Final two home games: Plenty of (empty) seats available

This could very well be a shot of halftime at the EMU game.

By Mike Gibson
Before the season started, I wrote that it was important for Temple to get off to a good start so that the product on the field reflected the hype off of it.
At the time, I said that a fan base beaten down for so long needed tangible evidence that wins were going to come in the first part of the season so that they could buy into the product for the last part of the season.
And, I said, close losses were not going to cut it.
So where are we after 10 games, after giving up 600 yards of total offense to a 2-7 Kent State team in a 41-38 loss last night?
Three-and-seven, that’s where.
That’s the bottom line.
This season, in which a lot of Owl fans thought would end in a feast, is pretty much over. All that’s left is crumbs.
What this team needs, right now, is a big-time, ready-to-play, no-excuses, All-American JUCO quarterback to replace the great Adam DiMichele next year. It would be nice to find someone with all of the intangible qualities ADM possesses, but I’ll settle for someone with half his moxie if he has all of his mobility. Surely, some hotshot can be convinced he can come here and get time right away.
Will we get him?
Let history be your guide:
At the end of last season, I wrote that we needed three things in particular to get better:

  • A big-time fullback (I suggested Serra Catholic’s Isiah Jackson);
  • A big-time kicker (I suggested Hun School’s Scott Demler);
  • A big-time running back;

Well, we got the running back but we had him playing cornerback until midway through the season.
Hmm. I wonder whose fault was that?
We decided to go without the first two and, much to my chagrin, that probably cost us quite a few valuable points.
Three-and-seven.

This was
supposed to be
a season of
progress, a season
that saw the 4-8
team of a year ago
jump into the 6-,
7- or 8-win
category. Not
an unrealistic
leap of faith …

An incredible disappointment of a season that will no doubt be punctuated by 60,000 empty seats for the final two home games.
No doubt.
And, quite frankly, I don’t blame a single fan for walking away.
I can’t do it because I want so badly for Temple to succeed.
So I will drive to the stadium for the final two home games, open the car door and walk into the stadium.
Many more will protest by taking their feet and walking in the opposite direction.
That’s their prerogative.
This was supposed to be a season of progress, a season that saw the 4-8 team of a year ago jump into the six-, seven- or eight-win category.
Not an unrealistic leap of faith since said team had 21 of 22 starters returning and, by most accounts, the No. 1 MAC recruiting class for three seasons in a row and a defense that was ranked No. 1 in the MAC was returning intact.
None of the teams Temple would play in the league had 21 of 22 starters back and none of them had the No. 1 recruiting class for three straight years. None of them had the No. 1 defense in the league returning.
Six wins was a minimum and not overly optimistic benchmark given that backdrop.
If this staff could coach at all, that’s what they would deliver this win-starved fan base.

If this staff
could coach at all,
that’s what they
would deliver this
win-starved fan
base. Tangible
progress in terms
of wins, not
points, not close
losses, not net
yield. Wins.

Tangible progress in terms of wins, not points, not close losses, not net yield.
Wins.
There are plenty of things disappointing about the season, but none more than the head coach’s failure to take the blame for anything.
It’s ultimately his responsibility that the team lost games, particularly crucial decisions he did or did not make in UConn, Buffalo and Navy games but, to him, it’s always someone else’s fault.
It’s the kid who didn’t knock the ball down’s fault in the Buffalo game. Never mind that he gave that kid no help when he let the Buffalo quarterback run around for eight seconds before throwing the ball. A jailhouse blitz probably would have ended the game four seconds sooner in Temple’s favor. Bruce Arians had the courage to do just that to win a game against Rutgers in 1988.
Geez, it’s not his fault that he went for a first down at his own 34 in a tie game against UConn.
And, surely, it wasn’t his fault for not punting in the Navy game. It was some 19-year-old kid’s fault for not wrapping the ball up.
Going into the Kent game we were told that “I’ve seen leadership like never before” after the Navy debacle.
Yet where did that leadership get them?
Another loss.
That’s some damn good leadership right there.
I’d rather have crappy leadership and more wins, quite frankly.
And at least a coach who might take responsibility for something that didn’t go quite right.
Or everything that didn’t go right.
I won’t hold my breath.

9 thoughts on “Final two home games: Plenty of (empty) seats available

  1. The pre-season expectation you have had about bowl eligibility was realistic, but not some dead bolt lock – not by a long shot. Sure, we’d all love to have the wins, but in the recent past the Owls would have been blasted in most, if not all, of its games. This team is by leaps and bounds better on and off the field than it was 3 years ago. It has been the laughing stock of Division 1 for more than a decade. The team today is representing the University well, is playing hard and competing well in every game and the future looks bright (you more than most people know the past of this program, and not the bygone Hardin era of 30 years ago, but Berndt, Dickerson, Wallace — bleak bleak times, behind us finally). So what that the Owls have nothing to play for in November (they have had nothing to play for in August until this season). The sky is not falling for Owl football becasue they will not go to a bowl game. Golden’s house of brick is still being built, so show some patience. ADM has two more games in his career left, they are both at home, tickets WILL be available, go cheer him and the Owls on. 5 victories would be an improvement from last year, no?Thanks Don

  2. Amen.You would have thought after the UCONN game that Golden would have learned something and understand that conservative play-calling works sometimes. That common sense dictates a kneel and punt. Despite everything he has said, everything with recruiting, they were 4-8 last year, and 3-7 right now. UConn…Navy…WMU…now Kent State. It seems the offense has turned it around the past few games but now the Defense hasn’t showed up since the 3rd quarter of the Navy game.To answer your suggestion about the JUCO route, Bobby Wallace tried that a few years ago with Walter Washington. The result: a 1-11 year in which we lost 3 overtime games and two other games missed field goals gave our opposition momentum to take/keep the lead (Louisville, Penn State).We need all the parts to win. And might I suggest if Golden sticks around next year, he go get some advice from someone on late-game clock management, since it all starts at the top. If he won’t be accountable, why should the players keep this up?-Chuck, DMB ’06 alum

  3. Five victories is NOT an improvement. They won five (counting the UConn theft) last year. All of the players are back. ADM missed more games last year. It’s a joke that this team has underachieved. It should have been TWO (2) games minimum. … minimum … better than last year.

  4. actually, Walter Washington was a big-time success for a year and a real candidate for Big East player of the year. Almost singlehandedly beat Va. Tech. Did singlehandedly beat Syracuse. We need a JUCO stopgap until LaSalle’s Drew Loughery can get here. We need a polished high-achiever with big-time stats, not a project like VC or CS or MG.

  5. I remember that Syracuse game. Screwed them out of a BCS spot. Last home win I saw.My point was that even with Walter coming in 2003 with all the other JUCOS, it was a lost season in 2003 because Jared Davis could not make a FG under any circumstances. Echoing your comments in the blog, we need all the parts to win. Which apparently we still don’t have, either talent or a maturation in coaching.I proudly wear my Temple football gear down here in Auburn on gamedays. Did it for ESPN Game Day when they came in Sept. and did it when I traveled to Ole Miss for the Ole Miss-Auburn game. I am getting tired though of waiting for the future. I saw a wasted opportunity to turn around the program 5 years ago in 2003 while an undergrad at Temple. I sure hope that I’m not seeing a repeat while in grad school.

  6. I agree with Mike. Walter Washington had talent. If a kid like that was available next year, I would take him in a heartbeat.Also, this season has been a complete joke and it will likely set us back in recruiting. We can barely win in the MAC.My advice is to not get your hopes up again until:1) Al Golden shows us he can coach a little bit better than Marty Morningwheg. Penn State can have Al – however, based on this year, I don’t see how he could get the head coaching job there.2) Better players are recruited for key positions (as Mike suggests for example at FB – remember we cannot even get a yard when we need it) AND3) We can win more games than the previous year.This year has been an all-around embarrassment.

  7. Walter Washignton’s greatest impact on Owl football was not graduating and dinging the NCAA APR score for us, along with many of his JUCO compadres. But, that is the past. The reality is that there is no JUCO QB coming, Golden will not go after one.

  8. I don’t think an offensive line is coming, either, so I expect both Vaughn and Chester to be carted off the field sometime next year and D’yonne Crudup finishing the season as quarterback. We need Adam DiMichele-type mobility at that position. If Al Golden can’t see that, he’s not ever getting any other job, including Stony Brook.

  9. A JUCO doesn’t necessarily bring down the APR. There are some good, smart, quarterbacks out there who can run and throw at the same time. Maybe run, throw, pass tests AND chew gum at the same time. It’s Al Golden’s job to go get one. At the QB position, you either have it or you don’t. Adam DiMichele has it. We need to get one guy in this program who has “it.” Call it moxie, courage, making plays on the run, whatever. Doing what it takes to win.

Leave a reply to Charles Cancel reply