Morgan Mehring, Staff Illustrator
Beginning of game: I got up at 7:45 a.m. on Halloween to make the five and half hour drive home for the biggest game in the history of the Temple Owls. The Owls have been the college football equivalent of the Chicago Cubs, just without the charm, mild success or memorable players. They’ve been to four bowl games since the program began in 1894—a pitiful number that necessitates some truly great advertising techniques just to sell season tickets (“This could be the year, sir! Can I put you down for two?”).
They’ve produced a couple of decent pros and had some coaches that found great success elsewhere—Pop Warner, Bruce Arians and Al Golden (just kidding). Aside from a nice stretch in the late ‘70’s, Temple has been the very picture of mediocrity. Until this season, that is.
Temple beat Penn State in the home opener for their first victory over the Nittany Lions since 1941, and they haven’t looked back. Led by coach Matt Rhule, they are 7-0 for the first time in school history going into this Halloween Eve game against Notre Dame. For the Fighting Irish, the game won’t even merit a footnote to a footnote. For Temple, it will be a program-defining game.
I’m home for the game with my father, a Temple graduate. We’ve been in the parking lot for hours before the game, warming up with hoagies and dad-beer (if you don’t know what that is, you’re a dad). The tailgate stretches as far as you can see, and though it’s a cheap imitation of the legendary SEC soirées, it’s imbued with childish giddiness that can’t be replicated. It’s civil, even for Philadelphia. At kickoff, people seem unsure of how to act—they’ve never been to a game like this.
9:00, First Quarter: Notre Dame just wrapped up a 12-play drive that has everyone in the stadium wondering if Temple belongs on the field. It’s apparent from the first play that Notre Dame is in another stratosphere athletically, so if Temple’s going to win tonight, they’re going to have to be at their best. 7-0, Notre Dame.
9:11, Second Quarter: Interception! Down 7-3, Temple picks off Notre Dame deep in their own territory. The stadium is absolutely rocking. Amid the cherry and white lie pockets of green, blue and gold throughout the stadium. Temple’s fans know that they have far more at stake.
4:51, Second Quarter: Minutes after Temple scores a touchdown to push them up 10-7, Notre Dame’s quarterback runs 79 yards for a touchdown that gut-punches the air out of the stadium. Temple goes into the half down 14-10, with hope in their hearts.
15:00, Third Quarter: No one wants to say it. No one wants to be the guy who looks around at everyone and implies that Temple might maybe pull it together and walk away with a win tonight. The Philadelphian fan is deeply superstitious and refuses to be seduced by any hint of success. What can go wrong will go wrong. The crowd is largely silent as the second half begins.
10:51, Fourth Quarter: Temple is down again 17-10, with a fourth and goal at the Notre Dame one-yard line. When it becomes apparent that they’re going to go for the touchdown, the crowd roars the loudest it has all night. My dad’s friend calmly tells me they’re going to pitch left to Jahad Thomas, just like they did against Penn State so many weeks ago (side note: someone near me refers to him as Jihad Thomas). They pitch right (or close enough to the right) and Thomas plows in for the touchdown.
They’re 17-17 in the fourth quarter. Realistically, it’s the best anyone could ask for.
4:45, Fourth Quarter: Temple’s kicker lines up for a 36-yard field goal and drills it. Temple is winning late against Notre Dame, 20-17. People are going absolutely ballistic. It was so much more than three points. It was an affirmation that Temple actually belonged on the field, which is all anyone wanted. But now, with what they have before them, they want the win. They seem to have forgotten their pessimism, for now at least. I pray they aren’t punished for it.
2:09, Fourth Quarter: Well. Notre Dame marches down the field and Temple leaves a wide receiver wide open in the end zone. The Fighting Irish are up 24-20. Such is life.
End of game: Temple loses 24-20. No one’s surprised, but no one’s happy, either. People got a little taste of what it might feel like to watch a big-time college football game from their own team, and then had it ripped out from under them. It’s been a bizarre game, full of odd penalties and a sideline altercation between Notre Dame’s head coach and an assistant.
70,000 fans stream out of the stadium, back to their cars and their lives. As was said in Dr. Who, “No, this is not a disentanglement from, but a knotting into.”
Bernstein is a member of the class of 2018.
