Al Golden’s ‘secret’ plan to beat Penn State

… First ‘official’ practice starts Aug. 6 …

By Mike Gibson
I don’t know who started this Al Golden Twitter thing, but my guess was it wasn’t Al’s idea in the first place.
Don’t get me wrong.
Nobody keeps up with current internet and texting trends like Golden, still one of the youngest head coaches in the NCAA.
Today, I applaud Al’s “tweet” because it references former Owl football coach Spencer Prescott and mentions that all of our thoughts and prayers are with him.
Indeed, they are.
We’ve chronicled the Spencer Prescott story here in the past. Page down to get a link to Don Hunt’s piece.

Some Al Golden recent tweets:

July 20, 7:56 p.m.: “Our kids are working really hard in summer school and our freshman are getting used to classes…”

July 16, 7:15 p.m.” “Team is really working hard in preparation for the 2009 season!!”

I’m guessing, though, that “tweeting” wasn’t Al Golden’s idea because I’ve been reading some of his other tweets lately and they are not exactly scintillating.

Here are just a couple:
July 20, 7:56 p.m.: “Our kids are working really hard in summer school and our freshman are getting used to classes…”
July 16, 7:15 p.m. “Team is really working hard in preparation for the 2009 season!!”
Hmm.
If Al really wanted to make news with twitter, he’d liven some of these up.
It’ll be good fodder for the fans to read in the upcoming weeks.
Some Al Golden tweets we’d like to (but will never) see:
Aug. 5, 7:16 p.m.: “Practice is going well. We’re putting two offenses in. One for Villanova and one for Penn State. The Nittany Lions will never know what hit them.”
Aug. 6, 7:25 p.m.: “It’s getting dark early. Had a “pro-set” day with Charlton running it in preparation for Villanova. Tomorrow we go to our Penn State offense.”
Aug. 7, 7:32 p.m.: “We’ve got Chester Stewart and Chris Coyer running the old Texas wishbone for Penn State. It’s early, but coach Rhule has Ahkeem Smith in as fullback and Joey Jones and Kee-Ayre as the halfbacks.”
Aug. 8, 7:45 p.m.: “I’m leaving the defense up to coach D’Onofrio as usual. He’s doing a great job. I don’t think Villanova will be able to block us.”
Aug. 9, 8:10 p.m: “My God, this offense we have in for PSU is looking spectacular. PSU will go for the QB and Chester will pitch to Joey or Kee-Ayre and they’ll be gone. Plus, they have to watch Ahkeem on the belly series. I can’t wait until we shock the world on Sept. 19.”
Aug. 10, 8:01 p.m.: “Yeah, I know we have a game on Sept. 3. We planning for both PSU and Nova, but we’re thinking just Nova, believe me.”
Aug. 11, 7:32 p.m.: “Back to the triple option today and it’s scary. I know we needed three weeks to get ready for Navy. Joe will need more than that when we pull this secret weapon out of the E-O hanger.”
Aug. 12, 8:12 p.m.: “I’m so glad our practices are closed. I don’t think Joe gets twitter, either. Thank God.”

The best sports season ticket buy in Philly is just one click away:

12 thoughts on “Al Golden’s ‘secret’ plan to beat Penn State

  1. I don't quite understand why they are talking trash about PSU. They clearly cannot beat PSU. Temple hasn't done it in 68 years. PSU has beaten them 34 straight times. They have been outscored 123-3 in the last 3 meetings. I realize Temple is heading in the right direction, but come on.

  2. Geez. I hope the PSU players take that approach. Toledo won at PSU, 24-6, not all that long ago. Rutgers won at PSU, 21-16, the year it lost at home to Temple, 35-30. A bad Stanford team beat unbeatable USC two years ago. Appalachian State won at Michigan the same season. When two teams get on the field anything can happen. Probably won't beat PSU? I can understand. "Clearly cannot beat PSU" I don't.

  3. We were 5-7 the year we lost to Toledo. And we are obviously better than that this year. It's good to have confidence in your team but it is ridiculous to think you are going to go into PSU and beat them when he you haven't even come close the last 7 decades.

  4. The last seven decades don't mean squat. It's the next seven weeks that are meaningful. There's not one member of the Owls who doesn't think they can win this game. A win here will make Al Golden's career and don't think he doesn't know it.

  5. Well that's great for them. But the bottom line is, don't talk trash about a team that has beaten you 34 straight times. They have earned some respect. At least be somewhat competitive with PSU before you start talking smack.

  6. can you quote me one instant, one phrase, one sentence, that you consider "talking smack" … I'm not aware of me, Al Golden or any Temple player talking trash against Penn State.

  7. Not really you, just a lot of Temple fans on other sites. And I have seen this link all over the place.

  8. Thanks. I haven't seen any. I will say this. I was sitting with a bunch of Penn State fans (bought a ticket on the PSU side and a ticket on the Temple side) for one half of the TU-PSU game at the Linc and the PSU fans could not have treated me nicer and made several very positive comments about the Owls and the way they played that day. Best opposing fans by far.

  9. Well thats good to hear Mike. Cause there are a lot of PSU fans that don't represent us very well. I think everyone has seen the youtube clips and so on. I think TU is headed in the right direction, but I just don't like the fact that a lot of their fans were talking smack. See you on the 19th.

  10. I feel like I went from putting the handcuffs on you to having a beer with you and Obama at the White House. I'm happy we've reached a consensus. Temple "probably" won't beat Penn State but it's not a 100 percent certainty.

  11. ha, I hear you Mike. It's my bad, I just don't like people talking trash about my team, I was a little frustrated. You seem like a reasonable guy. I just can't wait for football season to get here. Summer means a lot to you when you are a kid, but when you are an adult, you just want football season to get here. Especially if you are a Pirates fan like me. Plus State College is boring this time of year. When all the students leave the population of the town cuts in half and it's like a ghost town. I'm anxious to see who will win a conference championship first, PSU in basketball or Temple in football. Both are actually headed in the right direction for once.

  12. thanks, I'm glad you found the site. …. I've been waiting 20 years for a winning season and I think I've finally arrived at the Promised Land. Last year, I got to the Mountain top. This year, I think this is the place.

Leave a reply to Temple Football Forever Cancel reply