Army football determined to rebound at Temple after crushing loss

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The feeling of shock and disappointment was palpable as the Army locker room had to absorb a crushing loss to South Florida on Sept. 12, spoiling what could have been a 2-0 start to the season.

The Bulls rallied for two touchdowns in the final 3:13 (the go-ahead score coming with 19 seconds left), erasing a 10-point deficit and escaping Michie Stadium with a 28-24 win.

In an Army minute, the elation of a thoroughly dominant 59-3 rout of FCS school Bryant a week earlier became a distant memory for the Black Knights .

As much as there was to dislike about dropping another one-score contest (Army was 4-5 in those close games a year ago), head coach Jeff Monken realizes there is a dual need to boost spirits, and yet drive the point home about shortcomings in the early stages of the season.

"There's got to be both,'' Monken said. "We have to find the positives as much as possible and encourage those behaviors and encourage the things that they're doing so well.

"We had some guys that played really well, and at times even guys that maybe made some mistakes, had plays where they played really well — we can point those out and highlight those (plays) and praise them for that. But then there's things that they can do better and we can do better collectively that we've got to point out so that the next time out more of those good things show up and fewer of the bad things do."

An early bye in the schedule last week may have come at the right time, especially with a "short week'' of preparation facing Army as it heads to Philadelphia for a rare Friday afternoon contest against Temple .

"I think any time there's a bye, it can be a positive in that the guys just get recovered a little bit,'' Monken said.

The season is only two games old, but that is following a month of preseason camp where a lot of players had to re-establish themselves or win open positions.

"Physically, it's a tough game ... it's a rugged, physical game, and guys get beat up certainly in competition,'' Monken said. "We practice really hard, we practice physical and we try to do that to prepare ourselves to play that way in a game — it's oftentimes the only thing that we really have that we feel like we can lean on.''

It should be noted this is the first of seven consecutive weeks of game action for Army, culminating with the all-important Air Force game on Nov. 7, a rare time there has been no bye week ahead of the contest with the Falcons.

Army is an early three-point favorite over Temple.

"We've just got to play the game hard, and we've got to play the game tough and physical if we're going to even give ourselves a chance,'' Monken said.

Here's how to watch Army take on the Temple Owls on the road, including time and TV information:

On what channel is Army football at Temple?

Sirius XM: Army broadcast on SXM Ch. 247

Radio: WBNR 1260-AM, 96.5-FM; WLNA 1420-AM, 94.3-FM; WGHQ 920-AM, 92.5-FM; Temple broadcast on OwlSports.com/listen, with Kevin Copp and Paul Palmer

Army at Temple will air live on ESPN from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The Black Knights and Owls will kick off at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 25. Clay Matvick handles the TV play-by-play and Rocky Boiman the analysis.

The Army football radio network features WBNR (1260-AM, 96.5-FM), WLNA (1420-AM, 94.3-FM) and WGHQ (920-AM, 92.5-FM). The game can also be heard on The Varsity app, Knight Vision website and Sirius XM Ch. 247. Rich DeMarco, Dean Darling, sideline reporter Tony Morino and host Joe Beckerle have the radio call.

Saturday, Sept. 12 — vs. South Florida, L 24-28

Friday, Sept. 25 — at Temple, 4 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday, Oct. 3 — at Louisiana Tech, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN Plus)

Saturday, Oct. 10 — vs. Tulane, noon (CBSSN)

Saturday, Oct. 17 — vs. Florida Atlantic , noon (CBSSN)

Friday, Oct. 23 — at Tulsa, 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Saturday, Oct. 31 — at Memphis , TBD (ESPN network)

Saturday, Nov. 7 — vs Air Force, 7:30 p.m. (CBS)

Saturday, Nov. 21 — vs. East Carolina, noon (CBSSN)

Saturday, Nov. 28 — at Rice , TBD (ESPN network)

Saturday, Dec. 12 — vs. Navy, 3 p.m. (MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.) (CBS)

Saturday, Sept. 5 — vs. Rhode Island , W 38-14

Saturday, Sept. 12 — vs. Penn State , L 9-27

Saturday, Sept. 19 — at Toledo, L 48-49 (OT)

Friday, Sept. 25 — vs. Army, 4 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday, Oct. 3 — at South Florida, 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Saturday, Oct. 10 — vs. Connecticut , TBD (ESPN network)

Saturday, Oct. 17 — vs. Charlotte, TBD (ESPN network)

Saturday, Oct. 31 — at East Carolina, TBD (ESPN network)

Saturday, Nov. 7 — at Navy, 3:30 p.m. (CBSSN)

Saturday, Nov. 14 — vs. Alabama Birmingham, TBD (ESPN network)

Thursday, Nov. 19 — vs. Rice, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Friday, Nov. 27 — at Memphis, TBD (ESPN network)

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