Temple TUFF: Meaningful or an empty phrase?


The latest edition of Temple TUFF.

Nothing perturbed me more at the beginning of the season than the notion “Temple is going to take a step back without Al Golden.”
If I read that once, it seemed like I read it 100 times.
That logic might have computed to those on the outside, but made no sense at all to those of us who follow the program closely.
Logically, Golden gave new coach Steve Addazio his best group of players to date (save for the quarterback position) and Addazio was bringing in a battle-tested SEC staff to “coach them up.”

Temple-Miami common scores
Bowling Green 13, Temple 10
Miami 37, Bowling Green 23
Miami 41, Buffalo 13
Temple 34, Buffalo 0
Toledo 49, Miami 28
Toledo 36, Temple 13

An improvement upon last year’s 8-4 record was expected.
I still expect an improvement.
But Addazio’s margin of error now is zero.
The Owls must win three straight games and at least appear in a bowl game this year for any reasonable person to see an improvement upon last year’s 8-4 season.

Temple TUFF will be put to the test more than ever, starting tomorrow night (8 p.m.) at Lincoln Financial Field against a good-but-not-great Miami (Ohio) team.
Does Temple TUFF have any meaning or is it just an empty phrase?

Temple got away from Addazio’s “Plan to Win” in the past two weeks. The plan to win is playing great defense, making a difference on special teams and establishing the run to set up play-action passes. You can’t establish the run when you use the PIAA 100-meter dash champion up the middle like a fullback, which Addazio did almost exclusively at Ohio. You’ve got to get that kind of speed to the outside edges at least half the time.

He nearly got Bernard “The Franchise” Pierce killed with an ill-advised third-and-five draw at Ohio. Hopefully, Bernard will play and they will find ways to get him the ball in space (i.e., pitchouts and screen passes). If not, Matty Brown will do a fine job with similar plays.


Temple could not have ordered bettter weather.



To win three straight, Temple’s defense is going to have to play with the kind of zeal it displayed during games vs. Penn State and Maryland.  They can’t pick and chose when to play TEMPLE TUFF.

It boggles my mind that a team which shut out Ball State (42-0) and Buffalo (34-0) can lose to a team that lost to both of those teams. The defense played with a purpose and a ferocity in those two games they did not show at Ohio.
Temple should (will) be favored in all three of its games, but there is significant reason for concern.
Miami (Ohio) beat Army and Army beat Northwestern and Northwestern beat Nebraska, so these teams have talent. Kent State pummeled Bowling Green. These are no slouch teams Temple is playing.
Still, Temple has more talent and the time to show it is now.
Remember, Temple beat a Maryland team which beat the real Miami which beat the real Ohio (State). That’s why a loss to the fake Ohio and the fake Miami will be harder to take. Temple was two minutes away from beating a Penn State team which is unbeaten in Big 10 play.
Two weeks ago, bowl scenarios were talking about Temple playing Ohio State in Detroit or the real Miami in D.C. After losing to Ohio, nobody is talking about that anymore.
It’s time to polish the Temple brand and finish strong and make the Owls an attractive national name again.
To do that, Temple will have to do no more or less they play the way it played most of the time on the way to a 5-2 record.
Temple TUFF is needed now more than ever.

10 thoughts on “Temple TUFF: Meaningful or an empty phrase?

  1. sad but painfully true..there is a reason Florida showed zero interest in Addazio as their head coach…, we'll be lucky to finish .500 this year. not really sure during this time of declining state budgets if we'll be able to maintain a cash sponge formerly known as Temple D-1 football…,

  2. Looking at the various bowl scenarios, I think even if we win out it is going to be tough getting a bowl invite. That being said while I was hoping for better I'll still take an 8-4 record over say 6-6

  3. School just invested $10 million in football expansion and the construction is about a quarter of the way done. I think this is one safe investment for at least a decade or so. It's up to Daz to win out this year, win a bowl game, steal some Penn State recruits and rev up this Temple football engine. Temple is positioned to do so with men of great character and charisma. Let's hope they start making better decisions on gameday.

  4. nah, win out and we become an attractive "at large" entry … as the MAC is one of the backups to the following bowls:Frisco, New York, D.C., New Orleans.Yankee Bowl wants us and Rutgers, but only if we go 8-4.D.C. would take us over ECU since we put 20K warm (well, frozen) fannies in its seats in 2009.Frisco and NO we have a lesser shot at …. but Temple coming off a three-game winning streak would be a nice get.That said, if we go 7-5 we're headed to the North Philly bowl.So it's time to strap on the helmets and play Temple TUFf.

  5. no BP tonight.Well see what coyer and the recieving corp can really do.And what the d can do without BP chewing up the clock.I have no doubt the Bug can run for 120 yds tonight, but he doesnt command the attention BP does…

  6. would love new york and the pinstripe bowl v Rutgers….. be nice to get a good showing and support in NYC

  7. Unless something ridiculous happens, Temple will definitely get a bowl game. 70 teams go to a bowl game. Current projections have 72 or 73 bowl eligible teams at most. Of these teams, 4 are in the Sun Belt and they only have 2 tie-ins. 6 are in the MAC and that includes either Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan. I don't think this is the year they get left out.I am glad to see them finally finish a game. As good as Robinson played, that is a horrible mistake that cost the defense a late touchdown, and cost me major heartburn. But the 4 minute drill was great. I love watching a gane end with Coyer takinga knee. Is anybody else getting excited about Coyer for next year? Given a year to work on his throwing, the offense should be more dynamic than it was for much of this year.

  8. great call by the noamster at 4:59 p.m."I have no doubt the bug can run for 120 yards tonight"That's exactly what he ran for … to the yard.Can you give me Friday's lottery numbers, too?

  9. At this point, the thing that would make the season a success for me would be to somehow win out (1 down 2 to go, but trust me I’ve learned to look no further than 24 hours down the road with this team), and get invited to the Yankee Bowl against Rutgers. Personally I think it’s the best fit for a few reasons. First and selfishly enough it’s a home game for me, but besides that it’s a easy trip for the TU fans and students, and tickets should be available so I would expect a good showing of fan support and a close to full house. Secondly we would get to go head to head with a middle of the pack Big East team. I just want to see how this Temple team (hopefully healthy) would stack up against the Big East. It has the potential of a “be careful what you wish for” scenario, but at least we would get a chance to measure the teams’ progress against a measuring stick (the Big East) in which many of us are hoping for. Depending on the outcome I would leave the Yankee Bowl game happy feeling we are on the right track, building, and competitive on the level in which we aspire the team to be on, or, the program has some work to do. MAC East title pretty much out the window now, and the chances of an upscale bowl nonexistent, TU vs RU Yankee Bowl would have the potential to validate the season for me as a success or a step down.

  10. The MAC East title is still possible but a bit of a long shot, comes down to Ohio picing up som loses in thier last 3 games, so tonight root for Central Michigan. I would like to see tha same scenario as well with the Pinstripe Bowl since RUtgers seems to think of themselves as on the same level as the top teams in the country.

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