Temple University Athletics
10 Years Later: A Look Back at the 2009 Temple Football Season
10.25.19 | Football
PHILADELPHIA - When Temple takes on UCF this Saturday night (7:00 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field), the University will honor the 2009 Temple Owls football team. This is a team that started the season 0-2 before winning nine straight games and going 9-4 on the way to the EagleBank Bowl under head coach Al Golden.
The 2009 season is a very special one for Temple fans because the 9-3 regular season record meant that the Owls were headed to a bowl game for the first time in 30 years. Temple hadn't participated in post-season play since beating Cal in the Garden State Bowl in 1979. The 2009 team was the beginning of a new era of Temple football. The 2009 team also has some very coincidental similarities to today's Temple football team, especially at running back.
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In his weekly Tuesday press conference, Temple head coach Rod Carey was asked about the 2009 team.
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"In 30 years? '79 to 2009…They should be honored this weekend," exclaimed Carey. "They really should be honored, that's awesome."
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However, the Owls didn't just walk into their first bowl game in 30 years, it started off with a loss to Villanova and then Penn State, before the Owls got their first win against Buffalo. Al Golden's team didn't drop another game until the final week of the season at the University of Ohio. The 9-3 regular season record posted by Temple was the best since 1990 and helped set the stage for the success that Temple is having now. The 2009 team also had multiple NFL standouts and a freshman running back, RB Bernard Pierce, who holds all of the freshman rushing records at Temple. Pierce finished his freshman season with 236 carries for 1,407 yards, 16 touchdowns, and had six 100-yard rushing performances. He won numerous accolades his first year including 2009 MAC Freshman of the Year, 2009 first-team All-MAC, and he found himself on many other all-freshman team lists across a lot of publications.
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This season, the Owls have a similar freshman running back who's jumped on to the scene in a hurry, drawing some comparisons to Pierce. RB Re'Mahn Davis has had quite the freshman campaign through seven games, and the running game as a whole has been successful with Davis and graduate Jager Gardner getting the bulk of the workload in the backfield. Davis most recently eclipsed RB Paul Palmer on the freshmen rushing list with 629 yards. Palmer remains Temple's all-time leading rusher. Davis is also right behind Pierce with three 100-yard rushing games. The Owls always want to establish a solid run game no matter who is picking up first downs, but Davis has been a feature of the running game so far this season. A great second half push this season will push Davis even closer to those freshmen rushing records.
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The 2009 team helped set the stage for three consecutive winning seasons and was the stepping stones for the success the team has produced today. For a program to go to the post season for the first time in 30 years, and then be bowl eligible five straight seasons and appear in two conference championships and win one, is quite the turnaround. They are rightfully being honored this weekend for the 10th anniversary of the first of many winning seasons and bowl game the Owls have played throughout this era of Temple Football.
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The 2009 season is a very special one for Temple fans because the 9-3 regular season record meant that the Owls were headed to a bowl game for the first time in 30 years. Temple hadn't participated in post-season play since beating Cal in the Garden State Bowl in 1979. The 2009 team was the beginning of a new era of Temple football. The 2009 team also has some very coincidental similarities to today's Temple football team, especially at running back.
Â
In his weekly Tuesday press conference, Temple head coach Rod Carey was asked about the 2009 team.
Â
"In 30 years? '79 to 2009…They should be honored this weekend," exclaimed Carey. "They really should be honored, that's awesome."
Â
However, the Owls didn't just walk into their first bowl game in 30 years, it started off with a loss to Villanova and then Penn State, before the Owls got their first win against Buffalo. Al Golden's team didn't drop another game until the final week of the season at the University of Ohio. The 9-3 regular season record posted by Temple was the best since 1990 and helped set the stage for the success that Temple is having now. The 2009 team also had multiple NFL standouts and a freshman running back, RB Bernard Pierce, who holds all of the freshman rushing records at Temple. Pierce finished his freshman season with 236 carries for 1,407 yards, 16 touchdowns, and had six 100-yard rushing performances. He won numerous accolades his first year including 2009 MAC Freshman of the Year, 2009 first-team All-MAC, and he found himself on many other all-freshman team lists across a lot of publications.
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This season, the Owls have a similar freshman running back who's jumped on to the scene in a hurry, drawing some comparisons to Pierce. RB Re'Mahn Davis has had quite the freshman campaign through seven games, and the running game as a whole has been successful with Davis and graduate Jager Gardner getting the bulk of the workload in the backfield. Davis most recently eclipsed RB Paul Palmer on the freshmen rushing list with 629 yards. Palmer remains Temple's all-time leading rusher. Davis is also right behind Pierce with three 100-yard rushing games. The Owls always want to establish a solid run game no matter who is picking up first downs, but Davis has been a feature of the running game so far this season. A great second half push this season will push Davis even closer to those freshmen rushing records.
Â
The 2009 team helped set the stage for three consecutive winning seasons and was the stepping stones for the success the team has produced today. For a program to go to the post season for the first time in 30 years, and then be bowl eligible five straight seasons and appear in two conference championships and win one, is quite the turnaround. They are rightfully being honored this weekend for the 10th anniversary of the first of many winning seasons and bowl game the Owls have played throughout this era of Temple Football.
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Players Mentioned
Javier Morton, 9/6/25
Saturday, September 06
Temple Offensive Line, 9/6/25
Saturday, September 06
K.C. Keeler, 9/6/25
Saturday, September 06
Ep. 2: Temple Football Alum Tyler Matakevich || Gymnastics Junior Amelia Budd
Friday, September 05
