Temple Emerging as New Rival (As heard on The Boneyard Roadshow)
UConn returns home tomorrow to face Temple, who is becoming more and more of a rival for the Huskies. A rivalry really can’t exist if you don’t play one another and the Huskies haven’t played who many think is their true rival, Boston College, since the 2004 loss in Chestnut Hill.
Rutgers has moved on to greener pastures in the Big Ten and Syracuse has been in the ACC for multiple years now, same for Pitt.
That leaves UCONN in a very precarious situation, without a true rival on the schedule, year after year.
For now and until the big boys at UCONN are able to move out of the AAC, Temple will have to do and it’s not as bad as some may think. These two have some history.
How about the 2007 battle at Rentschler Field?
Close, dramatic losses cause emotion and that was indeed the case after UCONN’s 22-17 win that year. Temple came back in 2008, ready to fight, launching a UCONN/Temple II campaign, coining the matchup as ‘Justice.’ Billboards were seen throughout Philadelphia marketing the rematch, a game that UCONN won 12-9 in overtime at The Lync, which sparked chants of ‘There’s your justice’ from the UCONN faithful that travelled to the City of Brotherly Love.
The teams took 2009 off, meeting again in 2010, the year UCONN made a run to the Fiesta Bowl. Temple was ready, winning 30-16 despite 196 yards on the ground from running back Jordan Todman. 2011 saw another break in the series, before Temple came to Rentschler and beat the Huskies 17-14 in overtime.
Last season, Temple looked to make it three straight and it looked early on like they would. UCONN, however, overcame a 21-0 halftime deficit to rally for a 28-21 win, their first of the season.
Tomorrow’s game is expected to be another battle. Temple has seemed to turn the corner in their hopes to becoming a reputable program. Averaging 40 points per game and giving up just under 13 on defense, as well as leading the nation in takeaways with 14, a solid Temple can only do good things for college football in the northeast.
For UCONN fans who have been with this program since day one, no matter how good the Owls are, a win over Temple, is still a must.
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