University of Delaware running back Wes Hills (University of Delaware photo by Mark Campbell)

It’s football time again, after months of no games and then a month of meaningless exhibition games in the NFL, college football is back. These games are real and they count.
In the Philadelphia region, the season kicks off on Friday night with the Temple Owls hosting Army at Lincoln Financial Field. You might have heard, the Owls are coming off of one of – if not – their best season ever. They were 10-4 a season ago and won the American Athletic Conference East Division but the lost the AAC title game and their bowl game. They have a two-game losing streak so there’s a sense of unfinished business.
“We have a motto here now, we’ve been saying,” said senior running back Jahad Thomas, “we want to be 1-0 every week. We want to be undefeated when it’s all said and done, that’s the goal here. We have some great opponents on our schedule but we always just focus about what we can control. What comes with that is great execution, we all have to be in sync on offense, defense and on special teams.”
The Black Knights were just 2-10 last season but seven of those 10 losses were by seven points or less.
“I’m excited about our guys and the confidence they have,” said third-year Army head coach Jeff Monken. “Having come so close so many times last year, a lot of those guys are back. They recognize the issues that led to us not being able to overcome some of those very close losses and hopefully we will get some of those mistakes corrected and be able to change some of our fortunes.”
Also on Friday night, Delaware Valley University opens on the road at Wesley. The Aggies were 9-2 in 2015 and return 15 starters. Del Val, who has appeared in the postseason in 12 of the last 13 seasons, beat Moravian College in a Centennial-Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Bowl Series game. Their host are no stranger to the postseason either, the Wolverines (11-2 in 2015) were NJAC co-champs in their first year in the league and made the NCAA Tournament for the 11 straight time. They advanced to the quarterfinals for the seventh time in a row but lost to Mount Union. Wesley opens the season ranked seventh in the D3football.com poll.
Another team in the region that opens with a nationally ranked opponent is the College of New Jersey. Saturday afternoon, TCNJ visits Wisconsin-Whitewater, who third in the poll. The Lions were 4-5 a season ago and have a new head coach in Rocky Hager. The Warhawks are coming off of a semifinal loss to Mount Union.
For the third season in a row, Rowan and Widener open against each other. Saturday’s contest will be hosted by the Pride at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium in Chester. Both teams were in the playoffs in 2014 but fell to 6-4 marks in 2015. Each has been picked to finish fourth in their respective conference. Profs head coach Jay Accorsi was talking about his program but almost could have been talking about both schools.
“We have a lot to prove, said Accorsi. “It has the players attention that we are not coming off a championship or a postseason appearance. We’ve been talking about it since the spring that we need to compete at a high level and we need to elevate our game as best we can.”
Saturday afternoon, Villanova starts the final season of the Andy Talley era by stepping up to face Pitt at Heinz Field. Under Talley, the Wildcats are 3-17 against FBS teams but suffered just a five-point loss to UConn last season and Syracuse needed two overtimes to top the ‘Cats 27-26 in 2014.
After the death of teammate Sean Boylan during the summer, the West Chester Golden Rams football team returns to the one place where life might make a little sense – the football field. They play at Bentley University on Saturday. West Chester is the preseason favorite in the PSAC East.
Ursinus looks to rebound from a 3-7 campaign last season, the Bears open at Bethany.
In games that took place on Thursday night, Delaware beat Delaware State 56-14 behind the running of Wes Hills, who had 212 yards and two touchdowns.

Cheyney head coach Chris Rouhlac. The Wolves opened the season with a win over Lincoln.

Cheyney won in overtime defeating Lincoln 21-20. The win ended the Wolves 43-game losing streak.

Email Rock Hoffman at Rock@footballstories.com