08.31.20
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Temple starting defensive projections

They said it couldn’t be done, but we have college football in 2020

We’re getting thisclose … thisclose … to a real football season judging my the weather patterns.

Almost always the weather moves from West to East and, if the Austin Peay football game over the weekend was an indication, it’s going to be raining footballs at Navy on Sept. 26.

Austin Peay made sure the guy who wrote this has egg on his face this morning

The players there proved you can play a fun game and it can still be fun and the fans there showed that, if you can wear a mask and do high fives six feet apart, you don’t have to sacrifice a season. Look at it this way: If you can wear a mask and shop for groceries, you can wear a mask and go to a football game.

Gasparilla Bowl defensive MVP William Kwenkeu (35) had two sacks in the win over FIU in 2017.

So I’m feeling better for the Temple football Owls today. If the city allows the Owls the same rights the other birds in town, the Eagles, have, then Temple should be ready for a football season. If not, as Al Golden said in the past, all the Owls need is to-find a 100-yard patch and the will be ready. Owls have two of those at Ambler.

What we do know is that this team is in relatively good shape on offense.

Defense is going to be a little more challenging. The Owls have to replace their best pass rusher, Quincy Roche, who pulled a Benedict Arnold and transferred to Miami. The coaches did their best to replace him, grabbing a P5 transfer in Manny Walker, but he would have to be awfully impressive to replace the AAC defensive player of the year. He should line up where Roche did. It’s up to him to match the production.

Owls held their preseason camp at The Cherry Hill Inn (1974 here) and finished 8-2, proving all you need to get ready is a field, goal posts and permission to hit.

Our defensive starting projections:

DE: Manny Walker (6-4,250) and Layton Jordan (6-2, 210); DT: Dan Archibong (6-6, 300) and Ifeanyi Maijeh (6-2, 285); LBs: Isaiah Graham-Mobley (6-2, 225), Audley Isaacs (6-1, 227) and William Kwenkeu (6-1, 230); S: Amir Tyler (6-0, 195) and DaeSean Winston (6-2, 200); CBs: Christian Braswell (5-10, 178) and Linwood Crump Jr (6-0, 175). For the mathematically challenged (and we had one of those last week), that’s two DEs, two DTs=4; plus 3LBS=7; two safeties=9 and two corners=11.

First impressions: That’s a lot of inexperience to create an edge rush but the Owls also have another defensive end, Arnold Ebiketie, who was a healthy part of the end rotation last year and could challenge for a starting spot if one of those falter. Pretty good depth at the corner position as Ty Mason and Freddie Johnson both have AAC starts under their belts behind the even more experienced duo of Crump and Braswell. Both Mason (Tulsa) and Braswell (UConn) have pick 6s on their resumes. Safety Amir Tyler is a solid single-digit player and Kwenkeu was the defensive MVP of the Gasparilla Bowl win way back in 2017. IGM might be the best NFL prospect on the team, even though Dan Archibong is a solid DT and fellow DT Maijeh is a returning AAC first-teamer.

Second impressions: Depth is better in years past because of people like Mason, Johnson and tackles Kevin Robertson and Khris Banks. George Reid, from Abington High (thanks, Rob Krause!), has had plenty of playing time at safety and outside linebacker and M.J. Griffin is a prized recruit ready to come into his own at safety.

Now it’s just a matter of getting these guys on the field against a real opponent. If Austin Peay can get it done, so should Temple.

Friday: Special Teams

Monday: Do You Ever Get The Feeling?

08.28.20
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Temple offensive starting projections

 

“After Ray rips off a couple of big runs, I want you to fake it into his belly, bring the linebackers and safeties up for run support and find Jadan or Branden wide open for six. Easy peasy this year.”

Without any solid news coming out of the Temple summer football camp, it’s hard to get a read on who the impressive newcomers are and how fast they are progressing up the depth chart.

This time a year ago, we would have had a season-ticket holder party and have been able to sit down at the tables and talk to the players and get their imput.

Rod Carey probably has the best offensive personnel he’s ever had. A little less RPO and a little more play-action are the ingredients he needs to turn the scoreboard into an adding machine.

That’s how in 2009 I got this when I asked who was surprising among the true freshmen. “Bernard Pierce.” Just about every one of the seniors and juniors I talked to back then said to watch Bernard Pierce and that’s he’s going to make an immediate impact. To a man, when asked about the pleasant surprises the two words “Bernard Pierce” came out of every mouth.

They were right.

Players know. Pierce had to wait until two days before the Villanova game to be cleared by the NCAA to play, and that’s why he only had 44 yards in a limited debut against Villanova. Everyone who saw him said in the parking lot afterward if Pierce played the entire game, Temple would have won.

Without that kind of input, picking a projected starting lineup is like walking around a dark room without a light on. All we have to go on here are three things: 1) what we saw last year; 2) last year’s depth chart and 3) the roster currently published on Owlsports.com, which is constantly updated.

So here’s an educated guess with all of those caveats plus the injury factor which can happen between the time this is typed and published. That’s how football is, unfortunately.

Quarterback: Anthony Russo (6-4, 235); Halfback: Ray Davis (5-9, 210); Fullback: None (unfortunately); Wide receivers: Jadan Blue (6-0, 180), Randle Jones (6-0, 190) and Branden Mack (6-5, 220); Tight end: David Martin-Robinson (6-4,245); Tackles: Adam Klein (6-5, 295) and Isaac Moore, (6-7, 305); Guards: Vince Picozzi (6-4, 305) and Michael Niese (6-5, 275); Center: C. J. Perez (6-1, 287).

First impressions: The line is extremely large and experienced. In Perez, the Owls got an All-MAC performer and MAC championship center to replace a high NFL draft choice. “There’s not one coach here I didn’t know previously,” Perez said on the school’s official website. An argument could be made that this line is better than the one that played in the bowl game because Picozzi is back after wrecking his knee in the USF win last fall. Picozzi, from Lansdale Catholic, was arguably the second-best lineman on the team. The other guard is a FCS All-American from Dayton, Michael Niese. Huge upgrades at the guard position from just the bowl game.

Second impressions: Quarterback depth improved with Re-Al Mitchell, the transfer from Iowa State, and the improvement of prized recruit Trad Beatty. Even if Russo, who has been durable for his two seasons, goes down, the Owls should be in good shape at quarterback. I don’t feel as confident in the backup RB position, which is why the Owls should have made a run for Penn State portal guy Ricky Slade (who ironically went to Old Dominion, which isn’t playing football this year).

Randle Jones is one of three receivers who may be the best group ever to play at the same time at Temple. All three sport single digits.

That should open enough holes for Ray Davis to go from 900 yards to over 1,000. If that happens, and the coaching staff utilizes more play action than they did last year, that should buy an extra second or two for Russo to find the most talented three wide receivers who have ever played together at Temple.

That’s not even an argument because it’s impossible to find three who had the stats just two (Mack and Blue) put up last year. Going over the list, the closest I could find were the Henry Burris duo of Troy Kersey and Van Johnson and their best year fell well short of the nearly 2,000 yards Mack and Blue put up under the same quarterback last year.

One thing is clear: If the Owls have trouble putting points up on the board this year, it will be on the coaches and not the players. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that establishing the run first and a heavy dose of play-action second will get that job done.

Monday: Defense

Friday: Special Teams

Monday: Do You Ever Get The Feeling?

08.24.20
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The Math Just Got Easier for Russo

Who would have thought that both of these guys would finish 1-2 in stats as a Temple quarterback?

As far as we could determine, this quote about numbers and people was first attributed to Matt Holloway, but we’re sure someone slipped it into a figure of speech sometime before then.


If the quarterback position
was meant for
a runner then we’d
still be playing
the single wing
 

“Numbers don’t lie, people do.”

The numbers for Anthony Russo to pass P.J. Walker as the consensus all-time best Temple quarterback were challenging coming into this season. Even with a full season this year, and that’s doubtful, Russo would have to pull 40 touchdown passes to knock off the toughest record ahead of him: Walker’s career touchdown list. Not impossible, since LSU’s Joe Burrow tossed 60 touchdowns last season, but not likely, either.

Now, though, with Russo stating in an OwlsDaily.com story quoting Anthony that he will be back for not only 2020 and 2021, all of Walker’s records become not only fair game but well within reach, especially his career yard total of 10,669. (OwlsDaily.com is well worth the subscription.)

That’s assuming a lot of things, though, among them that the current coaching staff is not so wedded to a read-option that it might ditch the better passer for the better runner. They do that to their own peril, though, and coaching staffs usually don’t commit career suicide. If the quarterback position was meant for a runner, then we’d still be playing the single wing.

Interesting that Russo had 10 more TD passes in two years than Mike McGann had in five (medical redshirt).

The other assumption is that the Owls will get a minimum eight and a maximum dozen games in this season and that could be problematic considering the science, politics and general angst over public health in relation to big-time sports.

All that aside, though, all Russo will have to do the next two seasons is do what he did in the 2019 regular season in touchdown passes (21) and yards (2,861) and he will have two significant career quarterback records at a school that began playing football two centuries ago.

He already has 15 wins in nearly two full regular seasons (missing the first two and the final UConn game in 2018). Walker had four full seasons with two wins his first year, six his second and 10 each in his junior and senior seasons. If Russo goes 15-6 in the next two regular seasons (we’re not counting bowl games because only a handful of Temple quarterbacks have played in one), he beats what in my mind is the most important stat a quarterback can have.

The “people lying” part of this equation was on display on the same OwlsDaily board when someone wrote: “Russo had a better season in 2018 than 2019.”

Huh?

He had 14 touchdowns against 14 interceptions in 2018 vs. 21 and 11 in 2019. The numbers said he got better, not worse.

Since people often lie when they move their lips and the numbers on the page always remain the same, I will take the latter over the former when discussing anyone’s legacy.

If Russo’s passing remains as on target the next two years as the last two, that legacy will be unsurpassed.

Friday: Projected Offensive Starters

Monday: Projected Defensive Starters

08.21.20
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Possible replacements: CUSA, Sun Belt

Mike Aresco says the AAC is committed to a 12-game schedule.

The commissioner’s member schools do not seem as sure. Temple interim athletic director Fran Dunphy was quoted as saying by OwlsDaily.com that the school is more likely to add “one or two” rather than “three or four” non-conference opponents.

That said, Dunphy also noted that he is pretty much leaving this up to his director of football operations so there is some hope of movement behind the scenes to get the Owls replacement games.

FBS schedules.com lists “TBA” for several dates on the Temple schedule and those include the opening weekend of 9/5 and subsequent September dates of the 12th and the 19.

I say go for it. If other AAC schools get 12 games, then the Owls should go for that standard, too.

Right now, it doesn’t look likely that Army will be one of the opponents as the Black Knights have already filled the same exact open dates Temple has with Middle Tennessee State (9/5), Louisiana Monroe (9/12), BYU (9/19), Abilene-Christian (10/3) and Mercer (10/10).

Still, the Owls should take a page out of the Army playbook (not the triple option) and find replacement schools in both the Sun Belt and Conference USA. Both of those leagues–unlike the ACC and SEC for example–are committed to a 12-game schedule and the departure of the Mountain West and MAC in particular and, to a lesser extent, the Big 10 and PAC-12, have made it difficult for member schools to find a game.

Temple is available and should reach out to those schools with open dates. Right now, there are multiple foes available for the Owls to choose from but they need to get on the stick and announce those replacements before it’s too late.

Every other AAC school is scrambling and he who hesitates will be lost.

Let’s hope the Owls can add more than one or two or the rust of not playing an actual foe won’t help in the current opener against Navy.

Monday: The Math Gets Easier For Anthony Russo

Friday: Projected Offensive Starters

Monday (8/31): Projected Defensive Starters

08.17.20
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Aug. 17th: College football’s rain delay

In this space usually, on this date, there would be speculation of who looks good in summer camp and who is winning the battle of positions.

Not this year.

The Temple football Owls are practicing but not in the usual sense of intense hitting and contact so nobody is really standing out.

walt

Walter Washington probably knocked more defenders out of games than any quarterback in Temple history.

This basically is Temple’s–and the rest of the roughly half of college football deciding to play as of now–rain delay, waiting for the go-ahead for full-contact practices and a return to normalcy and maybe even an imminent announcement of a  replacement game for Miami (Sept. 5).

When the Phillies went to rain delay, the broadcast jumped to past highlights and this is what we’re going to do today.

Last week, photographer extraordinaire Zamani Feelings found this tape on the 2004 Temple-Syracuse game and send me a message with the link. Zamani is slowly but surely building the kind of video library Temple football needs on Youtube so please support his page by subscribing and liking here. Also, if anyone has any Temple film or tapes of games please forward them to him so this can be a one-stop source for Temple fans. He has more games on another Youtube site.

I sat down on the first rainy afternoon I could find and watched the entire thing.

Plenty of thoughts on this game but these came to mind off the top of my head:

1) Walter Washington breaks Paul Palmer’s record for season TDs in this game with 16; if you want to see what “beast mode” really means, check out this tape. Washington, who turned down a solid offer from Nebraska to come to Temple, could not be stopped and, at times, it looked like Syracuse defenders wanted no part of him.

2) The 16-touchdown record made me really appreciate what Bernard Pierce did seven years later (27 TDs in a single season);

3) Great job by ESPN’s Dave Sims on the play-by-play and one of the reasons why I think Dave is the best to ever call a Temple game (he even threw in the fact that Washington’s bench press
of 475 was the 6th-highest on the team). Sims was the Owls’ radio play-by-play guy in the 1990 season when the team went 7-4 and won at Wisconsin. He is now the Seattle Mariners’ play-by-play guy and does NFL games on Westwood One radio.

4) Even in a “down” season, Temple football provides great memories.

5) Syracuse could have tied for first place in the old Big East by winning this game because West Virginia lost to Boston College on the same day.

6) Sad that Washington, who could have used that extra year at Temple to hone the passing portion of his game, decided to leave early for the pros.

Rain delay over and now all we’re waiting on is to see if the radar to the West has cleared up or the umpires have called the game.

Let’s hope it’s the former or Zamani will be working extra hard on that Wayback machine.

Friday: Possible replacements

Monday: Projected Defensive starters

08.13.20
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Big 12 decision opens door for Temple

masks
With masks and better social distancing than this, college football can be played this season like it was in 1918

The great George Carlin may have inadvertently summed up college football for what is known as the Group of Five when he once said this:

“It’s a big club and you ain’t in it.”

club

The next “big announcement” for college football may already have been made and, if Temple and the rest of the AAC don’t get cold feet like the MAC and Big 10/Pac 12 seem to have, they are poised to join the club.

The SEC and ACC were waiting for the Big 12 to make the announcement and, now it seems like college football is a go for the fall, notwithstanding some of the other conferences did. The prayers of the SEC and ACC were answered a day later when the Big 12 gave the go-ahead for football.


Major League Baseball,
the NHL, and the NBA
have provided enough of
a sample that sports
can go forward without
major problems
 

Those three playing conferences probably are hoping that the AAC joins them in a “more-the-merrier” arrangement which would at least keep college football on TV on Saturdays and keep the NFL–which also is playing–swooping in and taking Saturdays like the league indicated it would last week.

How wise this decision is and was will be debated but the “system” has kept Temple and some other deserving schools out being broken up for at least a year props up a window for Temple to climb through and the Owls should probably take advantage.

Now I’m a big science guy so there is a risk to that approach.  The reward could be worth it. I could see the AAC, ACC, Big 12 and SEC partnering in a way that would restructure the bowl system at least for a year and give the G5’s best league the kind of marquee matchups they haven’t had in the past. Plus, who knows? Maybe an AAC team can sneak into the final four. The league certainly had no shot under the old system.

Major League Baseball, the NHL, and the NBA have provided enough of a sample that sports can go forward without major problems. College football was played in 1918, a year where the Spanish Flu killed millions more than this current virus. Fans attended games wearing masks. Were lives at stake then? Sure. Was playing football back then any more of a problem than, say, shopping or work? No.

The Big 10 and PAC-12 may have jumped the gun on a quick decision because let’s face it, there will be no college football in the spring. Not now with the other three conferences playing in the fall. I like the fact that the ACC, SEC and Big 12 are at least trying to move forward. If it has to be shut down in mid-season, then the powers-that-be will have to cross that bridge when they come to it. Turning back three weeks before reaching that bridge seems a bit premature.

For Temple, this might be the last chance to join a club it should have been in a long time ago. The Owls and the rest of the AAC should try to join it while they can or risk regretting it later.

08.10.20
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A sliver of a silver lining

Throwback Thursday: TU beats No. 4-ranked Pitt

Penn State might not need a foe, but Pitt does

When we last left this episode of “As the Pandemic Turns” the Owls’ former conference, the MAC, dropped football (for at least a year) and rumblings were the Big 10 presidents were leaning in the same direction.

Hard to believe, Harry, but the AAC and the rest of the, err, “P6” forge ahead.

Temple is holding its preseason camp and plans are for a full season so far. The SEC, Big 12, PAC-12 and ACC also seem committed to forging ahead with a limited schedule.

If there is a season, fans are not likely to attend and this will be a studio season only.

Where’s the silver lining?

Penn State v Temple

Nothing more satisfying than beating a P5 school as Robby Anderson and fans here celebrate after PSU win.

Since there is no incentive for six or seven home games, the Owls can (and probably should) go on the road to fill out less attractive home dates (Idaho, Rutgers for example) with more attractive opponents.

There are two camps of Temple fans when playing P5 schools. One group who feel the Owls can no longer compete against those opponents (bolstered by arguments supplied in the last two bowl games) and another group who feel that the only way for the Owls to join the big boys is to compete and beat them.

I’m in the latter group.

The Owls were 3.5-point favorites over Duke and probably lost that game largely due to the staff leaving for Georgia Tech. (I know many of them stayed to coach the game but a lot of time paid for by Temple was spent recruiting for Georgia Tech.)

There was no excuse for a thumping last year to North Carolina so these Owls should get another chance to play with a chip on their collective shoulders. Pitt is one of those schools that lost a game on a date the Owls did and could be looking for a home opponent. There are several other P5s, plus BYU, which is a G5 school with a high profile, under similar scheduling dilemmas. Since this season is largely a TV production, networks who pay the freight like ESPN could be looking to pair high-profile G5 schools, like Temple, against other P5 schools who might have refused to play the Owls in the past.

Yet this was a team with the talent to beat Georgia Tech and Maryland during the regular season and has done well against Power 5 teams during recent past regular seasons, including a 37-7 win at Vanderbilt and a 27-10 win over Penn State. If there was ever a season to schedule four Power 5 teams and break up the Pat Kraft scheduling formula of playing two patsies and two P5s, this is such a season. Interim athletic director Fran Dunphy said the Owls are actively looking for non-conference replacements. Since the patsies aren’t playing this year, that points to the Power 5s.

It would be great to see the Owls find four P5s needing a home game and giving these players an opportunity for four wins.

If there’s a silver lining for this season, that’s it.

Even if it’s a sliver of one.

Friday: The Next Big Announcement

08.07.20
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The math and Temple football

 

So far so good for Temple football fans.

Preparations for the season are going as planned and there has been no outbreak reported among the Owls as with, say, Rutgers up the road.

We could be UConn or Rutgers now and, while I’m glad we’re not, this is a fluid situation.

That said if you get the feeling–as I do–that we are walking on eggshells and something could crack in the next few weeks–join the club.

So far, here are the numbers:

rodster

Speaking of numbers, my money is on Anthony Russo going from 15 to a single digit very, very soon

 

0

Chance of playing Miami on Sept. 5. The edict has come down from the ACC: No football before Sept. 7. The Hurricanes–who have their own COVID-19 problems–have shown no inclination of asking for a league dispensation and officially canceled the game yesterday. Owls need to find a 9/5 opponent stat.

4

As of yesterday, that’s the number of weeks from the opener. New athletic director Fran Dunphy probably is shopping around for a replacement game with Miami now. There are several attractive schools from which to chose and some of them might even come here.

1

The number of FBS schools already dropping the season. That, of course, does not count the Ivy League, Patriot League and the Colonial, which are FCS. UConn has become the first school on this level to cancel the season. That affects Temple since the Huskies were mentioned as a possible replacement for both the Idaho and Miami games. That option no longer exists.

5

The magic number to get to a bowl game lowered from six. While this isn’t official yet if the majority of the 80 bowl games are played, it’s hard to believe that there will be 40 teams with at least six wins so five could be that figure since conferences like the Big 10 and ACC have either eliminated or reduced non-conference games.

Right now, commissioner Mike Aresco has committed the AAC to eight league and four non-conference games. That seems a little ambitious to me but let’s hope he and the league can pull it off.

Fans or no let’s hope the Owls can get out there and be happy and healthy in the process.

Monday: Silver Lining

 

 

08.03.20
by

Fizz’s plea did not fall on deaf ears

russo

Fizzy is among the many Owl fans who hope the team, like Anthony Russo here, is the last man standing when and if the AAC race concludes this fall. (Photo courtesy of Zamani Feelings)

Editor’s Note: A couple of weeks ago, Fizz sent one of the last letters to come across “interim” President Dick Englert’s desk prior to his retirement. It was his thoughts on the new season-ticket policy. He was largely pleased with the response from Temple administrators and the story follows.

By Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub

My recent letter to Dr. Englert regarding new seating for football season ticket holders did not fall on deaf ears.

The afternoon I sent the letter, I got a call from Adam Miller, Senior Associate AD for Development. Even though he had a copy, I reiterated much of what I wrote. His response was the criteria for awarding seats was a fair one, based upon service to the school. We went back and forth and ended the amicable conversation without a solution.

When I sent the original letter, I copied our new AD, Fran Dunphy. Coach got right back to me, and we corresponded with two emails. He promised to look into the issue. Fran Dunphy will be a super AD.

weinraub

Fizzy here at the Boca Raton Bowl, where 6,000-plus Temple fans attended  

I then sent another email to Dr. Englert, bringing him up to date on what transpired.

With the horrible virus affecting everything, the issue I raised is probably trivial. And perhaps, there won’t even be a football season. If it were my decision, there wouldn’t be. It’s not worth one life or the contamination of one family. If I was a player, however, I’d freak out if the season was canceled.

Let’s hope a vaccine will come along quickly, and everything will be back to normal next year. If so, here are my thoughts.

  1. If the home side of the stadium is to be switched, then flip the seats. There are only a few people with season tickets on the other side now, and they knew they’d be on the opposite side when they bought their tickets. It’s not a problem.
  2. Temple is not Notre Dame, Alabama, or Auburn. We went through hell to sell as many season tickets as we have now. Why would you piss-off people when you don’t have too? Don’t make them go through this ridiculous formula to repurchase the seats they’ve had for years and separate them from friends. It will only hurt the bottom line and shrink the fan base.
  3. Recently, we were knocking on the door of the Power Five Conferences with wins over Penn State, and a shoulda, woulda, coulda, at home with Notre Dame. We slid back down because we lost five winnable games in the second half last year. If we want to fill the seats, then we need to win our share of the big games.

One last thrust. Taking season ticket holders out of their seats is only Temple’s second dumbest idea. Just think where we’d be right now if plans for a campus stadium had congealed. We’d have a $160,000,000 empty hole in the ground.

Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, “Common-Sense,” should be required reading for all administrators.

Friday: The Math and Temple football

07.31.20
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Best of TFF: Streak No. 4 (30)

Editor’s Note: To close out our favorite month of the year and our vacation week, the final installment of this year’s Best of TFF is a tribute to a team that not only broke a 30-year bowl drought but led the Owls from a 20-game losing streak to national prominence in three years. This post chronicles the pure joy of selection night.

Click on above logo to order tickets through Temple.

Owls and Brian Sanford rejoice in one of the  greatest photos ever 

There’s a saying way older than I am that pretty much describes what happened yesterday at the Liacouras Center.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

That might come from an old Chinese Proverb, although some internet sources dispute it.

Until yesterday, I didn’t think much of the phrase.

“Yeah, right,” I always said. “The guy who wrote that never read a Gary Smith story in Sports Illustrated or never enjoyed morning coffee over a Bill Lyon column in the 1980s or never heard the beautiful word pictures as described by Vin Scully or Harry Kalas.”

Then I saw the photo in today’s Daily News by Charles Fox and that changed my mind.

That photo, which is credited to Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC and appears above this story, says it all.

The sheer joy on the faces of the wonderful kids who play football for Temple University is genuine and spontaneous and cannot be conveyed by mere words.

So I publish it here instead with a plea.

Nobody took a photo of us in the parking lot during that 2005 game against Miami, but it would have been a lot uglier than that beautiful shot. There were less than 10 of us left tailgating in the rain but, before we even heard about Al Golden, we had a dream that someone, someday would come and lead us back to a bowl game.

That day and that someone has come.

That’s why it’s important that all 21,046 of you who showed up for the last home game against Kent State purchase tickets for this “home” game in D.C.

All of you and, hopefully, 21,000 more on top of that.

For maximum impact, please purchase your tickets through Temple University by clicking on the logo above. By buying through Temple, the university will be able to show future bowls that this fan base will travel and have concrete figures to back it up.

Please buy as many as you can and give to those who can make the short trip down I-95 and cheer on these great kids. Or you can wait until Monday morning at 10 a.m. and walk up to the Liacouras Center ticket window. The best seats are on the Temple (South) side 200, 300, 400 and 500 levels. Don’t buy the obstructed 100-level seats.

But buy them through Temple and don’t procrastinate like thousands of folks did only to be caught waiting in long lines at the ticket windows at the last home game.

Monday: Resumption of Regular Programming