Penn State 31, Temple 30: The Video


No, that headline is not a typo and I know Temple lost to Penn State, 22-13, not, 31-30, on Saturday.
I came across this terrific video the other day while preparing for the Penn State vs. Temple game.
I looked at it again tonight.
It’s from the 1976 Temple vs. Penn State game, a 31-30 final with the bad guys, as usual, on top.
Temple coach Wayne Hardin went for two to win it (there was no overtime in those days) and the ball agonizingly went off the Temple player’s fingertips.
One of the things that struck me about it was how well Terry Gregory passed in that game and how well-conceived the offensive game plan was.
That was 1976, but the way Temple passed the ball in the 2010 game, you’d think we were back in the single wing days now and not then.
Terry Gregory was not even the 10th-best Wayne Hardin quarterback in my humble opinion but Hardin could recognize good quarterbacks when he saw them. Steve Joachim, Marty Ginestra, Frank DiMaggio, Tim Riordan, Lee Saltz, Brian Broomell, etc., all were better quarterbacks than Gregory. Why was Temple able to get those guys then and not now?
Call it what you will but Al Golden has struggled with identifying good quarterbacks or at least putting good ones on the field. He lucked into his best QB, Adam DiMichele, when Alex DiMichele was recruited as a fullback by former coach Bobby Wallace.
Since then, the Temple quarterback play as been spotty at best and that’s probably a generous characterization of it.
I think it’s pretty obvious the 1976 Penn State team was better than the 2010 Lions, so Gregory lighting them up for 300 plus yards was impressive.
My Kingdom for a Terry Gregory-type quarterback now.
Or an Adam DiMichele.

2 thoughts on “Penn State 31, Temple 30: The Video

  1. Unless you have some privileged insight into the recruiting process of Temple over the past 4 years, how can you say that Al Golden has struggled to identify good quarterbacks? How do you know that it isn't simply that good quarterbacks haven't wanted to come to Temple? You should know that there are fewer good quarterbacks than there are any other position you could name, and it's not even close. It's hard to get a good quarterback, in the first place. Plus, Golden isn't running a system that features the quarterback, which is exactly like Penn State, if you think about it. That's the system. It's a system that is successful. It's obviously working now for Temple, so your assumption about Al Golden's ability to spot talent at the quarterback position is lacking in perspective of the bigger picture here. Also, if you want to talk about the passing game, you need to look at the recievers, too. Temple's receivers are hardly better than the quarterback. In fact, I would say that's been a bigger problem area in recruting for Al Golden than the quarterback. In both cases, you can clearly see that it is difficult to bring in talent at the skill positions for Temple. The skill positions are the prima donnas of the game. The good ones tend to all think they belong in the BCS. I'm sure, given more time and increased reputation, better skill players would come to Temple. It's a little easier to get running backs in the short term, because they know they will have a chance to be featured. Over the long haul, it will take some doing to upgrade the receivers and quarterbacks. If you think that's because Al Golden doesn't know talent or because he's a bad recruiter, then maybe you haven't been paying attention to how he's built this program from nothing.As for Chester Stewart, he's got a lot of room to improve still. You're extremely negative towards him, considering that he's still growing into the position and he's done almost nothing but win, in the meantime. The competition gets easier after Penn State, because that's the toughest defense and the toughest environment he's going to face this season. Before pronouncing him a loser, why don't you at least wait to see how he handles himself as he gains experience and isn't tested so severely? Also, maybe you wouldn't be so quick to define how Temple is failing if you didn't so completely focus on the perfect season that might have been. You seem to have been spoiled by a little success and now you think Temple is entitled to have it all. Anything less is in idictment of Al Golden's ability to evaluate talent, or of Matt Rhule's playcalling, or suddenly Temple just is just a one-horse show and Golden is really just lucky to have lucked into Bernard Pierce. Reality check. The program is in the midst of one of the greatest turnarounds you will ever see in team sports. How about trying to enjoy it?

  2. I find it hard to believe that good quarterbacks don't want to come to Temple when in the 1970s and 1980s every Temple quarterback was better than any AG Era quarterback not named Adam DiMichele.Also, Tom Sharpe made this very good point in an email to me this morning:"Mike, Chester is 8th in passing in the MAC, and 10th in total offense. For a team targeted to win the MAC, I don’t find the expectation that we have a top 2 or 3 QB in that league to be asking too much. The question is, do we have one of those waiting in the wings."The answer to that question is that we don't know if we do unless AG gives Chris Coyer or Mike Gerardi a chance to prove it on the field. I like the fact that Mike Gerardi was a first-team all-state player in New Jersey. That's the kind of pedigree Adam DiMichele had in Pennsylvania and that turned out pretty good for the Owls.

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