Temple-Navy: Middies' Trick Could Turn Out to Be Owls' Treat

Nothing could be more fitting this year than Temple playing at Navy on Halloween.

Navy played a trick on Temple, and it could turn out to be an unexpected treat for the Owls come Saturday.

This year would have been the fourth year of a home-and-home contract with Temple.

Navy and Temple, both in good faith, signed a contract to honor two home and two away games.

Temple honored the final part of its road commitment with a trip to Navy last season.

Then the Owls threw a scare into Navy last season, leading 27-7 in the fourth quarter before losing 33-27 in overtime.

Navy's brass probably thought for a minute about the possibility of playing Temple in hostile Philadelphia in 2009 and then placed a phone call to Temple.

The conversation, loosely translated, went something like this:

"Err, you know that game we promised you? We're not coming."

Navy tore up the contract and would have paid Temple a hefty fee for breaking it, but that left the Owls in a bind. They had no team to replace Navy, only a couple of FCS prospects, and that was no good because the Owls already had FCS Villanova on the schedule.

So Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw did the only thing he could do with an 18-inch battleship gun pointed squarely at his head:

He offered to play the game in Annapolis.

So that's how Navy flipped a game that was originally scheduled to be in Philadelphia, getting Temple to "sell" its home game to Navy.

Navy has a distinct advantage at home. Yet there is irony in this situation this year.

The irony is that Navy might have done Temple an inadvertent favor.

I mean, did Navy know the World Series would be played in Philadelphia that day?

No.

The Phillies are playing that day in Philadelphia, and the city is crazed right now.

Everything else in sports is an afterthought, even the Eagles.

All of the parking lots around both stadiums will be all Phillies red all day long.

Getting the Owls out of here at this time can only help them do what they need to do—focus on the task at hand. This is an important game between two teams who have won five straight games. The winner, especially if it's Temple, will get sorely needed recognition on a national scale.

It was a trick Navy played, no doubt.

If it helps keep the Owls' minds focused on football enough to get a win, though, it will be a delicious treat, and the trick will be on the Midshipmen.