Temple (0-0) vs. Army (0-0)
Lincoln Financial Field
Friday, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network
Temple football is now on the map. Let’s see if it can continue its trend upward.
The Owls kick off another season in South Philadelphia tonight against Army with the hopes of winning their second straight American Athletic Conference East Division title.
Let's take a closer look at the season opener.
Scouting Temple
Senior quarterback Phillip Walker’s quest to become the first Owls signal caller to lead his team to back-to-back bowl games begins Friday night in front of the Temple faithful.
Walker, who should surpass Henry Burris for most passing yards and attempts in program history this season, saw vast improvements in his junior campaign. He cut his interceptions from 15 in his sophomore year to eight, while throwing for 2,972 yards and 19 touchdowns to lead Temple to its second-ever 10-win season.
The one blemish Walker specifically said he wants to improve in his final season on North Broad Street is his completion percentage. Last year, he completed 56.7 percent of his throws. His goal for this season is 65, which would be an enormous jump in one season.
At running back, Jahad Thomas remains the featured back, but the Owls will deploy a rotation involving Ryquell Armstead, Jager Gardner and David Hood. Top wideout Robby Anderson graduated, so Ventell Bryant and Adonis Jennings will fill those shoes.
Defensively, Temple will look much different this season with Tyler Matakevich, Matt Ioannidis and Tavon Young moving on to the NFL. Sean Chandler moves from corner to safety, while Artrel Foster and Nate Hairston start at corner. Freddie Booth-Lloyd and Averee Robinson move into starting roles on the defensive line, while Jarred Alwan starts at MIKE linebacker.
Scouting Army
After nearly leaving West Point, quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw decided to stay and will start against Temple on tonight in the opener.
Bradshaw ran for 468 yards on 130 attempts and five touchdowns in eight games last season, which is of note because of the triple-option offense Army utilizes. The junior quarterback threw the ball just 48 times last season, completing 48 percent of his throws for five touchdowns and two interceptions.
In the running game, Army will rely on sophomores Jordan Ashberry at A-Back and Tyler Campbell at T-Back as well as Andrew Davidson at fullback. In the passing game, there’s not much of a threat outside of Edgar Allen Poe — not the poet.
History
Temple leads the series, 7-4, and enters on a six-game win streak over Army. The Owls’ last victory over Army was also Matt Rhule’s first win as Temple’s head coach, a 33-19 victory over the Black Knights on Oct. 19, 2013, at the Linc.
Storyline to watch: Temple’s starting linebackers
It’s the first time we’ll see Temple’s defense without Matakevich in four years, and it comes against a triple-option offense, a challenge in itself to any traditional defense.
With Stephaun Marshall moving to WILL, the starting linebackers have a bit of a different feel this season. So how will Alwan, Marshall and Avery Williams communicate with each other in their first game of the post-Matakevich era? Can they help TU shut down Army’s option? It’ll be interesting to see what this defense will look like.
What's at stake?
With higher expectations — another 10-win season, for example — losing the season opener to a service academy would put a huge damper on those expectations. Temple welcomes FCS Stony Brook next week, so considering the Owls' first real challenge doesn’t come until Sept. 17 at Penn State, losing either of the first two games would set a bad tone for the rest of the season.
Prediction
Temple 23, Army 14