One minute at a time, 1 hour at a time, 1 day at a time, 1 year at a time, Al Golden has slowly, but surely, turned around Temple's football program.

Only 16 seniors endured the 4-year "process," but those 16 have earned the respect and admiration of their head coach.

Those 16 were there through the trials and tribulations of a horrific 1-11 freshman season in 2006 - and they're still here in 2009, largely reponsible for the Owls' improbable transformation from perenial cellar dweller to contender, enjoying the fruits of their labor in becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since 1990.

On Saturday, those 16 seniors - Golden's first recruiting class - will walk out of the tunnel at Lincoln Financial Field for the last time on Senior Day. The Owls will need a win over Kent State and an Ohio loss to Northern Illinois to wrap up the program's first-ever Mid-American Conference East Division title and a berth in the conference championship game.

"[My seniors] have handled so much adversity with class and grace," said Golden, whose team sits at 8-2, 6-0 in the MAC and is riding an eight-game winning streak. "And now they're handling some prosperity with the same dignity."

That prosperity didn't come easy. But through all the adversity, Golden just wanted his seniors to stay the course - the "process," as he calls it.

"That's really what we're trying to teach them, whether it's adversity or prosperity, just to stay on the process," said Golden, who is on the watch list for three coach of the year awards. "Goals plus execution equals outcome; that's it. A lot of people talk about goals, a lot of people want to talk about the outcome. But no one wants to stay in the day-to-day grind of the process. And that's what we're trying to teach them."

All but two of those seniors, defensive back Dominique Harris and offensive tackle Devin Tyler, lost 16 of their first 17 games. Harris and Tyler, members of Bobby Wallace's winless 0-11 team as redshirts in 2005, dropped 21 of their first 22. Under Golden, they and their teammates turned it around, going 17-12 in their last 29 games.

"It's a great feeling," said Harris, who is third on the Owls with 53 tackles. "It just keeps making me and the team more hungry. We just want more. We just keep wanting more. Because every time we win, it feeds us. And we keep wanting to keep going."

Ultimately, the Owls can see the light at the end of the tunnel. An appearance in their first bowl game since the 1979 Garden State Bowl is a distinct possibility.

However, Golden just wants his team to stay focused on the task at hand, taking care of business against the Flash (5-5, 4-2), which knocked off Temple, 41-38, last season and has beaten the Owls in two of the last three meetings.

"The bowl scenarios and the bowl scenarios . . . none of it will help us," Golden said. "It's all poison. I'm probably not a good interview, because I'm not really interested. We get more e-mails and notes now than we ever did. We needed those e-mails when we were 1-16 and losing by 30 and playing with 60 scholarship kids; that's when we needed the e-mails.

"Right now, our guys just need to stay focused, focused on the present moment. It's a challenge, but hopefully they have the right attitude. For the first time, we have leadership, really strong leadership. And hopefully, they'll continue to keep us focused."

Senior tight end Steve Maneri is one of those leaders - and clearly he's echoing the sentiments of his coach.

"The question you really have to ask yourself is, 'What have we really accomplished yet?' " Maneri said. "We still have a lot of work to do. We still have a few more games to play . . . I don't think we've really accomplished anything yet."

That's the type of mind-set Golden hopes his players - from his seniors down to his freshmen - have against Kent State before a showdown with Ohio (7-3, 5-1) on Nov. 27 that could have potential title implications. It's the mind-set he instilled in them 4 years ago. The "process" has only just begun.

Notes

 

Some ticket specials are available for Saturday's 1 p.m. game. Fans who take a child to the game and purchase one $15 end-zone ticket can receive another end-zone ticket for just $5. For more information, call Cathy Bongiovi at 215-204-1608 or log on to Owlsports.com. *