The Owls return all but one starter from last year's team, which went 4-8, including a 37-21 loss to the Black Knights. Temple fielded the nation's youngest team, playing 25 freshmen, including 20 true freshmen, and starting the nation's most freshmen (12). For the third consecutive year, Temple also signed the top-rated recruiting class in the Mid-American Conference, according to Scout.com."The biggest difference is that the team is intact," said Golden, whose Owls went 1-11 in his first season. We had more players out for the spring than we had on the team last fall. We won't be relying on freshmen as much.
"Standout quarterback Adam DiMichele is back after missing the last four games of the 2007 season with a broken leg. Golden said his priorities this summer are identifying a tailback to carry the load and testing his offensive line. Jason Harper, who rushed for 586 yards on 163 carries, five touchdowns last season, has been moved to wide receiver.DiMichele, who completed 138 of 223 passes last season for 1,595 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, is a playmaker and a leader who has more value to the Owls than his statistics show. DiMichele was hurt on Oct. 20 when he was sacked during a 24-17 victory over Miami of Ohio.The Owls have been selected to finish fifth in the East Division of the MAC this fall.
"The bottom line is, I like the way the team in coming, and we need to stay hungry like every other team in the league," Golden said. "It's going to depend on how we practice as a team. I believe as we progress, the product will take care of itself. To get the outcome we want, we have to focus on execution."
Former Army Assistant Gets Job
John Bond, who served as offensive coordinator under Todd Berry at Army from 2000-03, has a new job.
Bond, who served as Georgia Tech's 'O' coordinator last season, before being fired, has taken the same position at Georgia State College under head coach Bill Curry.
“When I was with ESPN (as a television analyst), I covered some of John’s games at Northern Illinois, and I saw an offense that was so well conceived,” Curry said. “No matter what the defense did, the offense had an answer, and it wasn’t just Garrett Wolfe running the ball all over the place.”
After leaving Army, Bond, 45, moved on to Northern Illinois, where he ran the offense from 2004-06. Prior to Army, Bond worked under Berry at Division I-AA Illinois State.