Temple won five games a year ago, in Al Golden's third season. The Owls pretty much gave away two more.
They lost another in overtime. Two others were decided by four and three points.
So it shouldn't really come as much of a shock that they've won their last six, and are the lone unbeaten left in the Mid-American Conference's East Division.
Guess that opening last-snap loss to Villanova wasn't just more of the same old, after all.
The Owls (6-2, 4-0) play Miami (Ohio), which just won for the first time in 14 games, Thursday night in South Philly. Then they go to Akron, which also has won once. So the run doesn't figure to end any time soon. They'll be in a bowl, for the first time in 3 decades. They might get there with a championship ring.
"Our goal wasn't to win six games," Golden said. "Our goal is bigger than that."
The Owls also have beaten 0-8 Eastern Michigan and 1-8 Ball State, whose only win was over Eastern Michigan. Yet the last 2 weeks they went on the road and beat Toledo, which had defeated Colorado by 16, in the Glass Bowl, and Navy, which had won five in a row itself. And they had to rally from a touchdown down in the fourth quarter.
It was their most defining on-field step under Golden. There might not be a close second. There figure to be more, maybe even sooner than later.
"It feels good, but you just have to get ready for the next game," said senior running back Lamar McPherson, who is playing behind true freshman sensation Bernard Pierce. Yesterday, Pierce was selected as MAC East Division offensive player of the week after gaining 267 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries in the Owls' 27-24 win at Navy.
"We've been through a lot. But the staff has been the same way. They knew what was coming. We still didn't get to where we want to go."
Instilled by Golden, it's their unwavering mantra.
"We're just doing what we have to do, working hard," echoed senior defensive tackle Andre Neblett. "It's a great feeling, a different feeling in the locker room, something we haven't felt in a long time.
"All this spring and training camp, we talked about leadership, a lot of guys doing the right things. We believed in the coaches, trusted them. This was going to be the year, especially for the seniors.
"There was no turning point. Just grinding. We put [Villanova] behind us . . . just stay humble."
From afar, it could seem like a revelation. Anyone paying close enough attention could sense something like this coming. It was mostly a matter of how high was up, and how quickly.
Now the task is to treat success not as an unknown, but simply as the next part of the journey.
It didn't just happen. It seldom does, when you inherit a mess. Golden only won one of his first 16 games. Since then, his guys are 15-12. No, they don't play in the Big East anymore. Or even a BCS league. It's still a whole lot better than being irrelevant. You steer situations around and people notice. From near and beyond.
Even some of the same folks who wouldn't have tossed them a life preserver not that long ago.
"It was hard in the beginning, because there was so much negativity," Golden said. "But I asked the guys to ignore it, to learn the process and stay with the process. And I think now, I'm asking them as it swings the other way, to have that same focus on their preparation as I did when things weren't going well. Because [dealing with] this environment is equally as challenging.
"The ego, when faced with adversity or ridicule, will displace it. The ego, when faced with praise, will welcome it.
"Part of the job description when you take over a program like Temple . . . is to build a program with the bricks that others throw at us. And that's the truth. That's not easy to do. I'm a professional, and it's trying and it's difficult at times. But I'm asking the players to do the same thing now, [only] in a positive sense."
Stay the course. Isn't that what an Owl basketball coach once implored? Who knew it could apply to more than one of the sports North Broad Street had to offer?
