Spring Ball: Necessary work without tangible results

Somebody told the truth about spring football at Temple this week.

We won’t say the name to protect the innocent but he was wearing what looked like the No. 24 and came up with this gem of a quote:

“It feels fake. It’s not the real season. I’ll see y’all in August.”

Honest.

And true.

Really, how much will you or me or even Stan Drayton know about the Owls after April 8th (Cherry and White Day)?

Almost nothing.

To me, the three priorities in the offseason were to improve both lines and the running game.

Two out of three ain’t bad but is it good enough?

I don’t feel like the running game has improved but other areas of the team have, like talent on both sides of the line. Expecting running backs who were not able to break a tackle in 2022 to break them in 2023 might be a bridge too far.

That’s Drayton’s problem, though, and I don’t see him solving it unless some disgruntled back slips through someone else’s cracks this spring.

A “Khalif Battle” of football if you will. Someone with a great deal of talent but maybe someone who might upset team chemistry. Not many boy scouts leave spring practice disgruntled.

Back to No. 24’s original point, though.

Spring ball has always been about the good guys practicing against other good guys with the climax being a game between good guys.

It’s necessary work because big-time college football is a 365-day-a-year business and those who don’t do the work fall behind those who do.

The Owls are doing the work now. They should be better than they were in 2022 but, at least right now, not as good as they should be.

Friday: Some high praise for a Temple guy

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4 thoughts on “Spring Ball: Necessary work without tangible results

  1. Maybe Drayton feels that with an improved O-line the running backs he has now will do better?

    • If you can break tackles in the open field (like Paul Palmer did), it complements an improved offensive line. We don’t have running backs that can make that first guy miss. You can have the Green Bay Packers’ line of the first two Super Bowls but if you have a wide open hole and the RB gets tackled by the first guy he sees, the running game isn’t going to be significantly better. We don’t have a guy that can consistently 1) make that first guy miss; 2) run out of that tackle. Maybe Quincy Patterson can but he’s playing quarterback.

  2. How many people thought a year ago this time TUFB would be without a RB coach? How many people thought TU would have the least productive RB room in the conference two yrs in a row?

    Drayton, hey dude the irony hurts. 82 yd/g and 11 TDs rushing last year, worst in conference. Where is the improvement on the OL and RB room? As the roster sits now, TU will have one of the smallest OLs in conference. Not the remedy for owning the line of scrimmage. On paper, the OL just might be worse. The two best players on the OL graduated, and one was a single digit.

    Guess they’ll try dink and doink quick short passess.., that’s about all they can do with what’s on the roster.

    Forget about the read option w/Warner. He is NO threat to run.

    Thank goodness for Akron, Norfolk St, and No Texas….,

    On the other hand, give ’em credit. They could win six games this year w/the entire team gaining less than 1000 rushing yards (989 yds rushing in 2022). The schedule is kind w/seven home games.

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