Mentioned to my neighbor the other day that I was headed to the Cherry and White Game at Temple University this Saturday.

“Duck and cover,” he said.

“Ha, ha,” I said.

We both grew up in the Cold War Era when that was the way to avoid getting killed in a Nuclear Strike: Duck under the grade school desk, cover your head with your arms and you were going to be OK.

Duck and cover indeed.

We both knew–I think even as 10-year-olds–that a nuclear bomb would blow us away even though that Formica tabletop was over our heads.

We got through that.

Hopefully, I will get through this.

(If there is no post on Monday, you will know why.)

I will say that’s one of the things I’m looking for tomorrow. While I have felt safe going to the last two or three Cherry and White games, I have definitely not felt safe going home from them. The Temple University train station is only one a city block away from the game site but the police presence stopped at 11th and Berks and which was a half-block away. The kids and adults need to see a police presence in the train station itself and if they do tomorrow it will be a sign that the “senior leadership group” is serious about safety. Temple police, not city ones, should be on that platform between 5 and 7 tomorrow night.

Period, end of story.

Other than that, we were going to talk about in this space the five guys to watch until we heard one of those guys (tight end Jordan Smith) was on crutches. Smith is an explosive player as is his fellow tight end, David Martin-Robinson.

So if we were to name five guys to watch for Temple he’d be on that list, with DMR, E.J.Warner, transfer portal wide out Dante Wright, DE Layton Jordan and DB Jalen McMurray.

Rip that idea up and throw it away because who knows who was on crutches yesterday, will be on crutches tomorrow, and will be on crutches after the game.

All we know is that Cherry and White is the first step to a “Bowl Game or Bust” season.

Temple, with an inspirational head coach in Stan Drayton, a mostly intact returning team, some great portal transfers and playing against a 131st-ranked schedule, needs to set the standard for winning here.

I feel like Warner has a chance and it’s not a small chance to be the best quarterback in the country. He’s got the “it” factor we haven’t seen here since the days of P.J. Walker and Adam DiMichele.

Just win, baby.

No more excuses.

Monday: What we saw at Cherry and White

Friday: Why it’s bowl or bust