Temple Football

WE DON'T know what Big East football's new name will be yet. But unless somehow there is even more conference movement in the next whatever, at least its 2013 schedule is finally official. Temple is still opening at defending national runner-up Notre Dame on Aug. 31. And the Owls are playing six times at home, including a game with defending champion and likely favorite Louisville on Oct. 5 at Lincoln Financial Field. Their other league games in South Philly are with newcomers Houston (Sept.

NEW TEMPLE football coach Matt Rhule, a week after his only season with the New York Giants ended, has made the first five additions to his staff. Ed Foley, who has been at Temple the past five seasons and spent the last two as the director of football operations, has been named assistant head coach. He and Rhule worked together on North Broad Street from 2008-11 for first Al Golden and then Steve Addazio. Brandon Noble, who was Rhule's teammate at Penn State in the mid 1990s, is coming aboard following one season at Coastal Carolina.

TEMPLE'S FOOTBALL team, which was picked to finish last in the Big East in its first season back since 2004, ended up 4-7. The Owls went 2-5 in the conference, which has them tied in the win column with Connecticut (2-4, 5-6), a team they beat in overtime, and Pittsburgh (2,4, 5-6), which they lost to by 30. UConn still has Cincinnati (8-3, 4-2) at home, while Pitt closes at South Florida (1-5, 3-8), the Owls' other Big East victim. Their other FBS win was at 2-9 Army. Four losses were to bowl teams, by an average of 24 points, and a fifth was at Penn State, which would have been going to one if it wasn't on probation.

Sources have confirmed a report on OwlScoop.com that new Temple football coach Steve Addazio has added another member to his staff. Sean McGowan, who has spent the last seven seasons as the defensive coordinator at New Hampshire, will be coming to North Broad Street to coach either the linebackers or defensive line. He also has been the defensive coordinator at West Virginia Tech and Duquesne, and was once a graduate assistant at Pittsburgh. There's still no word yet on whether any of the five assistants who stayed on after Al Golden left for Miami last month will be retained.

Temple's football program has secured six more oral commitments, all who just attended one of coach Steve Addazio's camps. That brings the number of recruits in the class of 2012 to 15. The Owls landed Kyle Friend, a 6-2, 275-pound offensive lineman from Cumberland Valley High in Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Tavon Young, a 5-10, 165-pound defensive back from Frederick Douglass High in Upper Marlboro, Md.; Ron Gillespie, a 5-9, 165 cornerback from...

The lawyer for a Temple University football player charged with rape denied the accusation Tuesday and called his client a "valued member of his church and community. " Praise Martin-Oguike, 18, a freshman linebacker, was charged last week with rape, aggravated assault, and related offenses in connection with an attack alleged to have occurred May 26. Temple football coach Steve Addazio issued a brief statement saying Martin-Oguike had been suspended from the team "pending the outcome of the charges.

For a few minutes, anyway, it was Spencer Reid's turn. Spencer is the youngest of Andy Reid's five children. Yesterday, Spencer announced that he would fulfill his dream of playing Division I football when, in the gymnasium at Harriton High, he signed his national letter of intent to play football at Temple University. As Spencer mushed his Reid redhead under a Temple ballcap, Andy sat on his left. His mother, Tammy, the clan's boss, sat on his right and co-signed the letter. His brothers, Garrett and Britt, looked on. Sisters Crosby and Drew Ann, pursuing their own post-high school endeavors, were out of town and unable to attend.

Temple has received oral commitments from two Connecticut football players. Running back Montrell Dobbs, an all-state player from Ansonia, committed this week and linebacker Tyler Matakevich committed last week. Matakevich is from St. Joseph's High in Trumbull. Dobbs originally had committed to the University of Connecticut. Both played this past season at Milford Academy, a prep school in New York state. "I'm real excited," Dobbs told the Connecticut Post . "Coach [Steve]

Daryl Robinson, one of Temple football coach Al Golden's highest-rated recruits, is back on North Broad Street after leaving to attend West Hills Community College in central California. The North Catholic High product is enrolled in classes and will compete as a walk-on at spring practice, which begins March 17. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining. The 5-10, 175-pound Robinson played as a true freshman for the Owls in 2007, and was one of their top offensive weapons as a runner and receiver coming out of the backfield.

The Temple football team has been participating in the annual Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure since 2006. The Owls, however, will have added roles in Sunday's fund-raiser for breast cancer research at the Eakins Oval/Philadelphia Museum of Art. Fifteen members of Temple's football family - including head coach Matt Rhule and his wife, Julie - will participate in the 5K race, 5K walk, or 1-mile walk. More than 50 others associated with the Big East program have volunteered to hand out water.

The Temple Owls have made a few changes since new head coach Matt Rhule took over in December, and with 15 practices down, the Owls are watching the pieces of the puzzle come together. The Owls play in their annual Cherry and White game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Chodoff Field. They held competitive scrimmage last Saturday and again on Tuesday. Rhule said after Tuesday's practice that Connor Reilly, who spent last year buried deep on the depth chart, likely will be the starter Saturday.

Another chapter was added to the impressive story of Khalif Wyatt on Saturday. With a sensational late-game performance, Wyatt lifted Temple to a 76-70 victory over Rhode Island at the Liacouras Center. The score was tied, 64-64, with 6 minutes, 10 seconds remaining when the senior guard took over. He scored seven of the Owls' final 12 points. "Definitely, when the game gets close down the stretch, my teammates depend on me to make a play - whether that's make a play for my teammates or make a play for myself," said Wyatt, who made 9 of 11 foul shots in scoring a team-high 24 points.

Another chapter was added to the impressive story of Khalif Wyatt on Saturday. With a sensational late-game performance, Wyatt lifted Temple to a 76-70 victory over Rhode Island at the Liacouras Center. The score was tied, 64-64, with 6 minutes, 10 seconds remaining when the senior guard took over. He scored seven of the Owls' final 12 points. "Definitely, when the game gets close down the stretch, my teammates depend on me to make a play - whether that's make a play for my teammates or make a play for myself," said Wyatt, who made 9 of 11 foul shots in scoring a team-high 24 points.

SO, ON national signing day, is there any football coach in America who isn't excited about the class he just recruited? First-year Temple coach Matt Rhule is no different. But the reality is, nobody knows for sure. You can evaluate and project all you want, but until the new players get here, you have no way of telling how many will really help you and how many will end up never amounting to much. All you can do is the best you can and hope that, in a couple of years, you have more hits than misses.

ELIZABETH, N.J. - Of course, there are no guarantees. College football just doesn't work that way. Still, there is plenty of excitement at Temple surrounding Wednesday's national signing day, the first day that recruits can sign binding national letters of intent. Perhaps that biggest expected addition for the Owls' faithful is Elizabeth High's heralded quarterback, P.J. Walker. The 6-foot, 205-pounder was the Newark Star-Ledger's New Jersey state offensive player of the year.

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong said Wednesday that viewers can judge for themselves how candid he was in his interview with Oprah Winfrey . "I left it all on the table with her, and when it airs the people can decide," he said in a text to the Associated Press in response to a New York Daily News report that he was not contrite when he admitted during Monday's taping that he used performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong's interview with Winfrey will be telecast Thursday and Friday on OWN. BASEBALL: Righthander Phil Hughes and the New York Yankees agreed to a $7.15 million, one-year contract.

In a federal lawsuit, a former Temple University athlete says she was kicked off the volleyball team and her full scholarship was revoked after she reported that her ex-boyfriend, a Temple football player, had assaulted her and threatened to kill her. Emily Frazer was a starting middle blocker and team server on Temple's 2011 volleyball team, according to the school's website. Her lawsuit says she was visiting a fellow student in a dorm on Jan. 21, 2011, when her former boyfriend, Andrew Cerett, forced his way in and begged to talk to her. She ran to her own dorm, where Cerett, a punter for the Owls, kicked the door open and threatened to kill her, the lawsuit, filed Friday, alleges.

Haddonfield's Jon Low scored with 53 seconds remaining in overtime as the Neumann men's hockey team stunned Division I Penn State, 3-2, Tuesday night in State College, Pa. Ben Curley made 44 saves for the Knights (10-4-2), who were outshot, 46-17. "Ben's play was phenomenal tonight," Neumann coach Dominick Dawes said on the school's website. Chris Bournazos and D'Lane Sather also scored, but the Nittany Lions (8-12-0) rallied to tie it entering the third period. Annual spending on sports by public universities in six big-time conferences such as the Southeastern and Big 12 has passed $100,000 per athlete - about six to 12 times the amount those schools are spending per student on academics, according to a study released at the NCAA's annual meeting in Texas.