October 18, 2015
During CBS Sports' broadcast of Temple vs. Central Florida last night, a graphic was aired that showed just how long it had been since the Owls had been ranked.
The year was 1979, and the graphic pointed out a number of sports and pop culture highlights from the time. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates both won their league's titles that year, for example.
The Owls broke the 36-year-old spell this weekend, earning the 22 spot in college football.
But you have to go even further back for the last time Temple football started a season 6-0, which is exactly what they did last night with their 30-16 victory at Lincoln Financial Field. (Watch the game's highlights below.)
With the Owls at the midway point of their season and with tough contests against Notre Dame and currently undefeated Memphis ahead, let's turn the clock back to 1974, the last time Temple remained perfect in as many contests.
First, a snapshot of that year's team: after blowing through the first half of their schedule, the Owls actually dropped their next two games against Delaware and Cincinnati before finishing up 8-2.
The team's leading rusher, Henry Hynoski, ended up playing for the Cleveland Browns the following year. He later fathered Henry Hynoski, Jr., who played fullback at the University of Pittsburgh and won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2011.
The quarterback, Steve Joachim, threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns, becoming the only Owl to ever win the Maxwell Award, given to the best player in the country.
What were the kids listening to those days? Barbra Streisand, of course. Her song "The Way We Were," which accompanied a movie of the same name starring herself and Robert Redford, was the year's top tune.
The highest-grossing film was Mel Brooks' irreverent comedy Blazing Saddles, and the most-watched television show was CBS' All in the Family, pulling in about 20 million viewers a night.
The Flyers repeated as Stanley Cup champions while the Eagles, Phillies and Sixers all missed the playoffs. All four franchises were coming off a string of historically bad seasons, as pointed out by BillyPenn last week.
Philly's mayor was the outspoken Frank Rizzo and the nation saw a presidential transition as Gerald Ford took over for Richard Nixon, who resigned in the wake of the infamous Watergate scandal.
So, what about the last time the Owls went 7-0? Well, that's actually never happened. If Temple defeats 4-3 East Carolina next week, it'll be a first.
If that happens, 2015 will become the benchmark, meaning someday in the future someone could be writing about how the last time Temple was this good twerking was a thing and Donald Trump was running for president.
