08.28.23
by

Game Week: Know your opponent (Akron)

This is what happened the last time Temple played Akron.
Got to love the great Temple single digits of the past watching this ceremony on the screen via Zoom.

For how Week One of the college football season goes, there were plenty of clues left by what happened in Week Zero.

Vegas pretty much got every game right with only Notre Dame significantly exceeding expectations from a line perspective (although it should have known that Navy getting rid of a great coach like Ken Niumatalolo would have a deleterious effect on that program).

What does that mean for Temple’s opening game against Akron (2 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field)?

Give or take just a few points, the Owls SHOULD win by about 10.

Should and that’s only if both teams play up to their potential.

The only question is what kind of 10-point win: 17-7, 24-14, 35-25 or 45-35.

Take the over.

What do we know about Akron?

Joe Moorhead’s team went out with a bang last year, winning at Northern Illinois, 44-12, and losing by a point at a good Buffalo team, 23-22. Akron quarterback D.J. Irons was an All-MAC player, joined on that team by his No. 1 target, receiver Alex Adams.

Moorhead’s teams usually score a lot of points and Everett Withers’ defenses usually give up a lot of points, so that’s certainly has to be Temple’s biggest concern going into the game.

The good news for the Owls is that they have a quarterback with the “it” factor in E.J. Warner. The “it” factor is simply this: He has total command of the offense, abundant talent and a knack for getting the ball in the right spots at the right times. In Amad Anderson and Dante Wright, he has explosive perimeter receivers. In tight ends Jordan Smith and David Martin-Robinson, two dependable receivers although one is more of a reliable stick-mover and the other is a threat to take it to the house.

They complement each other well.

The running game has improved so much that its No. 1 protagonist, Edward Saydee, earned a single digit. We’ll believe it when we see it. (Not the single digit, but the improvement.)

The Owls have nine returning starters on defense and if Withers is able to put that kind of talent in the right places at the right times, tackles for losses could ensue.

This opener is no Wagner or Bucknell for the Owls, a gimmie tuneup. There is a real threat the Owls could lose this game and that should have them on their toes.

Yet this is the kind of team Temple must beat if it has any designs on a bowl game because all but one of the teams on the Owls’ schedule is better than Akron.

Still, Akron must be respected or the Owls will lose.

Consider this: The Northern Illinois team that Akron beat, 44-12, was the same NIU team that lost at Tulsa, 38-35. Tulsa turned around two weeks later and beat Temple in Philadelphia, 29-16.

If that’s not a sobering enough fact, Moorhead already took a less talented team into Philly and won a decade ago.

In Temple’s defense, the ECU and Houston teams the Owls should have finished off at the end of last season were much better than anyone Akron played all of last year.

Maybe Vegas didn’t input all of the available data. Maybe it did. Let’s hope they nail the TU outcome the way they nailed most of their picks over Week Zero.

Friday: Game Preview

Sunday: Game Analysis

12 thoughts on “Game Week: Know your opponent (Akron)”

  1. Contacted Temple for FB season Tixx via their official website. AND so — No response yet. —-
    We decided to buy Tixx after all and go to some games, just for fan support – That tells me something. Oh Well….

    Reply

  2. Preview and PredictionS:

    * Jaws drop during warm-ups as Zips QB appears to be an AI generated version of what Mathis could have been?

    * https://firstroundmock.com/2023/06/…campaign=akron-qb-dj-irons-on-nfl-draft-radar

    * Moorehead gets the best of Withers, DL gets exposed

    * Zips take the lead for a short period of time b4 halftime

    * Two E.J.s come up big

    * Game attendance < 23K

    Zips will score points, take the over. But the Owls will score more and cover. Temple wins 37-26

    Reply

  3. I will be shocked if the score is not in the 30s. Prove me wrong, Everett, and shut these guys out, 24-0. 🙂

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  4. Dear Mike, may I vent here? Trying just 1 more time to get our TU FB tixx for the season. They have not responded to my official site online request of last week. So I just called Temple Ticket Office. Put on HOLD and waited 15+ minutes. One more try, I left a message as they requested, to renew since we are on their files at least 30 years now. IF they don’t respond soon then I say fuggit. Damn, what way to run a program, damn..
    You can not help the idiots who will not be helped , horses to water,
    ” etc, etc, etc…” to quote Yul Brenner in some movie way back.

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  5. Long time reader. Rare commenter. As someone who played in the 90’s which was not the halcyon days of Golden and Rhule, it was amazing to see the run we went on during those eras. That time has whet the beak of all of us to want more, to be better. I like Coach Drayton, met AD Johnson at several events. Good people who seem to care. Alas we need to be honest about the “Tale of Two Schools” – Temple University & Temple Athletics, that has created collateral damage on the athletic programs. Seeing the tickets comment above, I’ve been sitting on my own rant for four years.

    As a three time graduate of North Broad, my last go round was later in life and exposed a lot about my dear alma mater. Went back to the Fox School of Business in 2016, to a program that was “rated as the #1 program” in the country. Applied and was accepted as a alum in good standing. The program was outdated, and we found out the national ranking was a lie (was award a few hundred bucks in a class-action settlement). To add insult to that injury, on a personal level my father (who attended many a game himself at The Vet and across the country) died weeks before my graduation. Sharing the name of several generations before me who never had the opportunity to go to college, I had my suffix added to my name on my previous two degrees from Temple. The third time around the Fox School of Business would not grant this request.

    Why the story? Well in my battles for that name change on my 11×14 piece of card stock, I was told by several people “This isn’t the Temple you went to anymore. We’re not that school.” I was made aware of what they were trying to do “globally” and what I’ve done in the past for the school was irrelevant because “We’re not the same Temple.” I have subsequently scrubbed my name and information from all donor/solicitation lists from “The University” and only correspond with Athletics. So if you’re wondering why the BoT and the powers that be seem to be dragging ass or unsupportive, let that “We’re not the same Temple” rattle around your head over two Roman numerals after a three time graduate of the school.

    As with the start of every season I remain optimistic for the young folks working their asses off, forming bonds, and hopefully will love the school that meant so much to them and will be treated better down the line as they evolve in the people post-athletics they can be. I would also like to credit those involved in getting the athletes of my era their HOF due, since somehow allegedly all those records got lost in the attic at McGonigle Hall.

    Thanks for listening.
    #GoOwls

    Reply

  6. Geee, I must be a kinda ‘Yenta’ BUT I got our Season Tixx just now, praise be. n speaking with the guy on the Phone there, Cory, I taked FB and he is positive Temple is a much improved team, with a Better O line, which he thought was a big issue for the Run game last year. So let’s see, let’s hope. Anyway, Football here we come.
    Myabe run into you once more Mike ? Then we can talk old, old, Bux-Mont league of long ago, just for a minute..

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  7. Mike I was wondering if they sell tickets at the stadium for the football game Saturday

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    • Absolutely. The people I tailgate with often take a break, walk right up to the gate, buy tickets and then come back to the tailgate. No lines. No worries. No problems (and you can ask for a seat at the end of a row and get one, which you can’t online without having to purchase two tickets)

      Reply

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