Temple-FIU: The Best Pass Defense is ….

mcgough

Temple needs to put this guy on his backside early and often.

The last time Temple head coach Geoff Collins faced a one-dimensional team, the game plan was OK for all but 1 minute and 15 seconds.

That was when Army ditched its triple-option attack and passed the ball downfield for the last 75 yards with the Owls holding a 28-21 lead.

It should have never happened because the Owls should have known the Cadets had one time out to negotiate those 75 yards. They should have eschewed the prevent defense for an all-out assault on a backup quarterback not used to throwing the ball.

Temple should have not made him comfortable back there.

youngbruce

                                                                             “I say this from being an ex-quarterback.The best pass defense is putting the quarterback on his backside”_ Bruce Arians, 1988

But it did, and it was another of many first-year mistakes for a first-year head coach and allowed Army to tie the game with one second left and force overtime in an ingnomious 31-28 overtime defeat.

Florida International, the bowl opponent tomorrow night, is one-dimensional but the dimension is passing, not running. Alex McGough, its quarterback, is 6-foot-2, 187 pounds and has thrown for 17 touchdowns against eight interceptions while racking up 2,791 yards. Head coach Butch Davis calls him the best quarterback he has ever coached on any level.

What the Owls should have done is what they should do tomorrow night (8 p.m., ESPN). Bruce Arians once said his pass defense never got good until he figured out by late in his career at Temple was that the best defense was to put the opposing quarterback on his backside.

The lesson, he said, was learned in a 35-30 win at Rutgers—the same Rutgers’ team that had beaten Penn State earlier that year. With about as much time left and as much distance to cover as Army did this season, a quarterback named Scott Erney passed the Scarlet Knights from his own 20 to the Owls’ 30 with three quick throws against a prevent defense. Arians called a timeout, and rather heatedly discussed what the Owls should do with then defensive coordinator Nick Rapone.

“I told Nick to go jailbreak (eight-man rush),” Arians said. “I decided if I was going to go down, it would be with my guns blazing.”

saintpete

Tailgating weather should be nice

The Owls had Erney in their sights the next three plays and found himself on his backside for the each time and the game ended way back on the Rutgers’ 41 with a defensive lineman named Swift Burch sitting on top of him.

“I say this from being an ex-quarterback,” Arians said. “The best pass defense is putting the quarterback on his backside. If you can’t get to him with four, send five. If you can’t get to him with five, send six. We had to send eight but we got it done and that’s the bottom line.”

If these Owls treat Mr. McGough has rudely as those Owls treated Mr. Erney, they should be hoisting a nice trophy tomorrow night.

Friday: Bowl Analysis

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11 thoughts on “Temple-FIU: The Best Pass Defense is ….

  1. Imagine teams preparing for Wayne Hardin team. A sage like Butch Davis knows what we know and what we don’t know. Collins needs to know the unknown and prepare for it. Like last year, no one knows what the opposing coach has up his sleeve. The Owls need to adjust on the fly to trickeration and unknowns.

    • Butch Davis is no Nick Saban, his career will be tainted by the academic scandal (which should have tainted Roy Williams but that’s another story).

      If we lose to a silly FIU middle of the pack CUSA team then we know these coaches are all bluff. This bowl game is their chance for redemption for all of their bone-head decisions, and winning it would ‘save’ this season as a whole.

  2. SMU and AAC getting killed by LA Tech. Another bowl defeat because of a coaching change.

    • So TU is a 7.5 point favorite with coaches staying, AAC stature on the line and the opportunity to send the most successful senior class out on a winning note, this is a big game not to lose. Defense plays well and they win big.

  3. At half time, it seems TU would have a tough time moving ball consistently against FIU’s practice defensive squad.

    For the readers that know Philly rough-touch football over the last 4 decades, some of TU’s plays look like plays Run in rec leagues in Fishtown and Port Richmond in the 70’s.

  4. Will some body who has Collins cell please call him to tell him shargammmm has not graduated?

    • What the f kind of Offense is Temple running. Agree, Mike. Where is Sharga? Collins better get his head out of butt during 2nd Half.

  5. This is another in a long line of games in which the announcers know the offense being employed is all wrong for the Owls. FIU defense is undersized so you beat em up. Not bonehead Collins though. Also, when will he learn that his version of the wildcat is all alley cat-mangy and smelly. Sharga must be fuming.

  6. I’m going to repeat what I’ve stated on a couple of prior occasions. And that is that CC is auditioning for P5 jobs while he’s at TU. And while. I can take this win, I know it was unimpressive. Especially for a coach looking to the P5 rainbow on the horizon.

    CC if you read this blog. Please take stock of everything from players to assistant coaches to knowing what you’ve got to do win the AAC. No more amateur hour going forward as was demonstrated night.

  7. If that McGough kid plays four quarters it’s a lot closer than 28-3. Their backup made Russo look like a Heisman Trophy winner.

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