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5 Things Temple Football Fans Need to Know Before Spring Game

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5 Things Temple Football Fans Need to Know Before Spring Game

P.J. Walker, Temple football,
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With most of the teams in the AAC having already played their spring games, all eyes in the league focus on Temple. The Cherry and White Spring Game is to be played on the school’s main campus on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Owls are perhaps the league’s most intriguing team this season because they return all 11 starters from a defense that was ranked No. 4 in the nation in points allowed a year ago.

5. Take the Train

Temple University train station,
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5. Take the Train

Temple University train station,
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The Temple University stop of the SEPTA regional rail line is located at 10th and Diamond, which is right above the Owls’ $17 million practice facility and the site of the Cherry and White game. Since Temple is located in a high-density, high-traffic, area of Philadelphia, with limited parking, the train is the best way to go and can be accessed from any part of the city and suburbs.

4. Lengthy Injury List

Brandon Shippen, Temple,
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4. Lengthy Injury List

Brandon Shippen, Temple,
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The Owls expect to be missing a number of familiar faces as 20 players have been ruled out of the game by head coach Matt Rhule due to injuries. Missing players include past starters like Jarred Alwan, Rob Dvoracek, Sharif Finch, Khalif Herbin, Brandon Shippen (pictured, No. 17), Hershey Walton and Avery Williams. All should be fine by summer practice.

3. Don’t Tell the PSU and ND Fans

Notre Dame fans,
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3. Don’t Tell the PSU and ND Fans

Notre Dame fans,
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With home games against Notre Dame and Penn State on the schedule, there was some concern that ND and PSU fans would gobble up all of the available Temple season tickets to ensure their seats. That will not happen to fans who attend Saturday because the Cherry and White game offers TU fans the opportunity to purchase season tickets before they go on sale to the general public on Monday. Either way, both of those games should attract 70,000 fans.

2. New Format

Khalif Herbin, Temple football,
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2. New Format

Khalif Herbin, Temple football,
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Every year, Temple tinkers with the Cherry and White format and this year’s is the offense vs. the defense. A year ago, Rhule allowed the players to pick teams via a draft with receiver Khalif Herbin (pictured) the No. 1 pick of the Cherry team and quarterback P.J. Walker the No. 1 pick of the White team. This year, it will be the offense vs. the defense with the defense scoring points for stops and turnovers.

1. Pull for the White Team

Glenn Thomas, Atlanta Falcons, Temple,
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

1. Pull for the White Team

Glenn Thomas, Atlanta Falcons, Temple,
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

For Temple to have a successful season, the offense must significantly improve from a unit that ranked No. 126 in third-down efficiency (23.8 percent) a year ago. To fix that, Rhule hired former Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback coach Glenn Thomas (pictured) and he tweaked the offense to include a H-Back (hybrid fullback and tight end). The hope is that the position helps in both QB protection and the run game. So pull for the White (offense) team.

Mike Gibson is a writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter and like him on Facebook.
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