Wayne Hardin was, without a doubt, the best coach Temple and Navy ever had.

Hardin’s Bounce Back Wins:
(all occurred the next game after a tough loss)
1974: Lost at Pitt, 35-24; Won at West Virginia, 35-21
1977: Lost to Pitt, 76-0; Won at Delaware (1AA National Champ), 6-3
1979: Lost to No. 1 Pitt, 10-9; Won at 8-3 Rutgers, 41-20
1982: Lost to Boston College, 17-7; Won at Louisville, 55-14

 A couple of years ago, at one of Steve Conjar and Mark Bresani’s ex-player tailgates, former Temple head coach Wayne Hardin asked me a question.
 “Mike, do you golf?” coach said.
 “No, coach, one of these days I’m sure I’ll take it up, but I’m playing tennis in the summers now.” I did tell him I like a lot of things about golf, all that began with a C: competitiveness, challenge, camaraderie.
What most intrigues me about golf is the concept of a Mulligan, a do-over, if you foul up.
Now I know a Mulligan isn’t in the “official” rules of golf but, in a friendly game, you get a chance to do over a shot if you mess up.
I thought a lot about Mulligans and Temple’s football game with Maryland the last couple of days. The only Mulligan I’ve ever known in football is Kevin Mulligan and he was a fine Eagles’ beat writer for The Philadelphia Daily News. He later became golf coach at the now defunct Kennedy-Kenrick High School. (Mulligan, what a great name for a golf coach, huh?)
 Since there are no other Mulligans I know in football, this is going to be a long two weeks for me, personally. I don’t rebound from losses as well as I used to and I hope the kids are as resilient as I was at their age. (I know it’s not two FULL weeks until Temple’s Sept. 22 game at Penn State. It’s just going to seem like two years.)
 That got me to thinking about Hardin’s years at Temple. He was the greatest head coach Temple ever had, and that includes Pop Warner. Heck, he was the greatest coach Navy ever had.
Think about it.

This is what “Beat Army” looks like in Chinese.

 In the post-war period, Navy rose to No. 2 in the country only once and that’s when Wayne Hardin was the coach.
Temple rose to No. 17 in the country only once and that was when Wayne Hardin was the coach. It’s a disgrace that he’s not in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Both schools were blessed to have him as their head coach.
One year Army led the nation in interceptions. The Army defensive secondary was called the “Chinese Bandits” for their ballhawking ability. Prior to Navy’s game against Army that year, Hardin had “Beat Army” written on the side of the Navy helmets.
In Chinese.
Navy won, 35-7.
I don’t remember any bad quarterback/center exchanges, any snaps over the center’s head in the shotgun or bad penalties (other than bad calls by the refs) during any of his 13 years as head coach at Temple. Heck, I don’t even remember him ever getting a field goal or a punt blocked. Hardin always beat teams he was supposed to beat and lose to the teams that overwhelmed him with talent, like Penn State and Pitt. (Despite losing to No. 1 Pitt, 10-9, and No. 1 Penn State, 10-7, among many close games against those teams.)
Temple’s teams played smart and sharp under Hardin. I’ll have to ask him what his secret was next time. Other than fumbled kickoffs or punts, they never beat themselves.
There were mistakes, sure, like the five fumbled kickoffs (all lost) inside the 3-yard line that led to a 76-0 loss to Pitt but Hardin’s teams always bounced back.
There’s a lot of Wayne Hardin in Steve Addazio and that’s the best compliment I can ever pay Steve. He’ll fix whatever procedural problems ailed Temple against Maryland.
As a motivator, he is every bit Hardin’s equal.
Heck, he might even have “Beat Penn State” written on the helmets in Chinese. (Although, I’d prefer TEMPLE on one side and the T on the other.)
After all, you’ve got to admit beating Penn State would mean more to Temple fans than a Mulligan against Maryland.

Hopefully, Rod Streater’s play will help me get my mind off Saturday.

A couple of days before the NFL draft, I wrote a post on the current crop of Temple football seniors about to enter it.
Rod Streater led my story, above Bernard Pierce, above Erod and above Tahir Whitehead.
I wrote then, and I believe now, that Rod Streater was going to be a steal for any NFL team.
Despite him not being drafted like the other Owls, that prediction looks to be on solid ground.
Streater will be in the starting lineup tonight when the Oakland Raiders kick off the Monday Night Football season with the San Diego Chargers (ESPN, late game).

Brandon Boykin (22) tries to pad his stats by getting in on Jaiquawn Jarrett’s tackle of Josh Cribbs on Sunday.

I based my opinion simply on this: Streater catches everything in sight, is faster with the ball than he is without it, is fearless over the middle, has some nice moves and, at 6-foot-4, was the state high jump champion in the state of New Jersey.
In other words, he’s going to catch those fade pattern passes in the end zone that are so much a part of any NFL offense.
Plus, more importantly, he’s a character guy who dumped the Gatorade on Steve Addazio after the 37-15 win over Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl.
“He’s the realist coach there is, but I had to get him, though,” a smiling Streater said after the game.
I wish the Eagles had him instead of Reilly Cooper.
A lot of other ex-Owls are in the NFL:
Mo Wilkerson – Jets:  Had seven tackles, four solos, in a 48-28 win over Buffalo.
Jaiquawn Jarrett – Eagles: Played on special teams and was credited with one tackle. Eagles.com lists him only as playing on specials “25 percent” of the time.
Bernard Pierce – Ravens: Plays on Monday night football (early game, 7 p.m.) vs. Bengals tonight. I think he would have been better served by another year at Temple than being Ray Rice’s backup, but that’s water under a bridge that’s washed away. Don’t know if Maryland could have stopped him on Saturday.
Terrance Knighton – Jaguars: Started DT and made two tackles, including a sack, in a 26-23 loss to the Vikings. The sack resulted in a  fumble recovery that set up a Josh Scobee field goal.
Evan Rodriguez – Bears: Started at fullback and blocked great in the Bears’ 41-21 win over Andrew Luck and the Colts.
Tahir Whitehead – Lions: Placed on the inactive list prior to the win over the Rams.
Andre Neblett – Panthers: Did not play in a 16-10 loss at Tampa. Returns from one-game suspension next week. Panthers’ defense only allowed one touchdown.
Adrian Robinson – Steelers: Made the 53-man roster, but Steelers.com does not report him playing in the 30-19 loss to the Broncos last night.
Steve Maneri – Chiefs: Back to his old tight end position, but DNP due to injury according to Chiefs.com.
Rod Streater – Raiders: TBD.

This is how the day went for the Owls.

Memo to Chuck Heater: Mike McGloin is a statue. It’s time for Temple to cut him down and wrap a Temple T flag around his head, ala Sadaam Hussein

Way early  in the book of Football Game Planning 101 should be a chapter on true freshman quarterbacks.
The chapter should be titled “Blitz Early, Blitz Often.”
On the way home from Temple’s embarrassing 36-27 loss to Maryland, I remembered all of the video I watched on Maryland’s 7-6 win over William and Mary.
Since I thought it was odd the Tribe stayed in the game until the end, I was determined to find out why.
The Tribe brought two extra linebackers on every passing situation, one from each side. William and Mary rolled the dice and essentially won with the strategy despite losing the game.
Perry Hills, Maryland’s true freshman QB, never had the time to breathe, led alone find a receiver more than 15 yards down the field. The pressure caused Hills to throw three interceptions and allowed a 1AA football team with a 5-6 record to limit a BCS school to seven points.
Going into the game, I figured Temple defensive coordinator Chuck Heater would see that, too, and sic Ahkeem Smith and Nate Smith through open gaps on Hills. Instead, Hills faced a four-man pass rush.
Heater, in my mind, is still the best defensive coordinator in the country but he rolled the dice, too, believing guys like John Youboty and Sean Daniels would get enough pressure on Hills so he could eschew the blitzes.
If you don’t get there, it’s not enough and you should ratchet up the pressure as needed.
Putting the quarterback on his ass is always the best pass defense.
To me, failure to get significant pressure on a mistake-prone true freshman QB was Reason No. 1 why Temple lost today.
 Reasons, not excuses.
My first “oh-no” offensive moment came a couple hours before the game in the parking lot when someone told me Chris Coyer had a 101-degree fever and was getting intravenous treatment. I remembered the old story about Mickey Mantle having a 101.5-degree fever and hitting three home runs in an NBC game of the week, but I forgot Mantle wasn’t being chased by 6-3, 230-pound linebackers with 4.6 speed.
To me, Coyer wasn’t showing the burst I know he has. He must have had some Holy Water sprinkled on him at halftime because he was cured for the final two quarters.
Reason No. 2 Temple lost today was a lack of a passing game in the first half.
Again, a reason, not an excuse.
Three personal foul penalties, a fumble on the opening drive, not a good way to start.
Reasons, not excuses.
As good as Temple’s special teams were last year, you can’t have a field goal from essentially extra-point territory blocked. Had that field goal been made, Temple leads, 30-29, and the complexion of the game changes dramatically.
The Temple fans were GREAT in the second half. Imagine how loud they would have been if Temple had a 30-29 lead?
Maybe Zack Smith’s departure for Ohio State will be felt more than I thought.
The good news is that these mistakes are fixable.
Matty Brown might not be an every-down back in BCS football, but a healthy Montel Harris sure is. Maybe they are saving that nuclear device to drop on State College.
Geez, I hope so.
Memo to Chuck Heater: Mike McGloin is a statue. It’s time for Temple to cut him down and wrap a Temple T flag around his head, ala Sadaam Hussein. I hope they can do it with four but if you can’t get to him with four, send five. If you can’t get to him with five, send six or seven. Heck, you have to send all the guys on the team named Smith through the unblocked gaps to get him, do it.
We all know a healthy Chris Coyer can deliver at a high level. Hopefully, the next two weeks will be good for his mind and body.
Other good news is that future national champion Rutgers beat Howard, 26-0. (If Temple can’t beat Howard, 26-0, they might as well padlock the E-O right now.) Penn State’s 17-16 loss at Virginia is not good news, but I don’t see them as the Penn State team of a year ago. Pitt is 0-2, including a blowout loss at home to Youngstown State.
There are a lot of winnable games left on the schedule, but not if the Owls can’t pressure the quarterback, play with better discipline and avoid turnovers.
It should have happened today, but you can only go forward, not backward.
Oh yeah.
Lafayette won at William and Mary, 17-14.
Freakin’ Lafayette.
I might not have a 101-degree fever, but I’m officially sick.

Matt Brown was the runaway winner last year of a poll on this website that asked “Which RB best epitomizes the term   “Temple TUFF”, beating  Heisman Trophy runnerup Paul Palmer and Bernard Pierce, among others.  In this photo , taken  after the New Mexico Bowl win, Brown holds up two hands,  signifying his number change this season.

Temple vs. Maryland
Lincoln Financial Field
Kickoff: Noon
TV: ESPNU
Radio: WPHT (1210AM)
Tailgate: Lots open 7 a.m.
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 82 at kickoff, 87 by 3 p.m., slight wind (15-25 mph), rain coming in after the game is over
Notable: Owls have won five straight at LFF and are 16-3 at home in their last 19 games

A famous football coach, now disgraced and dead, once said:
“You always improve the most between the first and second week.”
I’ve always agreed with that.
Some of the best Temple football teams in my memory did not start out well opening week, but had a heckuva Week 2 on the way to a terrific season.
So here’s the formula for today’s noon showdown with visiting Maryland:
Mix in an improved Temple football team vs. an improved Maryland team, add a touch of revenge on Maryland’s part and what comes out of the oven?
Well, I think the faulty ingredient in that mix is the revenge part.
Sure, there are SOME Maryland players still on the team steaming about Temple’s 38-7 win at College Park last year.
Still, what about the 14 new players, 12 true freshmen, who saw their first action for Maryland last week in an opening 7-6 win against William and Mary?
I’m not sure they are feeling the same rage.
Temple, on the other hand, talked all week about avoiding a letdown ala Toledo last year.
I don’t think it’s going to happen against Maryland.
Look at it this way.
That “letdown” had to do as much with two awful picks thrown by Chester Stewart as it did with overlooking Toledo.
It’s what I call the CSF Syndrome or, simply, the Chester Stewart Factor.
There is no CSF now.
Matty Brown, Temple’s dynamite tailback, plays every game like it’s a freakin’ Super Bowl.
If Brown could give his teammates a pre-game shot in the arm that gets their blood flowing as fast as his, that’s the kind of thing that would ward off any emotional advantage any other team could have. I don’t think that’s possible, but they seem to feed off his energy.
Brown is a Temple fan favorite. Last year, after a season in which Bernard Pierce gained 1,747 yards and scored 27 touchdowns, I asked a question on this website. “Which RB best epitomizes the term Temple TUFF?” Brown was the runaway winner, garnering 75 percent of the vote, and solidly beating Pierce and former Heisman Trophy runnerup Paul Palmer.
I could not argue with that choice.
Another factor is that we haven’t seen the “real” Montel Harris yet and you know he’s got to be motivated to show his skills on Saturday.
So there you have it.
Take away Maryland’s rage, which is a red herring, and decide whether an improved Temple team in Week 2 is better than an improved Maryland team.
Since William and Mary, in my view, is no better than Villanova, I think Temple takes this one by a fairly comfortable margin.
I’ll go with 28-13.

Later tonight: Game analysis

This is the most beautiful 18-second video I’ve ever seen.

Imagine the home-field advantage the Owls would have if this entire stadium is as loud as the students?

From the time the first cave man showed his kid how to light a fire, older people have been teaching younger ones.
Occasionally, though, the kids teach the old folks how to do things.
Such was the case on Friday night in Temple’s 41-10 win over Villanova.
Temple’s student section was absolutely electric, as evidenced by the video above shot by former Owl kicker Cap Poklemba.
They were a large group and, more importantly, loud, involved and proud.
Temple had 14,000 students there, according to reliable sources. That’s about half of the full-time student population and about a thousand more students than the number who currently live on or near campus. Meaning, of course, a significant number of commuter students joined their resident comrades.
Temple head coach Steve Addazio correctly gave the crowd breakdown on WIP-AM earlier this week as 32K Temple fans and 1K Villanova fans. Anybody who has two eyes knows that the entire lower bowl, sans two sections of blue, were wearing Cherry.
Unless Villanova fans wore Cherry, you’ve got to assume that Addazio was right.
That’s the good news.
The bad news was that electricity did not seem to me to spread from the student section through the alumni group.
I brought a “Let’s Go Temple” sign into Section 121 and tried five times to start a loud and proud “Let’s Go TEM-PLE!” cheer. Except for the three 10-year-old kids sitting across the aisle from me in 122, everyone else stayed quiet.

Cap Poklemba led a few cheers in the student section on Friday night.

After the fifth time, I gave up.
For the most part, those alumni sections sat dispassionately and politely applauded good plays from the Owls.
When the PA announcer urged the fans to get up on third down, most of the alumni sections stayed seated.
Ugh.
This is a college football game, not Opera at the Kimmel Center.
It’s OK to go crazy.
The kids on the football team who I talk to every week tell me when the whole stadium gets up on their feet and makes noise, it makes a difference on the field.
That’s reason enough for me.
There is hope, though.
It comes from those eight sections of Temple students and it comes from the fact that the alumni got as loud and involved as the students did at the Penn State game last year.
Maybe it was because Temple was on the verge of an historic win and everybody wanted to be part of the moment. On BlueWhiteIllustrated, a Penn State website, one of writers said the breakdown of the crowd was “about 55-45 Temple, but it sounded like 80-20 with the noise they made.”
That’s the way it should be every game.

I also have to give the 500 Temple fans who made the trip to Maryland last year a lot of credit. Whenever I started a “Let’s Go TEM-PLE” cheer, all 500 joined in and the people who watched at home on TV said they heard every one. Temple’s Adrian Robinson even pointed to us and blew us a kiss and bowed a nod of thanks after he recorded a sack. The kids on the field heard us. Even the Maryland fans were giving us a “geez, Temple fans are loud” look. By halftime, we were the only fans left in the stadium.
Maybe that was because the “road 500” were the die-hards.
Imagine what kind of noise 32K fans could make if they were all die-hards?
Temple is on the verge of an historic season and every win and every play means something.
If all of the Temple fans getting up and going crazy helps the Owls to one or two more wins than expected, it’s surely worth it.
For that lesson, I thank the wonderful Temple students.
Starting against Maryland, it’s time for the rest of us to show them we did the requisite homework.

Rather than getting smacked in the mouth again by Temple, Danny O’Brien decided to transfer to Wisconsin, where he is the starting QB.

Any way you look at it, Maryland doesn’t figure to be as strong for Saturday’s noon showdown with Temple as it was last year at this time.

Considering Temple pounded Maryland, 38-7, on the road last year, that wasn’t very strong.

In a 7-6 win over William and Mary, which may or may not be better than Villanova (I don’t think they are more than 10 points better, if that), the Terrapins played 14 new players and 12 of them were true freshmen.

That was caused by the departures of 24 scholarship players (yes, 24) for “non-injury” reasons after Randy Edsall was hired as head coach two seasons ago.

Then there is the question of injuries.

Unlike Temple, Maryland was hit hard by injuries in the preseason.

 Thirteen players missed the season opener due to various injuries and ailments: defensive linemen Keith Bowers, Isaiah Ross and Andre Monroe; defensive backs Isaac Goins, A.J. Hendy and Matt Robinson; linebackers Kenneth Tate and Abner Logan; quarterbacks C.J. Brown and Dustin Dailey, running back Brandon Ross; offensive lineman Josh Cary; and place-kicker Nick Ferrara. Both Monroe and Brown are out for the season.

With all that said, if the Temple players think Maryland is going to be a pushover, Temple sets itself up for a loss like the one to Toledo or the one at Bowling Green last year.

Remember, Maryland was the team that taunted Temple in the pre-game warmups last year, calling the Owls a “JV team.”
I don’t think the Owls are going to make the same mistake this year.
They have a healthy respect of every team on the schedule, including Maryland’s wounded team.
It’s now all about being Temple TUFF, both physically and mentally.
Take care of the toughness aspect and Temple should be fine this Saturday and every Saturday going forward.
I have a feeling this season is going to be one fun ride.
Everybody hop on board.

I gotta play this week, dis one is personal
— Jeremiah Hendy (@Aj_SelfMade) September 4, 2012

From the looks of this tweet, I’d say the chances of Maryland’s Jeremiah Hendy being academically eligible for Saturday are problematic. Dis one? Really? How did he get into Maryland?

Watch No. 10, Chris Coyer, throw a hellacious block on this play.

After watching the Big East’s first non-conference slate of game results, there is an unmistakable conclusion to be made.
Temple CAN win this conference.
Will it?
A lot will depend on getting from week to week injury-free, like the Owls did after a 41-10 win over Villanova and pretty much like the Owls did last year.
Most people had the Temple at Pitt game as “problematic” going into the season.
Now, after Youngstown State’s 31-17 win there, it is anything but problematic.
Remember, Pitt is a program with four head coaches in a little over a year. Kirk Herbstreit’s pick of the Panthers to win the Big East despite all that turmoil is almost laughable.
Rutgers’ fans like to talk about going 12-0, but the Scarlet Knights had a 10-6 lead going into the fourth quarter against a Tulane team that was 3-9 a year ago.
Rutgers, like Pitt, looks very beatable.
UCONN beat UMASS, 37-0, but how good is UMASS? Villanova beat UMASS on the road, 37-10, last year.
South Florida beat Chattanooga, 34-13, but the battling Chatterboxes would have gotten drilled by Villanova by about the same score.
Temple will probably have 35K for Homecoming Day against South Florida and that will be a tough environment for the Bulls to win.
To me, Cincinnati and Louisville are the Owls’ main competition, not Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse or UConn.
One of those games, Cincinnati, is at home. Louisville beat Kentucky, 32-14, but Louisville also lost at home to FIU last year.
Temple plays some key games at home and that could be the difference.
Against Villanova, Temple had 32K of the 33K fans, as Steve Addazio correctly noted on WIP.
“We had 32 thousand fans and Nova had only a thousand,” Addazio said. “The Villanova fans were limited to two sections. Temple had all the rest.”
If the Owls can take care of business against Maryland and beat Penn State, attendance is set up for the rest of the season and LFF becomes an intimidating place to play.
Since the Owls need every game to become bowl eligible, the non-conference games such as Maryland are just as important as the Big East games.
Addazio said the true character of this team will be how it responds after a big win, such as Villanova, or a tough defeat. I think this team loves playing football and won’t have the hiccups last year’s team had.
At least I hope so.
Maryland will be another test of Temple TUFF.

Matty Brown turns the corner on the way to an electrifying touchdown run.

You can color Temple’s 41-10 win over Villanova two ways on Friday night.
Vanilla or Brown?
I choose Brown, as in Matty Brown.
Those of us who have watched this young man play for the past three years at Temple University knew he would not relinquish his No. 1 spot on the Temple running back totem pole without a fight and, boy, did he put up a knock-down, drag out fight on Friday night.
Brown finished with 19 carries for 145 yards, upstaging the No. 1 returning ball carrier in BCS football, Montel Harris.

Or did he?
It was quite obvious Temple was running a vanilla offense against Villanova.
Chris Coyer, the quarterback who showed he could throw the ball effectively over the last four games of the 2011 season, was reined in all night.
On one of his first-half throws, Coyer hit C.J. Hammond between the 8 and the 0 and Hammond could not pull in the ball before a Villanova defender made contact.
After that, it seemed that Steve Addazio and new offensive coordinator Ryan Day essentially shelved the passing game, knowing that they could still beat Villanova with the running attack.
Behind Brown and third-string tailback Kenny Harper, the Owls proved Day and Daz right.
Harris, I’m told, has been battling a hammy but should be 100 percent by Saturday afternoon.
If so, then maybe Harris, not Brown, will be the featured back against Maryland.
Either way, the Owls are in a good place.
Brown was great and Harper was very, very good.
Why mess with anything fancy when you know you can win this way?
I think the Owls will eventually need Coyer’s play-action game, but it was not needed Friday night.
Coyer was an effective game manager who threw a dynamite crackback block on Brown’s touchdown run.
Chuck Heater’s defense was OK, considering the number of starters that had to be replaced. I would have liked to seen more tackles for losses, but 41-10 is 41-10.
Maryland should be tougher than Villanova, but nothing the Owls can’t handle.
Either Vanilla or Brown, this offense has some serious weapons and they should all be on display before long.
I predicted 49-7. I can’t be unhappy with 41-10.
In another development, the Owls received an inquiry from Oregon State to play a game on Sept. 15.
Owls said come here, take it or leave it.
Oregon State leaved it.
Good.
Beating Penn State would be one of the biggest wins in Temple football history and I don’t want a cross-country trip interfering in that kind of event.
For now, though, beat Maryland. One game at a time.