By Lauren Gudknecht
Sports Editor

Temple University will not add non-conference games to their football schedule until it fits within the protocols of the city of Philadelphia’s and the state of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 recreational activity restrictions, as explained by Temple’s Senior Associate Athletics Director, Vinnie James on Sept. 1.

The 2020 football schedule was lessened to eight American Athletic Conference games. Temple’s non-conference opponents, Rutgers, UMass and Idaho canceled their seasons and Miami canceled what would have been Temple’s season opener this upcoming weekend. These games will be rescheduled to a future year.

The Temple Owls are set for Sept. 26, as they will open the 2020 campaign at Navy and then have two weeks off before the next game against USF at the Lincoln Financial Field Oct. 17.

If non-conference games are to be added, they will be played on the weekends of Oct. 3 or Oct. 10, according to 247sports.com. 

James, who is in charge of daily business scheduling stated, “At this point, those are our realistic options for where a game could go. I really don’t know the likelihood. It’s going to really all be predicted on our situation.”

The Owls along with several other schools are going to face restrictions when it comes to traveling across state lines. The most important thing is being able to practice and prepare, and then having to face the last hurdle when it comes to adding the non-conference games. Not playing in front of the fans will drastically change the dynamic of the team, but staying strong and positive is what the team has to do in order to be able to compete.