”
“WHAT!!!!!!” I said. “He’s the best high school pitcher I ever saw.”
And, despite the fact I was only 22, I saw future Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher Tom Filer (7-0 for the Blue Jays in 1985) pitch for Archbishop Ryan and future Chicago Cub George Riley (Southern) and Moyer was better than both.
That led me to do a story on Moyer and why he would not be drafted.
“To be honest with you, Mike, he’s a good high school pitcher, but he just doesn’t throw hard enough,” Phillies scout Jack Toy, who lived in Warrington, told me.
I quoted Toy and a few other pro scouts.
They all said Moyer’s 10-0 record, 0.65 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 72 innings meant little because Moyer’s fastball didn’t measure up on the radar gun.
I basically did a story, quoting Jamie, Jim, and Jack Toy.
My major point in the story was that all the kid has proven since Little League is that he can get people out.
That should weigh more than any radar gun.
The next night I got a phone call from old friend Skip Wilson, the baseball coach at Temple. Skip often picked up the Intelligencer near his home and took a particular interest in my career since I covered his teams for The Temple News.
“Mike, do you have Jim’s phone number?” Skip said. “I have a partial (scholarship). I want to set something up.”
Wilson then set up a time to meet with the Moyers.
Shortly after that, I got a call from Jim Moyer.
“Thanks for that story,” Jim said. “George Bennett, the St. Joe coach, is interested, too. He said he heard Skip’s coming over and he wants to come over to.”
“Don’t you know, I’m coming out of their house and that son-of-a-gun is coming in?” Wilson told me later, only he didn’t say gun.
Bennett, who would later become Villanova coach, could offer more than Wilson could and that’s the only reason Moyer became a Hawk instead of an Owl.
I might have helped just a little, but Jamie did the rest all by himself.
And now he’s come back home.
Good luck, Jamie.

By Mike Gibson
During a 17-minute, 5-second appearance on WPEN’s 700-level sports talk program, Temple University head football coach Al Golden said a lot of encouraging things.
None more than this, though:
“I can tell you right now we have a Division IA quarterback in the program,” Golden said haltingly, carefully choosing his words. “I know this from experience. The hardest thing in college football is getting a Division IA quarterback into your program.
“At this time, I can tell you that we have a Division 1A quarterback in the program.”
A two-second pause followed.
“We might even have two,” Golden said.
Judging from the way Golden used those words, it seems like he’s chosen his guy.
Two days later, a story on the quarterbacks appeared in the Inquirer, written by Kevin Tatum.
This is what Golden had to say about each quarterback in that story:

Vaughn Charlton (6-4, 220) – “He has the physical tools and a strong arm. He has a tremendous makeup in his character, leadership and work ethic. He’s catching up in terms of the offense.”

Colin Clancy (6-0, 195) – “He’s very bright and has a good grasp of the offense. He’s done a good job of protecting the football and made very good decisions in this camp.”

Adam DiMichele (6-1, 185) – “He’s come a long way in a short time. I keep calling him Roy Hobbs – he’s a natural. He’s played no football in three years, and the first day, he looked like he’d been playing his whole life.”

Shane Kelly (6-4, 215) – “He understands the offense, and he’s spent a great deal of time in the spring and summer learning it. He has a comfort level with it.”

There are plusses with every guy.
DiMichele (pronounced DEE-MY-KUL) was a Fabulous 5 basketball player of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper in 2003. He was made that newspapers’ all-star Super 22 first team in football. He also set the career record for passing yardage in the highly competitive WPIAL. In addition to that, he was a good enough athlete to be named state Class AA basketball player of the year by the Associated Press during his senior season. One scouting expert called him a “poor man’s Joe Montana.” Now Golden calls him Roy Hobbs.
Hmm.
Clancy is a savvy quarterback and was coached in high school by former Temple and Philadelphia Stars’ (USFL) quarterback Tim Riordan, who was Wayne Hardin’s last Temple quarterback and Bruce Arians’ first Temple quarterback. Riordan audibled from scrimmage and called the long touchdown bomb that gave the Owls a 23-18 win over Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. If Clancy is a clone of Riordan, the Owls have something very special.
Kelly, like Clancy, went to prep school (Hill School in Pottstown) and, like DiMichele, was a superb basketball player.
Charlton is a highly sought-after recruit who wowed the big-timers with his arm, quick release and footwork at every camp he attended.
He furthered wowed the Temple coaches with his work ethic from the day he signed with the Owls, attending spring workouts (when he didn’t have to), coming to the Cherry and White game and memorizing the playbooks.
Golden has been playing his QB hand close to the vest so far, saying that the upcoming scrimmages will determine the guy.
Something tells me, though, a position that was a big question mark coming into the season will turn into an exclamation point by its end.

By Mike Gibson
Most people think Temple University’s football association with the Mid-American Conference is something relatively new.
Judging by the first games of the last five Temple University head football coaches, though, opening against MAC schools is the norm, not the exception over a period of 36 years.
Only Bruce Arians, who opened his career in Sept. of 1983 with a 17-6 win over Syracuse at Franklin Field, played a first game against a non-MAC foe.
Al Golden, the 24th head coach in the history of Temple football, opens against Buffalo in two weeks.
Here’s a brief look at past first games by Owl coaches, some with quirky milestones:
BOBBY WALLACE _ The last name of the first player to score in an Owl game coached by Wallace? Wallace, of course. Toledo quarterback Chris Wallace scored on a 1-yard TD run with 4 minutes, 50 seconds left in the first quarter of a 24-12 Rocket win on Sept. 5, 1998. Current Philadelphia Soul and former Philadelphia Eagle Todd France kicked three extra points and a 27-yard field goal in the game, played before 25,724 in the Glass Bowl. Three future professional football players carried the ball for the Owls in the game, Stacey Mack (20 carries, 114 yards), Jason McKie and Kevin Harvey. Temple outgained Toledo, 232-99, on the ground.
RON DICKERSON _ In the first Division IA meeting ever between black head coaches, Temple and Dickerson won, 31-28, on Sept. 9, 1993 over Ron Cooper and host Eastern Michigan. Dickerson was carried off the field afterward. That was the only plus of the season for Dickerson, who lost his remaining games by scores the likes of 58-0 (California), 66-14 (BC), 62-0 (RU), 56-21 (Army), 55-7 (Virginia Tech) and 52-3 (Syracuse).
JERRY BERNDT _ Opened with a 31-24 loss at Western Michigan on Sept. 2, 1989. His only win of that season was 36-33 over Rutgers. Berndt was 7-4 the next season (beating Virginia Tech, Boston College, Pitt and Wisconsin), a year before the Owls were to play an official Big East Conference schedule.
BRUCE ARIANS _ The first Temple coach in the modern era carried off the field by a team after his first game, a 17-6 win over Syracuse at Franklin Field on Sept. 2, 1983. The Owls won three other games that year, 24-7 over Louisville, 24-23 at Rutgers, and 23-16 at rival Delaware.
WAYNE HARDIN _ Opened unimpressively, with a 21-0 loss at home to Akron on Sept. 12, 1970, but finished his first season (like most of his seasons) strong as the Owls won seven of their last nine.
Al Golden enters his first game at Buffalo as an underdog, but chances are Las Vegas oddsmakers don’t know enough about either team to establish a clear favorite. They set the line based on the action, not necessarily the stronger team.
Will Al Golden become the third Owl head coach to be carried off the field in the modern era after game No. 1?
I’m, err, betting on it.

By Mike Gibson
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
A very wise man, conservative philosopher George Santayana, coined that phrase.
Today’s biggest misconception is that the “college football landscape” is so different than it was “20, 30 years ago” and “ignoring that is a sign of being out of touch with reality.”
Here’s the biggest dose of reality: College football’s landscape has changed so that the mid-majors are allowed to experience the kind of success they never had back 20, 30 years ago.
The landscape the very Bobby Wallace apologists cited as a reason why Temple football can’t succeed is the very reason Temple football can succeed.
Let’s see.
What did Temple have in the 1970s and 1980s?
Surely not a $521 million stadium to play all of its games in, not a stadium that is widely hailed as the best from a fan’s standpoint in all of football, pro and college.
Maybe Temple could play in Temple Stadium, later maybe it could get dates at Franklin Field and Veterans Stadium _ two places with major drawbacks for Owl fans. No creature comforts at Franklin Field, no sightlines at the Vet.
Temple University athletic director Bill Bradshaw is right about a lot of things, but none more than this quote.
“None of our opponents can say they play in a stadium as nice as ours,” Bradshaw said.
And none of them can.
That wasn’t the case 20, 30 years ago when every single one of them could.
Those who cite “landscape” as the reason Temple can’t succeed in football usually weren’t even around 20, 30 years ago to see what the landscape really was.
I was there, covering the team, making the road trips when every team the Owls played had a nicer stadium.
Facilities?
Every other team had an Edberg-Olson equivalent or better way back when that landscape was supposed to be so different.
Temple had a dingy weight room in the McGonigle Hall basement and a rock-strewn grass practice field (now the Student Pavilion) adjacent to it.
Bruce Arians would pass out if he saw the facilities Temple has now compared to what it had then.
Somehow, he got players who could compete.
That’s the reality of the landscape then and now.
It changed for Temple’s benefit, not its demise.
The landscape also included a blantantly unfair distribution of scholarships, something that doesn’t exist now. Pitt gave out hundreds of scholarships in those days, as did Penn State. Temple could never even afford half that. That’s a handicap that dwarfs facilities. Temple’s problems stem from Jerry Berndt, Ron Dickerson and Bobby Wallace (and David Adamany).
Al Golden is a dedicated, committed coach who has a clue and can turn things around here in no more than 3-4 years.
Yes, the college football landscape was completely different 20, 30 years ago. What Wayne Hardin and Bruce Arians did against that brutal backdrop can be considered nothing short of a miracle.
Comparatively speaking, the landscape Golden has to work with is a Garden of Eden.