How good is Temple? Some clues today

footballs

The $2 million question that wasn’t really answered last week could be today.

“How good is Temple?”

It used to be a $64,000-dollar question in the 1950s (the name of a game show back then) but, due to inflation and the amount of money Temple coach Rod Carey is making, we’ll arbitrarily set it at his $2 million annual salary.

Screenshot 2019-09-06 at 3.05.41 PM

All that said, comparative scores are just speculation but it’s fun speculation and transitive property means little later in the season let alone this early  …

BUT …

I must admit despite the gaudy 56-14 score and the No. 1 national ranking in overall offense, I was a little leery about the win over Bucknell in that I thought Temple would have laid the kind of beating on the Bison that Maryland did to Howard (79-0) and Penn State did to Idaho (79-7). I thought Temple got first downs on too many third downs and not enough first downs after first downs. Bucknell’s tackling surprised me in that I did not think it would be able to tackle or get off blocks at all.

Screenshot 2019-09-06 at 3.07.24 PM

It may just be overreacting. It may be just because Carey is a “nicer guy” than Maryland’s Mike Locksley and Penn State’s James Franklin but part of my concern is that I think Howard and Idaho are better teams than Bucknell.

Certainly, Howard did something recently (two years ago) that Bucknell has never done and probably never will: Beat an FBS team in the P5 and G5 eras when it went out to UNLV and won. That year, UNLV followed up that 43-40 loss to Howard by beating Idaho (44-16), San Jose State (41-13), Fresno State (26-16) and Hawaii (31-23) so the Running Rebels were no scrubs.

Bucknell travels to Sacred Heart (6 p.m.) and if it struggles against that team on a 56-12 level, it’s not a real good sign for Temple.

Howard, on the other hand, travels to FCS power Youngstown State and, if the Penguins are able to hang a big number (maybe not 79-0) on Howard, it indicates that the Maryland win is less impressive than it was a week ago.

Those are just a couple of clues.

We really won’t know how good Temple is until next week when it hosts Maryland. Today, the Syracuse at Maryland game is one to watch and the Owls might as well root for the Terrapins because a Temple win over a team that beat Syracuse will be that much more impressive.

Buffalo at Penn State (Fox, 7:30) is also a game to watch. The Bulls were really hurt when quarterback Tyree Jackson left school a year early to pursue an NFL career and found himself on no roster after being cut by his hometown Buffalo squad. Let that be a lesson for any quarterback coming out. If you are not a first-round pick, it’s not worth it. I think Buffalo will be able to give PSU a better game than the 29.5 spread, something like 34-14 and could be a tough foe for the Owls in a couple of weeks.

Then there is another clue game in South Florida at Georgia Tech (2 p.m.) If South Florida (which got rocked by Wisconsin) is able to give GT a good game or even win, that bodes well for Temple at the end of the month because I think TU is significantly better than USF this season.

A game to watch with absolutely no impact on Temple is freaking East Stroudsburg at Wagner (6 p.m.). Wagner lost to UConn, 24-21, last week. If ESU beats Wagner, you might be able to make an argument that Bucknell is better than Uconn.

In the end, it’s the Owls who have to take care of their own business but stock in that business could go up or down depending upon some of today’s results.

Sunday: Temple knows the way to beat Maryland

Tuesday: Temple Nation

Saturday: Gameday Thoughts

 

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12 thoughts on “How good is Temple? Some clues today

  1. Frankly, it’s my opinion that every game in college is an independent event and that what happened last week is irrelevant. Too much happens on a personal level to these kids every day to compare scores. Hell, two years ago a so so Syracuse team beat Clemson. something no sane person would have guessed could occur. Shoot, Villanova beat TU last year, something that never should happen. There’s too much teenage testosterone and inconsistency to compare teams that are close, never mind teams that win in a blowout. Some teams have pride and play to the end and others quit like whipped dogs. Every season there are upsets and based on those someone inevitably says that Podunk U is the best team in the land. Nothing that happened last week will have any effect on the TU Maryland game next week. If the Owls come out ready to play they will win. No one can convince me that TU retreated so much and Maryland improved so much that Maryland is heads and shoulders over TU because of the difference in blowouts that occurred last week.

    • Plus the owls are better-coached than they were a year ago. Still, it sounds odd to say this after a 56-12 game, but I thought we’d have a lot more home run type plays than we did. Hope that concern is unfounded. Thought I’d see the Owls take roughly four runs 60 or more yards to the house and I did not see that.

      • Made this point on a previous post: This is not the same Maryland team Temple beat last year. UM added FOUR starters via the portal to include the QB and TWO four star LBs. They are legit and may find themselves in the Top 25 after today.

        Yes, Temple is a better team this year. However, most of the opponents on the schedule are just plain better. UCF, Maryland, Memphis, Tulane, Cincy…,

        This season will mirror the 2014 season in many ways. Very good TUFB team finished at 6-6. Offense played the spread and put the defense in untenable positions too many times. HC was stubborn, etc., etc.

        I get it, my posts are often outrageous but I know what I’m talking about.

      • Not outrageous. Before the first week, I had Maryland in the win column. After last week, when I saw few Temple runners able to run away for long touchdown runs against FCS-level defenders, I switched Maryland into the loss column. Thought our team speed at RB was much better than it appears to be. What I saw today does not change my mind. Army has it right. Establish a unique style and stick with it. Temple’s unique style was halfback, fullback, establish the run behind an extra blocker, shorten the game and win with great defense. Color me concerned that we are doing the same RPO stuff everybody else does.

  2. Lost opportunity: Imagine this, Maryland wins big and lands in the Top 25. With a win next week, Temple could creep into the Top 25?

    But no, we lost that opportunity with three consecutive bottom half recruiting classes, a stubborn HC, and a spread offense.

    Commitment to Temple Tuff and TUFB could have been the talk of the town.

  3. KJ, while I get you point about adding players via the transfer portal, for me of that becomes a major component to a teams success going forward at that point I think I’ll be inclined to just stick with the Sunday “mercenaries” 😦

    • Where did Maryland, Ohio St, UCF, Oklahoma, SMU, etc., find their starting QBs this year? This is, and will be, a major component to team success absent another rule change.

      https://247sports.com/Season/2019-Football/TransferPortal/

      Ohio St and Oklahoma might wind up in the playoffs this year with a portal transfer Heisman Trophy candidate at QB..,

      Only a handful of teams can afford to sleep on the portal. Temple is not one of those teams.

      Very interesting contrast between two first year coaches, Carey and Locksley.

      One came from “Northern” the other from Alabama; One is unabashedly old school vs new school; limited use of the portal vs double down on the portal; no hitting in practice vs live tackle scrimmages;

      we’ll see the rest of the story come Saturday..,

  4. Terps favored by 20?

  5. If I were forced to make a sizable bet on this game, I’d want at least 19.5 to take TU. Less than that, I’m betting Maryland.

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