Week 13: Temple at Western Michigan

In a typical year, teams with less than mediocre records would be slogging their way to the finish line about now, just anxious to get the season over with and move on. That is not the case with these two, however.

While neither the Broncos nor the Owls will have anything more to say about how the Mid-American Conference race is determined, they are not just going through the motions in Game 12. There is reason to press on with determination on both sides.

Western Michigan recorded one of the biggest wins in the history of its program last weekend when the Broncos snuffed out Iowa’s senior night by stunning the Hawkeyes 28-19 in Iowa City. In one shot, Western Michigan might have knocked Iowa out of a bowl game, and severely damaged the chances of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz making a serious run at the now vacant Michigan job.

On the heels of that historic win, the Broncos do not want the season to end, preferring to ride this surge of positive momentum much farther. But Temple will be the final opponent for 2007, and Western Michigan will look to sophomore quarterback Tim Hiller and sophomore running back Brandon West to again lead the way.

Against Iowa, Hiller threw for an astounding 367 yards and three touchdowns, while West rushed for 116 yards and had an additional 93 receiving yards and a touchdown. Western’s defense came to life, helping the Broncos build a 19-0 lead, and if they can match that effort against Temple, the results will be similar.

Temple has plenty of its own reasons to want the season to continue. The Owls are coming off a 24-14 win over Kent State, which gave Temple a fourth win in MAC play. The last time Temple won four conference games was 40 years ago – in 1967 when the Owls were playing in the now defunct Middle Atlantic Conference.

The current Temple team accomplished that significant achievement despite having the nation’s youngest Division I-A roster. For the second straight year, Temple has that distinction, with 25 freshmen playing for the Owls. As further evidence of its proliferation of youth, Temple has the nation's most true freshmen (20) and the nation's most freshman starters (11).

The Owls appear to be in the midst of a significant turn-around under second-year head coach Al Golden. The Owls had but one win in 2006, but now they are sniffing around at the prospect of winning five games and securing a position of prominence in the final MAC standings, right behind East Division champion Miami and likely runner-up Bowling Green.

This will be an important game for both Temple and Western Michigan, who look for even more the satisfaction of a victory, and the good feeling heading into the off-season. Unlike most season-enders, these two come into the final week of the season with a whole lot left to play for.

Western Michigan by 7