Some fixes in store for the Owls



Temple AD Bill Bradshaw expects at least 25,000 and the weather should help. Be there, wear Cherry and yell like hell.

Back in 1979 and 1980, the Cleveland Browns were known as the Cardiac Kids.
Twelve of their 16 games in both of those years were decided by seven points or less, hence the tag.
Those Cleveland Browns had nothing on this year’s Temple Owls, though, now 2-0 as a result of essentially last-second field goals.
I’ll take it, warts and all.
Don’t kid yourself.
There were plenty of warts in both Weeks 1 and 2.
“We can’t play like this and beat UConn,” Al Golden said.
Right on, Al. I would add we can’t coach like this and beat UConn, but I hope he knows that, too.
My goal for this team was to beat the UConns and Penn State’s of the world and if the Owls play the next two weeks like they played the first two, they won’t get within a sniff of the Huskies or the Lions.
Two flawed wins over two great programs is better than two flawless losses, though.
The good news is that the warts can be fixed.
The bad news is that I don’t know if they will be fixed.
Some suggestions:
Offense
Wart: As someone who watched and admired the flawless game plans and play-calling of Wayne Hardin for 13 seasons, I can tell you right now our offensive scheme is way out of whack. We throw when we should run. We have the wrong personnel on the field. We have a Heisman Trophy candidate who doesn’t start. We have a playmaking tight end we don’t throw to at all. Our offensive coordinator is a career linebacker at Penn State, who was a linebacker’s coach at Temple before being moved over to offense. Doesn’t make much sense to me, nor does our scheme. Our biggest chess piece is a runner with world-class speed and size (6-0, 218) and moves to scare the bejebbers out of defenses, yet he doesn’t play much more than half the downs. Put Bernard Pierce is there and everybody else gets open. Throw the ball to Evan Rodriguez, not Vaughn Charlton. What is AG trying to prove with this overuse of VC and Matty Brown? I don’t get it. Fake to Bernard Pierce when he doesn’t get the ball and throw downfield. Do that and you win games by touchdowns in the first, second and third quarters and not by field goals in the fourth quarter or overtime. I liked our play-calling and personnel packages a lot better when Bruce Arians, a starting quarterback at Virginia Tech, was making the calls. Would Bruce Arians ever sit Paul Palmer? No. I knew Paul Palmer. I liked Paul Palmer, but Bernard Pierce has more talent than Paul Palmer. He should be out there.
Fix: If Bernard Pierce is healthy, put him in at least on first and second down. Matt Brown is a good change-of-pace, third down, back. Put the fear of God (i.e., The Franchise) into opposing defenses, then play-fake, ball-fake, to Pierce and you’ll see Rod Streater and Michael Campbell and Evan Rodriguez running wide open through the secondary. If Chester Stewart can’t hit them in stride, bring in someone who will.
Defense
Wart: We let immobile (i.e., slow and white) quarterbacks kill us by letting them sit in the pocket. Yeah, I said it. Slow, white quarterbacks. I can say it because I’m slow and white, too. These are guys who can’t hurt us running, but can do big-time damage with any time at all back there. Play the contain defenses against option quarterbacks, not the slow ones.
Fix: Let’s start putting them on their asses with all-out blitzes. Mark D’Onofrio called a couple of nice safety blitzes late in the fourth quarter that seemed to work. Let’s hope he sticks with it.
Special Teams
Wart: We’ve got the best kicker in the league. He should be the one kicking it through the end zone, not the Central Michigan kicker. Work on those high snaps to Vaughn Charlton. Twice in two weeks is two too many.
Fix: I think Brendan has been told to kick it high. When he kicks it on a line, it goes through the end zone. I like that.
This is football, not rocket science. Our coaches aren’t working for NASA. They are not trying to hook up two space crafts going at 25,000 mph.
These are easy fixes and we have enough time to do it.
Let’s  use this time to get smart with our game plan and put our best players on the field in a position to utilize their talents. That gives us the best chance to win.
Temple can’t beat UConn playing, or coaching, like it did against CMU.

8 thoughts on “Some fixes in store for the Owls

  1. One good thing that has come from the first 2 games of the season… Temple has had two top 10 highlights on ESPN's Sportscenter. lolFrom what you have seen from Chester Stewart in the first two weeks, would you rather him or Charlton be the starter?I don't think Stewart has been that bad, he just needs to get a rhythm going w/ the rest of the offense. Hopefully that will happen against UConn.

  2. Mike,While I agree with many of your recommendations, I am pretty sure Al Golden and his coaching staff do not read this blog. In addition, even if they did read your blog, they would not listen to your recommendations because they're just not "Al Golden" football. I am glad Temple is 2-0. Personally, I thought the team would be 0-2 and only by pure luck is that not the case. What you describe are more than warts, they are fundamental flaws in the way Al and his staff coach. While I love the progress this team has made and the fact that they are finding ways to win games despite the horrible play calling and irrationality of the coaching staff at times, I still think the team will lose to Connecticut and has absolutely no chance against PSU.

  3. I never ceased to be amazed how Al Golden knows what is on the internet and what is not.Does he read my blog?Probably not.Does he have a GA assigned to monitor activity (i.e., a parent who might post on Owlscoop, etc.)?Probably yes.When I first met Al, he gave me a "your-that-guy" look, not in a negative way but in a positive way.Mark D'Onofrio came up to me and sought me out for a handshake at the season ticket-holder's meeting.Does he read?Don't know.I give Al and Mark D'Onofrio A's across the board … except game coaching, which is very suspect.If Bernard Pierce is healthy and he's not starting, it's an absolute disgrace. Every time BP has gotten in there, he's played well, blocked well, even thrown what I thought was a touchdown pass.I think Matt Rhule leaves a lot to be desired as an offensive coordinator.It aggravates me to no end that BP wasn't out there when we got a first down in the CMU 26 with 39 seconds left the first half. He didn't get hurt until the SECOND half.

  4. Chester Stewart, in my mind, has made less than five really good plays in each game. Against Nova, great throw to Campbell on the TD, terrible throw to Campbell on what would have been a TD earlier. Great leadership on final drive against Nova, but where was he on the other 30 drives?Vaughn used to be good for one great play a game (i.e., Manieri vs. UCLA), then he'd disappear.Adam DiMichele, on the other hand, would make 20-25 good plays and 10-15 great plays every game.That's the MINIMUM that should be expected from a Temple quarterback.For five months, I kept hearing this is a different Chester, a better Chester.I think he's regressed.You cannot play a guy who is going to give the ball up in two crucial situations at the end of the first two games.If he doesn't get me numerous touchdowns against UConn, get a guy in there who can hit open receivers and execute a simple ball fake to BP.I hope Chester plays with a lot more urgency against UConn.

  5. A couple things:First, MDlawstudent: not only do I think your wrong about UConn (for all extents and purposes, we beat them @Uconn in 07 and outplayed them for 3 quarters until Donald Brown took over and beat us in OT in 08), but who cares whether or not Al Golden reads this? That's not the point. This is a sounding board and source of info and perspective for those of us who live and die with TU football.A few things for you Mike:1) I'm taking the Big East inviting NOVA to join as a snub. Should I?2)The more I think about the offensive game plans for the NOVA and CMU games, and the progression of said game planning between the two game, I can't shake the feeling that maybe Golden is trying to not tip his hand/ that he thinks we can do huge things this year, and doesn't want to give any hints; that we are gonna start see the real play calling in the UCONN game. I hope so anyway.3) finally, I think your being too hard on Stewart. But I do think that were a truly elite QB away (which I don't think Stewart is) from being "big time"

  6. in re: to my comment on Stewart: That's, obviously, not including the two fumbles in the last two min.

  7. to clarify my comment on Stewart: That's not including the two fumbles in the final two mins. However, in all fairness, since i was in the student section for both games i didnt get a great look at either fumble so while I assume he was at fault they could have been bad snaps.

  8. A few things for you Mike:1) I'm taking the Big East inviting NOVA to join as a snub. Should I?Absolutely a snub. Temple not only beats Nova, but has 30 of the 32K fans at the Nova game and then invites Nova, not Temple? Temple has a much higher ceiling in fan base, especially if we were to play our traditional Eastern rivals with a team we can finally be proud of …2)The more I think about the offensive game plans for the NOVA and CMU games, and the progression of said game planning between the two game, I can't shake the feeling that maybe Golden is trying to not tip his hand/ that he thinks we can do huge things this year, and doesn't want to give any hints; that we are gonna start see the real play calling in the UCONN game. I hope so anyway.I wish. AG said he had to pull out all the stops to win both games, so he's shown everything he has. If so, I'm not impressed with what he has. But BP has to be on the field and, even when healthy, he wasn't on the field enough.3) finally, I think your being too hard on Stewart. But I do think that were a truly elite QB away (which I don't think Stewart is) from being "big time"I'm very concerned over our inability to recruit a quarterback who makes big play after big play. Adam DiMichele was that quarterback and he fell into AG's hands because Bobby Wallace recruited Adam's brother, Alex.

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