Temple University Athletics
Owls Prepare For Meeting with Northern Illinois and Heisman Trophy Candidate Garrett Wolfe
10.16.06 | Football
Oct. 16, 2006
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PHILADELPHIA - Temple, under the direction of first-year head coach Al Golden, travels to DeKalb, Ill. to meet Northern Illinois, under the leadership of eleventh-year coach Joe Novak, at 28,000-seat Huskie Stadium Saturday afternoon at 3:00 (Eastern). Temple employs a multiple offense and a 3-4 defense. Northern Illinois utilizes a one-back offense and a 4-3 defense. The game is the Owls' sixth road contest of the season thus far and their fifth in the past six weeks. It is also the fourth of six games against MAC opponents. The Owls are in their second season as an affiliate MAC member and join the league as a full football member in 2007.
The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet with David Kaplan calling the action, Tom Waddle providing the commentary and Mark Scafidi patrolling the sidelines. The radio broadcast will air on WPHT 1210 AM, with Harry Donahue handling the play-by-play and Steve Joachim serving as the analyst. Live radio audio, via Yahoo Sports, and live Gametracker stats are available on the Temple Athletics web site, www.owlsports.com.
Temple has played 20 true freshmen thus far this season, the most in Div. I-A. Thirty-six Owls have seen their first collegiate action this season, including five redshirt freshmen. In total, 66 different players have competed. Of those 66, 44 have two or more additional seasons of eligibility remaining after the 2006 campaign.
Temple (0-7) is coming off a 63-9 loss to No. 12-ranked Clemson (6-1, 3-1) in Charlotte last Thursday evening. The Owls opened-up a 3-0 lead after redshirt sophomore Travis Shelton, playing in his first contest since the 2004 season, returned the opening kickoff 53 yards to give the team prime field position. Clemson responded by scoring TDs on its first eight possessions to put the game away. Shelton set a new Temple for kickoff return yardage in a game, returning five kicks for 205 yards. He broke the record held by Lew Lawhorn, who had 178 return yards in a 35-0 win over Boston College in 1992. Redshirt senior Tim Brown also performed well, rushing for 121 yards on 23 carries against a team that entered the game ranked seventh in rushing defense, allowing just 62.83 yards on the ground. Defensively, sophomore CB Evan Cooper made a career and game high 12 tackles (seven solo) while adding a TFL and a forced fumble.
Prior to the game, Golden presented Clemson coach Tommy Bowden with a letter indicating that the Temple program would donate $1,500 to the Fahmarr McElrathbey Trust Fund. Fahmarr McElrathbey is the 11-year old brother of Clemson player Ray Ray McElrathbey, who has been granted custody. $1,200 dollars of the donation is made up from a player home game per diem which they voted to collectively donate. As such, the entire team can donate, rather than just the travel squad. It marks the second time this season that Owls have donated their player per diem to a worthy cause. Temple donated $1,530 to the Adam Taliaferro Foundation following the team's opener at Buffalo in the name of Shykem Lawrence, a Woodrow Wilson High safety who suffered a severe spinal cord injury while making a tackle in a scrimmage at Eastern High on August 25.
Northern Illinois (4-3, 3-2) is coming off a 16-14 loss at Western Michigan (4-2, 2-1) last Saturday that snapped a four game winning streak. Garrett Wolfe, a Heisman Trophy candidate and the nation's leading rusher, was held to just 25 yards on 18 carries while going scoreless for the first time this year. It marked his lowest rushing total since running for 24 yards against Maryland in his 2004 college debut. The Huskies were able to generate just 157 total yards as QB Phil Horvath was intercepted three times. Wolfe currently leads Div. I-A in rushing (195.43), scoring (12.29) and all-purpose running (223.00), as the Huskies rank seventh in rushing offense (217.43). The Owls and Huskies are meeting for the second time in the series with Northern Illinois holding a 1-0 advantage after a 20-17 victory at Veterans Stadium in 1989.
