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2009 Temple Owls Football Preview

Temple Offense:

Look for Vaughn Charlton to start the season at quarterback after the graduation of Adam DiMichele. Freshman Chris Coyer could make his way into the mix as the season goes on. The running game needs some help as the leading was Kee-ayre Griffin at 394-yards with five TDs. The receiving corps will miss Bruce Francis, one of the school’s best wide outs but Jason Harper has the talent to be a game breaker. At times last year Temple used four freshmen up front. That experience may provide dividends this fall as Wayne Tribue is the lone returning starter.

Temple Defense:

Temple should have the MAC’s best defensive front four in Brian Sanford, Elisha Joseph, Andre Neblett and Adrian Robinson. Sanford and Neblett will be playing on Sundays in 2010. The linebacker unit will be paced by Alex Joseph and Amara Kamara. Overall Temple may have the best group of LBs in the league too. The Owls have two very safeties in Dominique Harris and Jaiquwan Jarrett. Look for noticeable improvement from the entire defensive backfield.

Intangibles for the 2009 Temple Owls:

Navy transfer Jake Brownell is back at place kicker but was just 8 of 14 in FGs last year. Jeff Wathne returns as the punter and averaged 40.4 yards per kick. Coach Al Golden is 10-26 thus far at Temple but none of those wins have come over a team with a winning record. When Temple visits Ohio University on November 27th that very well could be for the MAC East title and the right to play in the MAC Championship Game on December 5.

2009 Temple Outlook:

Temple finished 5-7 last, their best record in more than decade - but how close were they to something really special? Consider this, three times Temple lost on the game’s final play in 2008 and the Owls were just 18 points away from being 10-2. Wow. This fall TU gets a big break by not playing Central or Western Michigan from the west. Also, for the second year in a row they avoid playing divisional member Bowling Green. Defensively Temple will be stout against every team except Penn State. The offense is another story though and likely will keep this team from playing in their first bowl game since 1979. With just three starters on this side of the ball and unproven quarterback play, Temple may be looking at their second straight season of ‘what-could-have-been.’

The Big Games for the Owls in 2009:

September 3 against Villanova and September 26 against Buffalo. Temple needs to beat cross-town rival Villanova so that The Main Line snobs do not continue to look down on the current Owl program. ‘Nova leads the all-times series 14-12-2 and is a preseason FCS (formally I-AA) Top-10 team. After losing three straight years to Buffalo, beating the reigning MAC champ to begin conference play could be the springboard this program needs to finally turn the corner.

Team Article by Evan Meyer of Sports Vault - Especially for VanDelaySports.com
Predictions, Stats, Key Game & Outlook by Nick Gerogosian of VanDelaySports.com

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