The Husky Pokey, written and sung by Jimmie Ross.
There’s been a lot of talk about UConn being a “double revenge” game for Temple.

Temple AD Bill Bradshaw expects at least 25,000. Let’s surprise him and the suits in the Big East office and put 30K in there.

Double?
Might as well be a triple or quadruple revenge game, mostly revolving around Big East refs, who will unfortunately show their ugly faces on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Let’s count the ways:
Single
Temple was kicked out of the Big East and UConn was the replacement team. True, UConn was in before Temple was out but UConn wouldn’t have been in if Temple wasn’t out.
Double
Two questionable losses. Announcers from both teams (radio) and the regional television audiences felt Bruce Francis clearly caught the ball on replay, but Big East replay official Jack Kramer didn’t. This angle above shows feet in and a Philadelphia TV station showed clear possession on the reverse angle. In Philadelphia, Travis Shelton ran a reverse to the UConn 1 on the first play of overtime that was called back by (you guessed it) a Big East ref on a phantom hold.
There was no Temple player near the play. “That was a brutal call,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said on his weekly radio show. “Our coaches looked at it and we looked at it again. The Temple guy who they said held wasn’t even in the play and he didn’t hold anyway. Temple deserved to win that game.”

Tickets free for students
Will the Owls stay undefeated at the Linc? Be there on Saturday to watch it happen as Temple takes on UCONN Kick off is @ 12!

Free Student tailgate starting at 10:30am=FREE FOOD!
Free Student Buses start @ 9:30am from J&H, SAC and 1300
Free Student Tickets-pick them up at the Liacouras Center box office or look for athletics department representatives around campus at the SAC, Liacouras Walk and IBC all week!

Triple
The Big East invited a Philadelphia team, Villanova, that has no stadium to play in over a Temple team that already has a D1A program and an ironclad lease in the best stadium in the world through 2018. Disrespect? Stevie Wonder could see that.
Quadruple
Randy Edsall said his team respects Temple because anybody can lose to anybody, then compared it to James Madison beating Virginia Tech and North Dakota State beating Kansas. One problem. Those were FCS programs. Temple is a FBS program, just like UConn.
Disrespect?

Arrogance on the Boneyard board:

“If this game is closer than 28-10, I’ll be surprised.”
_ Section 138
Member
“We’re on the road. The place will be morguelike.”
_Freescooter

Yeah, I’d say so.
Double revenge.
This game is like the cycle of revenge games for Temple.
Temple fans packed the Linc for the Villanova game, drawing 30K of the 32K fans.
They have much more reason to do so on Saturday.

Temple fans have to make this kind of showing, like in the Villanova game, where it was wall-to-wall people wearing Cherry (except for one section of Nova fans) filling the entire lower bowl of the Linc. Bring your “Let’s Go Temple” signs and make some noise like the rowdy and enthustiastic Philadelphia fans you are.
UConn fans expect the atmosphere at the Linc to be “morguelike” … it will be if you consider the following morguelike:

Graphic by Tim Riordan, Buffalo blogger

MAC blogger questions this week. My answers are Golden, as in Al.

1. For the season, excluding intraconference matches, MAC teams are
0-10 against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. Which MAC team will
be the first to record an out-of-conference win against any FBS team?
Temple against UConn. All indications are Al Golden will get Bernard Pierce on the field, something he hasn’t done nearly enough of in the first two games. Temple had a pedestrian running back named Jason Harper get 134 yards behind a suspect offensive line in 2007 at UConn. Pierce is not pedestrian. When he’s in there for a whole game, Temple’s offensive production triples. Temple’s last two games vs. UConn (a 22-17 win that was a loss) and a 13-9 OT loss. I’m concerned about quarterback Chester Stewart, though. I was expecting another Adam DiMichele this year. Instead, I’ve gotten another Tink Murphy. He needs to elevate his game and keep more drives alive.

2. Three teams — Akron, EMU, and Bowling Green — remain winless; when will each team record a win? Temple is undefeated; when will they take their first loss?
Bowling Green will win first. Clausen is a very good coach who almost knocked off Troy. Not easy. Temple’s first loss will be at Penn State. I think. The Owls have shown some chinks in the armor (bad game coaching, poor personnel packages, poor offensive scheme) that have alarmed me.

3. Although teams have only played two games, that is nearly 17% of the season. How has your team’s performance so far compared to your
preseason expectations? What key factors will you be watching over the
next two weeks?
Below my expectations. I expected a 35-14 win over Nova and a 27-17 win over CMU. Nova is better than James Madison, which knocked off Virginia Tech, so that win looks a lot better for Temple now. Had Pierce played more than a half, maybe I would have gotten my 27-17 win over EMU.
4. This Saturday, Central Michigan visits EMU. The last time they
played in Ypsilanti (2008), a school-record 26,188 fans turned out to see the teams run 174 plays, combining for 1,171 total yards of
offense, 15 touchdowns, and 108 points. How many people will show up
at Rynearson Stadium this Saturday, and how many yards of offense and
points scored will they see?
8,000, six thousand of them CMU fans. 28 points. 21-7, CMU. 300 yards total offense.

TFF’s rankings (first to worst, because I can’t count backward):
1. Temple

2. CMU

3. OHIO

4. Northern Illinois

5. Miami

6. Kent State

7. Toledo

8. Buffalo.

9. Western Michigan

10. Ball State

11. Bowling Green

12. Eastern Michigan

13. Akron

Temple AD Bill Bradshaw expects at least 25,000 and the weather should help. Be there, wear Cherry and yell like hell.

Back in 1979 and 1980, the Cleveland Browns were known as the Cardiac Kids.
Twelve of their 16 games in both of those years were decided by seven points or less, hence the tag.
Those Cleveland Browns had nothing on this year’s Temple Owls, though, now 2-0 as a result of essentially last-second field goals.
I’ll take it, warts and all.
Don’t kid yourself.
There were plenty of warts in both Weeks 1 and 2.
“We can’t play like this and beat UConn,” Al Golden said.
Right on, Al. I would add we can’t coach like this and beat UConn, but I hope he knows that, too.
My goal for this team was to beat the UConns and Penn State’s of the world and if the Owls play the next two weeks like they played the first two, they won’t get within a sniff of the Huskies or the Lions.
Two flawed wins over two great programs is better than two flawless losses, though.
The good news is that the warts can be fixed.
The bad news is that I don’t know if they will be fixed.
Some suggestions:
Offense
Wart: As someone who watched and admired the flawless game plans and play-calling of Wayne Hardin for 13 seasons, I can tell you right now our offensive scheme is way out of whack. We throw when we should run. We have the wrong personnel on the field. We have a Heisman Trophy candidate who doesn’t start. We have a playmaking tight end we don’t throw to at all. Our offensive coordinator is a career linebacker at Penn State, who was a linebacker’s coach at Temple before being moved over to offense. Doesn’t make much sense to me, nor does our scheme. Our biggest chess piece is a runner with world-class speed and size (6-0, 218) and moves to scare the bejebbers out of defenses, yet he doesn’t play much more than half the downs. Put Bernard Pierce is there and everybody else gets open. Throw the ball to Evan Rodriguez, not Vaughn Charlton. What is AG trying to prove with this overuse of VC and Matty Brown? I don’t get it. Fake to Bernard Pierce when he doesn’t get the ball and throw downfield. Do that and you win games by touchdowns in the first, second and third quarters and not by field goals in the fourth quarter or overtime. I liked our play-calling and personnel packages a lot better when Bruce Arians, a starting quarterback at Virginia Tech, was making the calls. Would Bruce Arians ever sit Paul Palmer? No. I knew Paul Palmer. I liked Paul Palmer, but Bernard Pierce has more talent than Paul Palmer. He should be out there.
Fix: If Bernard Pierce is healthy, put him in at least on first and second down. Matt Brown is a good change-of-pace, third down, back. Put the fear of God (i.e., The Franchise) into opposing defenses, then play-fake, ball-fake, to Pierce and you’ll see Rod Streater and Michael Campbell and Evan Rodriguez running wide open through the secondary. If Chester Stewart can’t hit them in stride, bring in someone who will.
Defense
Wart: We let immobile (i.e., slow and white) quarterbacks kill us by letting them sit in the pocket. Yeah, I said it. Slow, white quarterbacks. I can say it because I’m slow and white, too. These are guys who can’t hurt us running, but can do big-time damage with any time at all back there. Play the contain defenses against option quarterbacks, not the slow ones.
Fix: Let’s start putting them on their asses with all-out blitzes. Mark D’Onofrio called a couple of nice safety blitzes late in the fourth quarter that seemed to work. Let’s hope he sticks with it.
Special Teams
Wart: We’ve got the best kicker in the league. He should be the one kicking it through the end zone, not the Central Michigan kicker. Work on those high snaps to Vaughn Charlton. Twice in two weeks is two too many.
Fix: I think Brendan has been told to kick it high. When he kicks it on a line, it goes through the end zone. I like that.
This is football, not rocket science. Our coaches aren’t working for NASA. They are not trying to hook up two space crafts going at 25,000 mph.
These are easy fixes and we have enough time to do it.
Let’s  use this time to get smart with our game plan and put our best players on the field in a position to utilize their talents. That gives us the best chance to win.
Temple can’t beat UConn playing, or coaching, like it did against CMU.

Once BP gets into the backfield, nobody’s catching him.

Thumbing down the roster about an hour before the Villanova game, I was heartened to see the number of my favorite Temple player right next to my favorite Temple player’s name.
No. 30.
Bernard Pierce.

Then the game began and that wasn’t MY Bernard Pierce wearing No. 30.
He had a couple of OK runs, but OK runs won’t get you on a Heisman Billboard.
I’ve called him “The Franchise” from the first day I saw him play. Others call him BP. Others call him St. Bernard.
Another website even called him Bernie’s MAC show.
I like The Franchise.

That’s why tonight’s game (7 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field) against Central Michigan is so important. Temple needs the real Bernard Pierce to stand up. Temple needs Bernard Pierce to make a Heisman run for it to have any chance to run the table and Pierce needs Temple to run the table for him to have a chance to win the Heisman.
It’s a symbiotic relationship.

I don’t know what mind games Al Golden was or wasn’t playing, but there’s no way a 5-foot-5, 150-pound back should be starting over a future NFL first-round draft choice. Matt Brown is a great little change of pace back, but he’s not Bernard Pierce.

Yeah, I said it.
Bernard Pierce will be a first-round NFL draft choice and it will be on an April day after his Temple junior season is completed.
Not the pedestrian Bernard Pierce I saw against Villanova, but the Bernard Pierce who won the PIAA high school state championship in the 100-meter dash as a senior and the Bernard Pierce who broke every single Temple freshman running back record last year.
So the question begs answering?
Why only 75 yards on 20 carries against Villanova last week?
The reasons are many and varied.
Let’s look at five possible choices:
1) Starting Matt Brown
Golden started Brown because he said Brown “worked harder.” Well, I’m 5-5 and I might have worked harder than Pierce if I was 30 years younger, but I’m no good. Somewhere talent has to be factored into the equation.
I don’t think St. Bernard ever got into a rhythm and that might have been the chief reason.
2) Villanova’s eight in the box
Villanova keying on him might have been another reason, but a lot of teams keyed on Pierce last year and he flat-out abused them.
3) Offensive line was a little off
Even though BP ran behind the same 318-pound (average) line last week he ran behind last year, I don’t think those 318-pounders played up to their potential last week. Except for Colin Madison’s pancake block to free Brown for a 17-yard touchdown, I didn’t see any pancakes.
I didn’t see any syrup or butter or bacon, either.
So factor in the line’s subpar performance as the third reason.
4) Is Bernard hurt?
I heard a couple of students at the pre-game tailgate say they saw him limping to class last week, but I didn’t see Bernard limping on the field so he’s healthy enough.
5) Bad game?
Another possible reason. Everyone has bad games. Gale Sayers had bad games. Heck, even Paul Palmer had bad games.
That’s why tonight could. … SHOULD … be bounce back night for BP, his offensive line, Temple’s coaches and everyone else.
If he doesn’t go for at least a buck 50 and at least couple of scores, I’ll start to worry but I don’t think I’ll have to because the Bernard Pierce I know from last year was relentlessly consistent.
I expect relentless consistency tonight. I expect the real Bernard Pierce and the real Temple offensive line to show up and explode off the ball like only they can.
Throw in a few Chester Stewart/BP ball fakes followed by long touchdown passes to wide-open Owls and this offense will really be humming.
Then the numbers will match up with the names in the program and this offense will blow the MAC up.

As you can see by the large numbers of people wearing Cherry on both sides of the field, pretty much the entire stadium was the Temple side against hometown rival Villanova.

Students get the fun you paid for:

Students have already paid for tickets with their student activity fee, so get what you paid for as the Owls return to action this Thursday night (9/9) at 7 p.m. vs. 2009 MAC Champion Central Michigan at Lincoln Financial Field.
FREE STUDENT Buses will shuttle back and forth from campus to the stadium beginning at 4:30 p.m. up until kickoff.
FREE FOOD will be at the student tailgate from 5pm until kick off.
Students be sure to pick up your FREE TICKET at the Liacouras box office before the game or at the Linc box office the day of the game.

Our friends over at the other MAC blogs are mulling these questions this week.
I thought I’d chime in with the official TFF answers:

1). The MAC has looked weak so far against out-of-conference opponents. Is this shaping up to be a down year for the MAC?
It was Week 1. I don’t think you can tell until you get more of a body of work and compare what the Week 1 teams did down the line. Ask me in three weeks. Heck, I might ask myself in three weeks. For instance, I think Villanova beats Hampton or Jacksonville State 46-7 and nobody bats an eye because that’s how good a national champion FCS is with 16 starters back, so that changes the whole perspective of the question.

2). Why don’t our fans come to games? Whether it is Buffalo in a large city or Bowling Green off the side of a highway, our stadiums are generally…uninspired. Even after Central Michigan’s GREATEST WIN OF ALL TIME against tormenting in-state rival MSU, Central Michigan’s stadium was half full the next week against Alcorn State. Can anything be done to at least get on par with a Tulsa or ECU?
Our fans are coming. The entire lower bowl of an NFL stadium was full of Temple fans, sans just two sections of Villanova fans. Most people I talked to in the parking lot said 30,000 of the 32,123 were wearing Cherry, but I’ll give Villanova a huge benefit of the doubt and give them 5,000 tops. I’ll try to post a couple of photos with this post. It takes time to lose a fan base and it will take a little more time to build it up.
3). People act like a win for Boise State is a win for the “little guy.” Is Boise State really carrying water for the non-aq’s anymore? It seems to me they are essentially a BCS program at this point in time.
Not the little guy when a Boise State coach can walk into any recruit’s home in the country and be welcome. That’s how far they’ve come.
4. The game of the week has to be Temple versus Central Michigan on Thursday night (ESPNU). Who ya’ got in that match-up?
Temple. A far inferior team with a far inferior Chester Stewart forced into QB action before he was ready got beaten up there two years ago 24-14 and was in the game for three quarters against the then MAC champs. Temple’s won six straight at Lincoln Financial Field and is 12-2 against MAC teams there over the last 14.

5. Which MAC QB is going to take the crown as “best of the conference” when the dust settles at the end of the season?
Zac Dysert.
6. Rank them FIRST to WORST.
1. Temple
2. CMU
3. OHIO
4. Northern Illinois
5. Miami
6. Kent State
7. Toledo
8. Buffalo.
9. Western Michigan
10. Ball State
11. Bowling Green
12. Eastern Michigan
13. Akron

Major props to the Temple fans who represented wearing Cherry on both sides of the stadium.

If there were any Villanova fans on the other side of the field, they were dressed in cherry.
If you go to the Temple-Villanova football game next year, best bring a defribulator.
That will be on my pre-game check list, right next to the Coors Light and the reduced fat wheat thins (hey, got to cut calories somewhere).
Defribulator because after the last two Temple-Villanova football games, I spent the hour or so afterward trying to start my heart again.
They’ve been that exciting.
The toughest part after Temple’s 31-24 last-second win over Villanova on Friday in front of a partisan Temple crowd at Lincoln Financial Field is getting back to a normal heartbeat again.

Watch the game here

I think I’m OK now.
Playing Villanova for the past two seasons has been that draining with a mixture of extreme disappointment and exhilaration.
Temple 31, Villanova 24.
Temple’s Justin Gildea, the kid from the Altoona area, put an exclamation point on the game with a fumble return for a touchdown on the last play.
First the officials said it didn’t count, then they correctly looked at the replay and said it did after the game was over.
Didn’t matter.
Two scores in three seconds of clock time, about 15 seconds of real time. Two incredibly loud roars in the stands back-to-back.
The heroes, in my mind, were Brandon McManus, the Temple placekicker, who calmly stroked the game-winner with three seconds left and his holder, former Temple starting quarterback Vaughn Charlton.
Temple head football coach Al Golden said Charlton would be a major contributor to this team, but I think he might have been talking about tight end.
What Charlton did, using his 6-foot-5 frame to reach up as high as he could and put the ball down quickly for McManus, was a remarkable play: a winning play made by a winning kid.
His successor as Temple quarterback, Chester Stewart, could have packed it in after fumbling to give Villanova the lead (don’t know why he didn’t just hand it off to still-Heisman Trophy candidate Bernard Pierce on that third-and-1), but Stewart was another hero, orchestrating a game-winning drive.
Golden himself showed a remarkable insight into the Temple fan psyche with this quote:
“All the old time Temple people, they know,” Golden said. “A minute fifty left, fumble the snap, and there’s 250,000 alumni who shake their heads and say, here they go again.”
Man, the guy has been here only five years, but he nailed it.
I thought initially that 5-foot-5, 150-pound Matt Brown starting over Pierce was some kind of message Golden was sending to Pierce, but a few of the people on campus said that Pierce was seen limping around on his way to classes so he’s hurt.
He looked OK to me on the field.
Whatever, Villanova did a good job overall. It stacked the box, and Stewart only made them pay occasionally.
The Wildcats, with 16 starters back from a FCS (Division I-AA) team, will win the national championship again.
They are that good. If they stay relatively healthy, nobody is beating them.
They have a tough-as-nails quarterback, Chris Whitney, who for some inexplicable reason, Temple has refused to blitz for the past two years.
Villanova would be the second-best team in the MAC, in my opinion. That’s not a knock on the MAC as it is a tribute to what Andy Talley’s been able to do at Villanova.
I will go on record here as saying Temple will beat Central Michigan by a larger score than it won against Villanova.
People don’t give Division I-AA football enough credit.
Villanova has a lot of good, tough kids, and Andy Talley is a great, great coach. Is there a classier guy out there than Talley?
I don’t think so.
“I’m happy for Al,” Talley said after the game. “I expect big things from Temple.”
Most of all, I was happy for the Temple students.

There was a legitimate 32,163 in the stands, and I bet at least 27,163 were Temple fans. Of those, I bet there were about 15,000 Temple students.
When McManus’ kick went through and when Gildea scored his touchdown, I heard a wall of joyous sound louder than anything outside of an Eagles’ game in Lincoln Financial Field.
Those same Temple students could be heard walking out of the stadium last year, saying, “Same old Temple.”
This year I heard a new refrain.
“Let’s Go Temple,” they chanted on the way out.
Perceptions are changing, both inside and out.

These girls got to their seats way too early, but they had fun and that’s what was most important. I hope they recruit 15,000 more of their fellow students for the Central Michigan game on Thursday night. Somebody put this on Temple’s cable TV station. Nice job, girls.

Owl Nation (left) and Phillies Nation

Still time for students to get their free stuff:

Every Temple student is entitled to receive one (1) free ticket to all home Temple Football and Basketball games per their student activities fee.

For Temple Football games, students may pick up their free ticket up to two days prior to the game at the Liacouras Center Box Office. Students may also pick up their free ticket the day of the game at the Lincoln Financial Field Box Office. Student must bring valid student ID to receive their ticket.

Student Bus Information for Football Games:
For all home football games, the Temple Athletic Department provides students with free transportation to and from Lincoln Financial Field. Buses will pick up students two and a half hours prior to game time at four different Temple locations: 1300 Cecil B. Moore Ave, Johnson & Hardwick Dorm, the Student Center, and Ambler Campus. Buses on main campus will run shuttles to and from Lincoln Financial Field leading up to the start of the game. Conversely, buses will only make one pick-up for students at the Ambler Campus. Buses will return to campus when the football game is over.

Football Student Tailgate:
Temple Athletics hosts a free Student Tailgate for Temple students before all home football games at Lincoln Financial Field located in Lot K. The tailgate starts an hour and a half prior to kickoff. Free food, drinks, and music will be provided to all Temple Students with proper Temple Student ID.

You’ve seen them everywhere all summer.
From Citizens’ Bank Park to Chicago to San Diego, Phillies Nation has been one damn impressive fan base, often outcheering folks in far-flung cities.
At home, they usually arrive 3-5 hours before game time and tailgate their asses off in the Lincoln Financial Field Lot K.
Only problem is that Lot is taken over by Temple fans during Temple home football games.
So even Phillies Nation doesn’t have a clue, though, what will happen later on today.
Owl Nation, armed with a little knowledge that Phillies Nation doesn’t have, will grab those tailgate spots between 12-3 for a 5 p.m. game. The Phillies fans will arrive around 3 and mutter “what the f*ck” under their breaths, forced to find spots on the street.
Why?
Because Phillies Nation probably doesn’t follow Temple football and probably is unaware that a Temple game is even taking place, thanks to the pro-sports oriented Philly media.
So score one for Owl Nation, which is quite aware of the Phils’ start two hours later.
They haven’t tallied (err, maybe I should use a different word there) the final numbers of tickets sold quite yet because Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw expects a huge walk-up for the game with Villanova.
Bradshaw mentioned the number 10,000 as a walk-up number, saying that was approximately the walk-up in the 2003 and 2009 meetings between the teams at Lincoln Financial Field.

Could be a couple of thousand more, a couple of thousand less but I said back in June I’m sticking with it that the attendance for this game will be around 37K. I’ll be disappointed if it is less and mildly surprised if it is more.
Looks like Owl Nation will be a big-time winner in this fan game, with anywhere between an estimated 28K and 32K rooting for Temple and 5-8K rooting for Villanova.
But Villanova isn’t a loser in this fan race, though.
If the Wildcats bring 8K, they will be bringing 3K more than they did in three of their last five home Division I-AA playoff games. For a shore week, those are impressive numbers.
The fan base losing out is Phillies Nation, which usually wins everywhere else.

Finally.
This thing has gnawed at stomach and head for 363 days and no amount of Pepto Bismol or Advil has been able to get rid of it.
That’s how bad I took losing to Villanova last year.

Err, no, I didn’t enjoy this.

That’s how bad I still take losing to Villanova 363 days later.
“If you didn’t enjoy that, you don’t enjoy football,” Temple head coach Al Golden said after a 27-24 loss to Villanova 363 days ago.
No, Al, I didn’t enjoy it.
But I do enjoy football.

What a good 1-A (FBS) team should do to Villanova:
2005: Rutgers 38, Villanova 6
2006: Central Florida 36, Villanova 15
2007: Maryland 31, Villanova 14
2008: West Virginia 48, Villanova 21

My tailgate friends told me a long time ago to get over it, but the only medicine I could order for this ailment arrives in two days.
A convincing Temple win over Villanova.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
I won’t predict a score because of the variables involved.
There could be a Hurricane, then again there could not.
There could be a little wind or a lot.
There could be five unforced turnovers or not.
Temple’s coaches could elect to play it close to the vest, like last year, and that would shorten the game in my opinion and play into Villanova’s hands.
I would like to see Temple’s defense set up camp in the Villanova backfield. By that, I mean constant pressure on Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney and by constant pressure I mean bringing him to the ground and not just getting close.
If you can’t do that with 4-5 rushers, do it with 7-8 and don’t wait until it’s too late to turn up the heat.
If Temple stops the run and RELENTLESSLY rushes the passer, it could put up 70 points on this team.
I’d like to see that.
I really would.
That would be “enjoyable” to me.
Realistically, though, it should fall somewhere in between 27-24 and 70-14 if that happens.
If not, if Mark D’Onofrio inexplicably allows Whitney to dink and dunk, like last year, it could be 27-24 either way.
I’d like not to see that.
I really do not want to see that.
That would not be enjoyable.
So I fully expect D’Onofrio to learn from last year’s game and attack, attack, attack.
I hope that’s the medicine he ordered and I fully expect it won’t take effect until 8 p.m. or so on Friday, but it should work.
Then the feeling many of us have had for 365 days or so should be finally gone and we can all smile again.
Former Temple kicker Cap Poklemba said it best in the Villanova pre-game tailgate last year, talking about the Mayor’s Cup.
“There should be no other name on that trophy besides Temple,” Cap said. “It should say 2009 winner: Temple, 2010 winner: Temple and so on. Temple’s name should be the only name on that trophy.”
Right on, Cap.
That problem gets corrected on Friday.
“We want to win because that trophy belongs here,” Temple’s Bernard Pierce said.
Temple will bring its 30,000 fans. If Villanova brings 7,000, we should get to my target number of 37K. If Villanova brings its usual 5K, we’ll hit 35K.
Those numbers aren’t nearly as important to me as 70-21 or 35-14.
Seventy-to-21 would be enjoyable, but I could also get enjoyment out of 35-14.
In two days, I will get this bad feeling out of my stomach and my head.
Only then will I forget about last year’s pain.
No better bargain in Philadelphia sports than a partial Owl season-ticket plan. Do yourself a favor and get one now and avoid future walk-up hassles:

Actually, that should be one color … Cherry.

Weather, SEPTA, Phillies … no excuses on Friday. Be there and wear Cherry.

I went to bed last night and slept secure in the knowledge that the weather forecast was good for Friday afternoon’s home opener with Villanova.
Adam Joseph, the Channel 6 weather guy, said it would be hot (95 degrees) and sunny.
A little too hot, probably, to be drinking alcohol in the tailgate, but I made a mental note to pack away the Diet Pepsi Wild Cherrys just in case.
I left the TV on and woke up to a nightmare.
Matt Broderick, the WFMZ weather guy, said that Hurricane Earl might make a run close enough to “even cause us some problems.”
Ugh.
Just Temple’s luck.
The Owls had a Hurricane for the UConn home game a few years ago, one so bad Channel 29’s John Bolaris said on the 10 p.m. news “no way Temple will be playing in this tomorrow.”
They not only played, they brought 17,000 fans, most of them drenched students, to the overtime loss.
Who knows how many fans watched Bolaris that night and decided to bag it?
Last year, the Homecoming Game was affected by a Nor’easter so bad that it was compared to the 1960 Jersey shore Hurricane. The crowd against Army was abysmal.
Now this.
Still, though, Channel 6 is sticking to their guns and predicting sunny and 95 for Friday.
Channel 3 is also predicting good weather for Friday, 90 degrees but with a “watching Earl” caveat on the five-day.
So the weather for Friday, on the whole, is looking good … so far.
There’s a part of me that thinks this bad boy named Earl will make a hard left at the last minute just to screw Temple, but I hope that’s the cynic in me.
I’m counting on Channel 3 and 6 to be right and WFMZ, an Allentown station, to be wrong.
I will not bother to check out what John Bolaris says.

If this football thing doesn’t work out, I’m sure BP can co-host sports center with fellow Temple guy (Class of 97) Kevin Neghandi.
One week before Villanova and the biggest news is that Bernard Pierce is back on the first team.
Al Golden mentioned it in passing to a couple of people at Wednesday’s Fan Fest, saying “you guys” (meaning reporters) focus on it (the depth chart) too much.
You could have knocked me over with a feather with that one, not the depth chart comment but the fact that a healthy Bernard who has practiced well over the past couple of days moved past a real good, but 5-foot-5, running back into the No. 1 spot.
Funny thing is that no Daily News headlines appeared in the next day saying, “Bernard Pierce is back at No. 1.” On Monday, there was a full-page story saying “Bernard Pierce Demoted to Second String.”
Ugh.
I tried looking at the depth chart in the last couple of hours but it hasn’t been changed from Matt Brown, unless they change it in the next couple of hours.
My guess is that the coaching staff doesn’t get around to handing the updates to the athletic department every day.
Whatever, God-willing, expect Bernard Pierce to line up behind Chester Stewart for the first play from scrimmage against Villanova.
The Wildcats have never seen anything like Bernard Pierce so, as T.O. says, “get your popcorn ready.”