wouldnt be the first time something resembling an owl has given me a hoot

Temple unsure of starting quarterback

By Kevin Tatum

Inquirer Staff Writer

That will be Tuesday, when the Owls host Ohio at Lincoln Financial Field in an 8 p.m. game to be featured on ESPN2. There is a possibility that quarterback Adam DiMichele could return after sitting out the last three games because of a shoulder injury he suffered Sept. 20 at Penn State.

"He's not pain-free yet," Owls coach Al Golden said yesterday. "His velocity is increasing. His distance is improving. But I can't at this time name him the starter. We're still worried about him protecting himself.

"We'll take it up to Sunday and Monday to see where he's at. If he's ready to play, he'll start."

Temple (2-5, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) is just past the halfway point of the season, and getting its playmaking leader back would be a big boost for a team whose defensive efforts have been good enough to produce wins.

The Owls are third in the MAC in scoring defense with 19.3 points per game. Offensively, they are next-to-last in scoring with 17.1 ppg.

"We only start two seniors on defense, and you're starting to see the new wave of guys," said Golden, who played at Penn State and was the defensive coordinator at Virginia for five seasons before going to Temple. "Ultimately, they trust right now . . . they believe . . . they finish at a very high level. They finish probably better than any defense I've been around."

In DiMichele's absence, redshirt freshman Chester Stewart has guided the Owls. He went into their last two games still feeling the physical after-effects of his first collegiate start in a 7-3 loss to visiting Western Michigan on Sept. 27.

There had been some question about junior Vaughn Charlton's being forced to give up a redshirt season if Stewart wasn't ready to play.

Temple is 1-2 with Stewart calling the signals. He threw three interceptions last week in a 24-14 loss at Central Michigan, where he was 15 of 32 passing for 163 yards and a touchdown. For the season, Stewart is 53 of 106 through the air, with seven interceptions and four touchdown passes. He has played in all seven of the Owls' games.

In Temple's 28-10 win at Miami of Ohio on Oct. 4, Stewart threw for three scores.

"Chester did a lot of good things [last week]," said Golden, whose Owls will face an Ohio team that is 2-5 and 1-2.

"He also did some costly things. We're trying to make a jump, that's right now a year-three jump, with a quarterback who is in his first year. He's made a lot of progress, but he's not year-three. We went from a 23-year-old man to a 19-year-old kid, basically. That's hard to do during this stretch."

 temple is 3-10 ats their last 13 conf games and 1-10 ats after playing a confernece game.