The Big Showdown At The Linc

All week, everyone has been talking about the big showdown at Lincoln Financial Field this weekend. This much-hyped matchup has attracted all of Philadelphia’s attention. Previews of the game have led every newscast and been fronted on every paper since Tuesday.

It’s been a tough season so far, but our local boys seem up to the task of taking down the visitors’ star players and leading the team to victory.

Will the home team win? Philadelphia Will Do’s preview, after the jump.

Saturday marks Temple’s first home game in a month, as Philadelphia’s only Division I-A football program takes on the Kent State Golden Flashes.

What, you thought I was talking about something else going on this weekend at The Linc?

We’ll cut right to the chase: Temple will lose this game. The Owls haven’t won a game since a 34-24 upset over Syracuse in the penultimate game of 2004. They lost back-to-back games 62-0. (Their closest game was the opener, a 9-3 overtime loss to perennial Division I-A loser Buffalo.) Temple is the second-to-last ranked team in Division I-A in Jeff Sagarin’s rankings, below such I-AA schools as Grambling, Northwestern State, Maine and, yes, Penn and Villanova. (For the record, La Salle is ranked 238 out of 241 all Division I football teams. But, hey, they won a game, and got this lead on the team’s official website:

The La Salle Explorers (1-3) took to DeGol field this Saturday as they edged the Red Flash (1-3) of Saint Francis with an impressive 24-21 crunchtime victory.

Now that’s a big crunchtime victory. St. Francis, incidentally, is ranked 239.)

New coach Al Golden may have his own flavor of ice cream, but so far his squad’s been outscored by 193 points this year.

So why the quick write-up? Because there’s a good thing about the Owls playing the day before the oh-so-sold out Eagles game on Sunday. Football Outsiders’ Mike Tanier explains:

If you really want a Must-Flee game, check out Temple-Kent State on Saturday afternoon. Temple is the worst team in Division I-A, they are 24-point dogs and they have been outscored 217-24 this year. Of course, the game is at the Linc, so instead of fleeing you can hide in the bathroom for 28 hours and emerge in time for Eagles-Cowboys. Just a suggestion. Not a good one.

Hey, shush. That’s a great suggestion, Mike.

Week 5 Rundown: Oh no, T.O. won’t go [FOX Sports/Football Outsiders]
Owls Return Home To Host Kent State Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field [OwlSports.com]
Perlozzo Boots Explorers to 24-21 Win [GoExplorers.com]