Posted August 26, 2009

Football season kicks off with inaugural Mayor’s Cup

 

While the first week of September marks the start of the new semester, it's also the kick-off for the 2009 Temple football season. The team has been enduring sweltering practices in the summer heat in preparation for the season opener against city rival Villanova on Thursday, September 3 at Lincoln Financial Field. The 7 p.m. matchup is the inaugural game of the "Mayor's Cup," a newly formed annual match-up between the two Big 5 schools that is stirring up quite a buzz.

Villanova provides a great first test for the team, as the Wildcats are ranked

Temple fourth-year head football coach Al Golden talks with media about the upcoming season at Tuesday's Fanfest. Owl fans can get the inside story on the program via Golden's Twitter updates.

among the top ten division I-AA teams in several preseason polls. Villanova holds a slight edge in the all-time football series with Temple, 15-12-2, and also won the last game in the series 23-20, in 2003. 

Fourth-year Temple head coach Al Golden has been busy promoting the intriguing match-up. On August 19, Golden was joined by Villanova head coach Andy Talley on Fox 29's “Good Day Live” to promote the game, followed by a press conference at City of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter's office, where the trophy for the Mayor’s Cup was on display. Later that evening, Golden threw out the first pitch in front of a sold-out Phillies game crowd at Citizen's Bank Ballpark. 

There's good reason for the hype, as Temple is entering its most promising season in decades.  The team seeks to build off of last season's five-win campaign that saw the Owls finish second in the Mid-American Conference's east division and fall a win shy of bowl eligibility. The season was Temple's winningest in 18 years, and the Owls return 21 starters and 49 letter winners from that squad. 

The potential of this year's team is not going unnoticed, as ESPN predicted Al Golden to be the MAC coach of the year, and picked Temple to be the surprise team of the year.  Sports Illustrated also believes Temple has the ingredients for success as they project the team to play the University of Pittsburgh in the International Bowl on January 2.  That would be just fine with Al Golden and his talented and experienced Owls, who have stated that a MAC Championship and bowl appearance are the goals for this year.

Individual game tickets, which start at just $15, will be available via the Lincoln Financial Field Box Office and Ticketmaster at 215-336-2000 or 800-745-3000.  Temple employees can save $10 on sideline tickets by using the codeword “TEMPLE” on Ticketmaster. Temple football season ticket and individual game ticket information can also be found online at www.OwlsTix.com. For more on Temple football and other athletics programs, www.owlsports.com.

— Kyle Bagenstose

webcomm