The Temple Owls have managed to fill capacity at Lincoln Financial Field again this season as their Halloween matchup against Notre Dame has been announced as a sell out. The Owl’s Week 1 matchup against Penn State also sold out. This is the first time the program has managed to sell out their stadium twice in one season since moving to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex in 1976. 69,176 people witnessed the historic route of the Nittany Lions and similar numbers are expected to be in store for the late October contest against the Fighting Irish
To put this in perspective, the highest attendance the Owls saw at home last season was 28,408 in their home opener against Navy.
The Fighting Irish have never traveled down I-95 to the Linc, and this year’s matchup will be their first contest in the stadium and in Philadelphia. Notre Dame is currently ranked 14th in the nation, sitting at 5-1. Their lone loss was to Clemson in a torrential downpour just three games after Heisman-hopeful quarterback Malik Zaire was injured and ruled out for the remainder of the season.
The Owls took on the Irish two years ago in South Bend, and were held to just 6 points in a 28-6 loss. At the time, the Irish stood at the same #14 ranking in the NCAA, and Temple was unranked. The Owls finished the 2013-2014 season with just 2 wins, compared to 9 from the Irish.
Here’s what football analyst and former NFL Tight End has to say about Temple’s performance thus far, including how he believes the Owls stack up against Notre Dame:
https://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:13823064
Temple fans and football analysts this season are aware that this game will be no cakewalk for the Irish. Sophomore replacement quarterback DeShone Kizer has shown flashes of potential but has portrayed his growing pains quite a bit this season. Kizer has thrown 4 interceptions in his 4 games as the Irish’s full-time starter. After starting the season 5-0 for the first time in 41 years, Temple will come into their sellout crowd with more than a chip on their shoulder. Temple’s defense has been giving opposing quarterbacks huge problems thus far and they plan to do the same against the young quarterback on Halloween.
Hoot hoot! Great article! Go OWLS!