Temple University Athletics
2007 Non-Conference Football Schedule to Feature Nationally-Televised Game at Army
3.1.07 | Football
March 1, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics today announced it has replaced its originally scheduled home football game versus Kentucky with a nationally-televised contest at Army on Saturday, September 29. The game, which will air on one of the ESPN outlets (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNU), is a part of a regional non-conference slate in 2007 that also features home games versus Navy (Aug. 30) and Penn State (Nov. 10), as well as a road contest at Connecticut (Sept. 15).
"The opportunity to add a nationally-televised game while meeting our initiative to schedule regional, non-conference opponents is of great benefit to our program and to our fans," said Director of Athletics Bill Bradshaw. "We are also extremely excited to extend our previously announced four-game scheduling agreement with the Black Knights to eight games. With approximately 160 miles separating West Point (N.Y.) from Philadelphia, we look forward to establishing a strong rivalry between our programs."
Under the new scheduling agreement, Temple and Army will meet on eight occasions from 2007 to 2016. The Owls will travel to West Point in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012. Army will visit Philadelphia in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2016.
Temple will play six home games at Lincoln Financial Field in 2007, including its home opener versus the Midshipmen on Thursday, August 30, at 7:00 p.m. Under the leadership of second-year head coach Al Golden, the Owls will be competing in their inaugural Mid-American Conference season and will also host four league games. Temple will play in the MAC East Division with Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami and Ohio.
The entire 2007 Temple football schedule, as well as season ticket information, will be released at a later date. To place an advanced ticket order for the Temple-Navy game, visit the Owls' official ticket web site, www.owlstix.com.
With both the Black Knights and Midshipmen on the schedule, it will mark the first time in the Owls' 109-season gridiron history that they will compete against two service academies in the same year. Temple and Army have met four times dating back to 1943, with the Black Knights holding a 3-1 series advantage. The Owls won the last meeting by a 23-20 score at West Point in 1994.
Temple begins spring practice on Monday, March 26, and will conclude the drills with the annual Cherry & White intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday, April 21, at the Ambler (Pa.) Sports Complex. Last season, the Owls played 22 true freshmen, the most in Division I-A. They competed against eight bowl teams, the third most in the nation, behind only national champion Florida (10) and Stanford (9), during the regular season. Temple, which has only two scholarship seniors on its 2007 roster, signed the highest rated recruiting class in the MAC according to Scout.com on February 7.
