Last year never happened. In fact, the last 15 years didn't exist. The program has averaged two wins a year since 1990, which was the last winning season and the only one in 19 years, bottoming out with a magnum opus of ineptitude in last season's stunning clunker.
Chalk up 2005 to a perfect convergence of a coaching staff at the end of its run, a program desperately needing some love after being unceremoniously dumped by a Big East that would rather have South Florida and Cincinnati as members, academic issues among several players, and bad, bad, bad football.
So let's wipe the slate clean. We know the first year of the Al Golden era has to start out better than the last campaign of Bobby Wallace when Temple was outscored by an average of 45.3 to 9.7 per game and was one of the most inept teams in the history of college football in every phase possible. How bad was the offense? It scored seven points or fewer in six games with a high scoring game of 17.
The Schedule: It's not awful. There are four don't-even-think-about-it games against Louisville, at Minnesota, Clemson and at Penn State, but there's no reason the Owls can't put up a fight against the other eight teams on the slate. A win at Buffalo to open the season would do wonders for a team that desperately needs a little bit of confidence. A loss likely means an 0-5 start before a home game against Kent State that'll be a must-win with Clemson, at Northern Illinois, and the program's main demon lately, Bowling Green, coming up.
What you need to know on offense ... It can't be any worse. While it won't be a true spread offense, it'll be close if it finds a trigger man who's not only accurate, but can also move. There are three prospects pushing for the starting job after Joe DeSanzo, the only one with any appreciable experience, left. The attack will score more than the pitiful 9.73 points per game it came up with last year thanks to the return of several key players like RB Tim Brown, WR Mike Holley and OG Tariq Sanders after missing all of last season. This will be a transition year learning the ropes so all the young talent will be experienced for 2007.
Best Offensive Player: Senior OT Elliot Seifert. RB Tim Brown will be the main focus of the offense early on and WR Bruce Francis should grow into the team's most dangerous receiver, but the line has the beef and the potential for the biggest improvement. Center Alex Derenthal is a good one, guard Tariq Sanders is back from injury, and the 6-7, 300-pound Seifert should turn out to be the best of the veteran front five.
What you need to know on defense ... For good and bad, only three starters return to a defense that gave up 461 yards and 45 points per game. The buzz word will be flexibility as former star Penn State linebacker and new defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio will use several different alignments and formations depending on the situation. The base will be a 3-4, but there will occasionally be a 5-2 to bring the outside linebackers up as pass rushers. The secondary has the most promise with several decent prospects, while the front three is big, if not experienced. The linebacking corps will be a work in progress as the coaching staff tries to make the parts fit.
Best Defensive Player: Senior S Chris Page. The senior corner will move to safety now that top tackler Garrett Schultz is no longer with the team. Page has the speed, but he's only 5-10 and 175 pounds and needs to prove he can be a big hitter.
Key player to a successful season: Quarterbacks Colin Clancy, Shane Kelly, and/or Jarrett Dunston. The three are young and relatively inexperienced, so there's time to mold them into what the coaching staff wants. In a perfect world, one steps up and becomes the starter to build the offense around learning the ins and outs of the offense this year before hitting the ground running when 2007 rolls around.
The season will be a success if ... Temple wins three games and plays better against the big boys. It'll take a major upset to pull this off considering the overall talent level isn't quite up to par, but there's no reason the team can't beat Buffalo, Kent State, and either Western Michigan or Central Michigan. A measure of success would also be not getting bombed by teams like Bowling Green and Northern Illinois.
Key game: Aug. 31 at Buffalo. While beating the Bulls wouldn't make much of a blip on the national scale, it would break the 12-game losing streak and end all speculation about when the next win might come. The team needs to learn how to win and nothing would end memories of last year faster than getting out of the gate with a victory.
2005 Fun Stats:
- First quarter scoring: Opponents 135 - Temple 27
- Touchdowns passes: Opponents 29 - Temple 4
- Punts: Temple 76 for 2,742 yards - Opponents 25 for 987 yards
The Last Time Temple…
…played in a bowl game…1979 (Garden State Bowl vs. Cal)
…missed a bowl game…2005
…pitched a shutout…1992 (Boston University)
…was shutout…2005 (Wisconsin)
…scored 50 points…2001 (UConn)
…went undefeated…1907
…won a conference title…1967 (Middle Atlantic)
…had a 3,000-yard passer…never
…had a 1,000-yard rusher…2002 (Tanardo Sharps)
…had a 1,000-yard receiver…never
…had a first-round draft choice…1987 (RB Paul Palmer)
