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Things You Should Know About Temple 9/29/2006 Vanderbilt will be looking to win their second consecutive game after opening the season with three, hard-fought losses when the Commodores battle Temple Saturday night at 6 p.m. CST at Dudley Field. Tickets are only $10! Players to Watch: #34 Jason Harper: Freshman RB (5-9, 195). Harper leads the Owls in all-purpose yards in 2006, having gained 154 yards rushing on 31 carries, 90 yards on seven receptions and 193 on 10 kickoff returns for an average of 109.2 all-purpose yards per game. The true freshman from New Jersey broke into the starting lineup for Temple’s third game against Minnesota Sept. 16 and has responded: he rushed 12 times for 50 yards against the Golden Gophers and then gained 84 yards on 14 carries last week against Western Michigan, including an 11-yard touchdown run, Temple’s lone touchdown of the season. #12 Vaughn Charlton: Freshman QB (6-4, 220). Charlton supplanted Sophomore Adam DiMichele as the Owls’ starting signal caller midway through Temple’s 62-0 defeat to Minnesota and completed 13 of 23 passes for 70 yards and an interception. He made his first collegiate start last week against Western Michigan completing four of eight passes for 46 yards and an interception. #82 Bruce Francis: Sophomore WR (6-0, 175). The Owls’ leading pass catcher with 10 receptions for 136 yards on the year, Francis had a season high 54 receiving yards on three catches in his team’s 62-0 loss to Louisville Sept. 9. He had two catches for 44 yards last week against Western Michigan. #44 Walter Mebane: Senior ILB (6-0, 225). One of only five seniors on the Owls’ starting defensive unit, Mebane is tied for the team lead in tackles with 24 through Temple’s first four games. He led the team with seven total tackles last week against Western Michigan. #4 Junior Galette: Freshman LB (6-2, 215). Galette is tied for third on the team with 23 total tackles and leads the team with four tackles for losses. He is also tied for second on the team with one pass breakup. He led the Owls with nine total tackles, including five solo tackles, in his first ever collegiate start Aug.31 against Buffalo. Talking Points: Temple has played 19 true freshmen this season, the most of any team in Division I-A. Through their first three games, 34 Owls had had seen their first collegiate action, including five redshirt freshmen. Eight true freshman are currently listed as starters for Temple. Saturday will mark just the second meeting all-time between Temple and Vanderbilt. Temple won the only other match-up between the schools, when the Pop Warner led Owls defeated the Commodores 6-3 at Temple Stadium on Oct. 11, 1935. After years of being in the Big East, the Owls were welcomed as an affiliate member of the Mid-American Conference in May 2005. The Owls played four MAC games in 2005 and will compete in six league contests this season before beginning a full conference schedule in 2007. Historically, Temple is 5-11-1 against Southeastern Conference opponents, but hasn’t beaten an SEC foe since 1938 when they beat Florida 20-12. They have lost 11 straight games against SEC members since, most recently a 42-21 loss at South Carolina in 2002. First-year head coach Al Golden, 37, is the fourth-youngest head coach in Division I-A football, and most recently served for five years as the offensive coordinator at Virginia. Under his stead, Virginia’s defense improved from being ranked 108th nationally to 18th nationally. Temple has two sets of brothers on its roster. Both sophomore QB Adam DiMichele and his brother Alex, a freshman FB, started in Temple’s Sept. 16 game at Minnesota, composing only one of 10 sets of brothers to start together this season. Temple redshirt freshman P Jake Brownell and true freshman LB John Brownell form Temple’s other brotherly duo. Temple has 10 former Division I football players on its coaching staff, tied for most in the country with North Carolina State, Oklahoma and TCU. Temple, which ranks 118th among Division I-A schools in total offense, has been outscored by its opponents so far this season 174-10 including consecutive 62-0 losses to Louisville and Minnesota. The Owls have been outscored 62-0 in the second quarter this season. Sophomore QB Adam DiMichele was selected in the 38th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays and originally signed a national letter of intent to play football at Penn State. Temple’s home games are played at the recently refurbished, $512 million Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, which boasts 130,000 square feet of new Sprint Turf practice fields and the largest seating capacity in the MAC.
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