Fans are becoming more engaged as Temple and K.C. Keeler reimagine the football program
A total of 26,000 fans, the most at a Temple home game this year, played a significant part in their narrow loss to Navy.
Temple’s game against Navy was full of on-field storylines and implications. The Owls were fresh off a momentum-building win against UTSA. On the other side, the Midshipmen were undefeated and trying to stay atop the American Conference.
The game itself lived up to expectations.
In a back-and-forth affair, Navy (6-0, 4-0 American) scored the final touchdown and converted a two-point conversion to stun Temple (3-3, 1-1 American) in the final minute and sneak away with a 32-31 win.
While the on-field product was up to par, both teams were also supported well off the field. An announced total of 26,000 fans, the highest announced attendance at a Temple home game this year, put a significant number of eyes on the Owls as it continues to reimagine its program.
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For Temple, it was homecoming as parents, siblings and other relatives flocked in to visit students and catch a game down at the Linc. Navy had a large contingency of fans as well due to the 250th anniversary of the Navy celebration.
“I think [it will be] a huge crowd, a great crowd for us,” said Temple athletic director Arthur Johnson before the game. “I think every year that I’ve been here, homecoming has brought the crowds, except the year that we had rain and the weather didn’t cooperate. So we always have a bigger crowd and then with it being Navy, we’ll have even more people with even more eyeballs in the stadium.”
Most people in town for homecoming took advantage of the chance to watch Temple try to knock off Navy.
Despite some bad weather, parking lots were packers with tailgaters and most eventually made their way into the stadium. The Temple side of the stands was painted with Cherry and White and the crowd made its presence known during the game.
They were loud on third downs, screamed for touchdowns and explosive plays by the Owls and restlessly booed the Midshipmen. The crowd saw a much-improved Temple team nearly pull off a major upset, a step in hopefully keeping the Linc full for future home games.
“To have that opportunity to play against an undefeated opponent at home and homecoming, when we get a lot more people back and then on ESPN 2, it’s a great opportunity for us,” Johnson said. “It’s a great opportunity to open the doors to the university and the windows to the university for people to look in and see more.”
The city of Philadelphia is hosting a celebration for the 250th anniversary of the Navy and Marine Corps that started on Oct. 9, another boon for attendance that will span through the next week
“It’s really neat to be part of this celebration in the city,” said Temple head coach K.C. Keeler. “That’s the great, amazing thing about Philadelphia, … There’s a lot going on in the city. And this is like a week-long celebration. And so this is going to be a big deal and our guys are going to love that atmosphere.”
Before the game started, two fighter jets did a flyover at the stadium, drawing oohs and ahhs from the crowd. Then, at halftime, a handful of Navy members parachuted into the stadium from a plane. The crowd was enamored by the stunt, then brought to its feet with cheers as the last jumper landed with a Temple flag on their back.
“I think it worked out great,” said Navy athletic director Michael Kelly. “Which is great for all Navy supporters. And I think it’s great for Temple also because obviously it’ll be on par that they already have a great crowd from a homecoming perspective and this adds another element to folks that are part of the Navy up there in the Philadelphia area.”