Category Archives: Football

Training Camp: Day 1

Posted on by

Today marked the first day of summer practice for Temple football, as the team opened up training camp at Edberg-Olson Hall.

Training Camp Begins

“They were excited to get out there and play and run around and compete a little bit,” first-year head coach Matt Rhule said. “It’s kind of hard because there’s no pads on, and no hitting—the things they like to do. But I thought we had good energy.”

There is one item in particular Rhule says he is stressing more than anything else: running.

“We’re going to run all day,” he said. “Guys were maybe starting to cramp up a bit because we had a long practice, but in order to play that style of football you need to be in shape. You have to outrun your opponent. It’ll take a day or two to get that back in their system, but they like that and they like playing football this way.”

According to Rhule, unity is one of the biggest aspects of the team that stands out early on.

“The biggest thing we feel is that we’re in this together,” Rhule said. “We’ve been through a lot with these guys—they want to win, and we want to win. So we’re going to do that that together.”

Read more at: http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/08/05/football-training-camp-begins/

Owls finish second-last in preseason poll

Posted on by

Temple football participated today in The American Athletic Conference Summer Kickoff media day event in Newport, R.I.

The Owls were ranked ninth out of the 10 conference teams on the preseason media poll, ahead of only Memphis. Louisville is the overwhelming favorite, according to the poll, having received 28 first place votes.

Interviews were streamed to The American’s website, when each head coach took the podium to take questions from the press. First-year Temple head coach Matt Rhule was asked about his transition into The American.

“I think it’s unique for me even as a head coach, usually even as you come into a league, even if it’s your first year as a head coach, you can go back and watch some film and see this things, see the people you’re going to play, how your players stack up,” Rhule said.

“I think one of the things that I haven’t heard a lot of people talk about about this league is all the different, unique styles of offense we’re going to see,” Rhule added.

He then went on to break down some of the competition the Owls will face this season, in addition to discussing the quarterback position.

Rhule was the only coach at the event to not have been asked more than one question from the media.

The Temple News was not in attendance at the event. The full transcript of Rhule’s interview can be found here: http://www.theamerican.org/documents/2013/7/30/Temple_-_7_30_13.pdf.

Game times for three conference games announced

Posted on by

The American Athletic Conference has announced the kickoff times and television networks for many games, including three of Temple’s.

The Owls’ conference and home opener against Houston on Saturday, September 7 will kick off at noon and will air on ESPN regional networks. One week later, Temple will host non-conference opponent Fordham at 1 p.m. The game will air on ESPN3, ESPN’s web streaming service. Temple’s game at Rutgers on Saturday, November 2 will commence at noon, also airing on ESPN regional networks.

Temple’s season opener is against Notre Dame on Saturday, August 31 at 3:30 p.m. on NBC. A game on Friday, October 11 at Cincinnati will air on ESPN or ESPN2. Kickoff time for that game has not been announced yet.

Matakevich receives recognition

Posted on by

Temple sophomore LB Tyler Matakevich was named today to the 2013 College Football Performance Awards Linebacker Watch List.

“Congratulations to Tyler Matakevich on earning a spot on the 2013 CFPA Defensive Awards Watch List,” CFPA Executive Director Brad Smith said. “Under head coach Matt Rhule, Matakevich will be one of the nation’s top linebackers to watch in 2013.”

Matakevich had a breakout season last year as a true freshman, as he was later named Big East Rookie of the Year. The Stratford, Conn. native was also named to the 2012 Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American Team. Matakevich played in every game last season for the Owls (starting in eight), and became the first freshman in school history to record 100 tackles.

Harris cut by Tiger-Cats after two days

Posted on by

Yep, it happens that fast.

Former Temple running back Montel Harris has been cut from the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Harris, who just signed with the Tiger-Cats two days ago, has now failed to latch on with three professional teams since playing his final collegiate game. He had failed tryouts with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League.

The Tiger-Cats have not released a statement saying that Harris has been cut, but he is no longer on the team’s roster page on the official website.

Brown reverses course, signs with Tampa Bay

Posted on by

Temple has announced that former RB Matt Brown has signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League.

Brown, who agreed to sign with the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, was on his way to Saskatchewan to sign it on Tuesday when an expired passport prevented him from boarding the plane, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Brown was in the process of renewing his passport when the Bucs contacted his agent, expressing interest in signing him. Brown canceled his plans to go to Canada and flew to Tampa to sign an NFL contract.

“Brown owes his good fortune to an expired passport,” Temple said in a press release. “Otherwise, he would have already signed with the CFL.”

Brown’s contract saga is the opposite of fellow former RB Montel Harris. Harris, after trying out with the Bucs and the Philadelphia Eagles, signed a deal to play for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

In a four-year career, Brown, at 5 feet, 5 inches, racked up many honors and records. He was named the 2012 Big East Conference Special Teams Player of the Year, and was on the All-Big East first team as the return specialist. He holds school records for punt return average in a season (14.2 in 2012) and kick return yards in a single game (227 on November 3, 2012 against Louisville). He finished his career second in school history in all-purpose yards with 5,272, third in rushing touchdowns with 22 and fourth in 100+ yard rushing performances with 10.

Brown is one of six former Temple player to sign a rookie deal with a professional team this spring. The other five are Harris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), OL Martin Wallace (Cleveland Browns), DE John Youboty (Denver Broncos), DB Maurice Jones (Chicago Bears) and K/P Brandon McManus (Indianapolis Colts).

Harris signs with CFL’s Tiger-Cats

Posted on by

After trying out with multiple NFL teams, former Temple running back Montel Harris has signed a contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.

Harris had tryouts with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles, not making either team. He becomes the second former Owl RB to sign a CFL deal this offseason, following Matt Brown, who signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week.

Harris spent four years at Boston College from 2008 to 2011, only fulfilling three years of eligibility due to a knee injury in his junior year. He transferred to Temple for his final year of eligibility after being dismissed from Boston College. In his one season at Temple, he rushed for 1,054 yards and 12 TDs with five 100+ yard games.

Brown is now the sixth former Owl to be under contract with a CFL team, along with Brown, QB Henry Burris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), RB Tim Brown (B.C. Lions), DL Elisha Joseph (Calgary Stampeders) and LB Dominique Harris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats).

Two Owls named to Steele’s All-American teams

Posted on by

Sophomore linebacker Tyler Matakevich was named to Phil Steele’s 2013 preseason All-American Athletic Conference first team on Tuesday.

Matakevich was one of two Owls to make it onto one of Steele’s four teams. Junior defensive back Anthony Robey was named one of the fourth-team cornerbacks.

With 112 slots to fill (12 offense, 12 defense and four special teams on each team), only having two players named total is not a good showing for the Owls. Every other team has at least nine representatives, and five of them had 12 or more players. Louisville leads the way with 18 players on the four teams, including seven on the first team alone.

On the other hand, a first team appearance is an accomplishment for Matakevich, who, at this time last year, was a little-known freshman. Matakevich was the 2012 Big East Conference Rookie of the Year and was named to the 2012 Freshman All-America team. He had 101 tackes in his freshman season.

Notre Dame loses quarterback, as Temple matchup approaches

Posted on by

Ahead of Temple’s opening game of the 2013 football season against Notre Dame, multiple sources are reporting that Fighting Irish starting quarterback Everett Golson is no longer enrolled at the university.

Golson started 11 games last year as a redshirt-freshman, leading Notre Dame to a perfect regular season, before losing to Alabama in the BCS Championship.

WNDU-TV first reported the news of Golson’s departure, and the information was later confirmed by the university via emails to the press.

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelley has a few options to fill the void left by Golson, with senior Tommy Rees, fourth-year junior Andrew Hendrix, and new recruit Malik Zaire all still on the roster. Rees, having the most experience, is considered the likely favorite to earn the starting quarterback spot.

That said, with less than 100 days to go until Temple makes the trip over to South Bend to face Notre Dame in a nationally televised matchup, the Fighting Irish have officially lost one of their most important pieces of last year’s championship run.

Brown signs with CFL team

Posted on by

Former Temple running back Matt Brown has signed a contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

Brown becomes the sixth former Temple player to sign a rookie deal with a professional team this spring. The other five are RB Montel Harris (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), OL Martin Wallace (Cleveland Browns), DE John Youboty (Denver Broncos), DB Maurice Jones (Chicago Bears) and K/P Brandon McManus (Indianapolis Colts).

In a four-year career, Brown, at 5 feet, 5 inches, racked up many honors and records. He was named the 2012 Big East Conference Special Teams Player of the Year, and was on the All-Big East first team as the return specialist. He holds school records for punt return average in a season (14.2 in 2012) and kick return yards in a single game (227 on November 3, 2012 against Louisville). He finished his career second in school history in all-purpose yards with 5,272, third in rushing touchdowns with 22 and fourth in 100+ yard rushing performances with 10.

Brown is now the fifth former Owl to be under contract with a CFL team, joining QB Henry Burris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), RB Tim Brown (B.C. Lions), DL Elisha Joseph (Calgary Stampeders) and LB Dominique Harris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats).