Golden Steps

Lincoln Financial Field bubbled with activity as Temple football fans showed up hours before game time to tailgate prior to the Owls’ season opener against Navy Friday night.

This is how it should always be. Buoyed by former Temple football coach Wayne Hardin’s “Mission: Possible” initiative, a plan to sell out Lincoln Financial Field for the first game, a whopping 30,368 fans attended the game, the largest crowd to ever watch a Temple football game at Lincoln Financial
Field.

Although the Owls lost the contest, 30-19, the team, supported by a rabid fan base decked out in Cherry and White, showcased a “never-say-die” attitude, fighting a very talented Navy team down to the final whistle. Afterwards, Coach Al Golden and sophomore defensive back Anthony Ferla even talked about how great it was to
have a large crowd of Owl fans cheering them on.

The Owls, who became a full member of the Mid-American Conference this season, left everything they had on the field Friday night and now it’s time for students to make a similar commitment in the stands.

Students no longer have an excuse to avoid Temple football games. Golden is not only a highly-regarded coach who has turned around a program that was full of problems, on and off the field, but he is also an outstanding citizen who has quickly become one of the most recognizable faces on campus.

And if that’s not enough, the product on the field is rapidly improving. Temple football is undergoing a full-fledged revolution and, yet, many students are consciously choosing to ignore it.

Why?

With five more home games remaining, students have an opportunity to establish Lincoln Financial Field as one of the toughest stadiums for an opposing team to play in. At the least, Owls fans should be able to make Lincoln Financial Field the most feared stadium in the MAC. At one time, Temple fans gave the men’s basketball team an enormous home-court advantage by loudly cheering on the Owls while giving the away team a hard way to go.

Why can’t this type of atmosphere become a trademark of Temple football? The only way that it can happen is if students continue to show up to games in full force like they did Friday night. The Owls play Buffalo Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field. We hope to see all of you there.

Again.