One of the least talked about stories in college football this season is the remarkable record of the Temple Owls...yes, those Temple Owls...the same football program that was tossed out of the Big East a few years back because they were dragging down the conference's reputation...The Owls now stand at 9-2 and the leader in the Mid-American Conference...Temple started the season 0-2 - losing to I-AA Villanova and Penn State...since those losses, they have reeled off nine straight includings a 27-24 win over Navy...
The leader in this monumental turnaround is head coach Al Golden (photo, left)...Golden, who is rumored to be the leading candidate as the next coach at Virginia, is a graduate of Penn State...in four years at Temple, he has posted an 18-28 mark...
Golden was a three-year starter at tight end at Penn State...he spent one season withe the New England Patriots...he started
his coaching career as the offensive coordinator at Red Bank (NJ) Catholic High...Golden has ties to Virginia as he served as a graduate assistant and assistant coach under George Welsh and Al Groh...while at Virginia, Golden coached the defense and eventually became the defensive coordinator...Helping Golden with Temple's climb to the top is stud running back Bernard Pierce... a bruising type of running back, Pierce will miss this week's game against Ohio University after sustaining a shoulder injury in Saturday's game against Kent State...
Pierce is a 6'0", 220 lb freshman who racked up 1,308 yards and 15 touchdowns before his injury...Pierce is a true workhorse as he carried the ball 40 times in a game twice this year...he also rushed for over 200 yards against Navy (267 yards) and Toledo (212 yards)...the most impressive stat - he has not fumbled this season...
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