10.01.23
by

The roster: Grasping at Straws

No doubt Jeff Traylor has seen this film and Tulsa gave him a blueprint of exactly what to do Saturday.

Those running backs on opposing teams who keep running through, past and over defensive linemen against Temple are an indictment of what Stan Drayton and company did this offseason.

Or didn’t do.

“OK, who here wants to switch to the DL?”

Hit the portal hard.

As a 40+ year Temple fan, I’m appalled by the ease of which Tulsa running backs hit the hole and gashed the Owls’ defense. It’s one thing to let Miami do it. It’s another to let Tulsa do it. They were grasping at running backs on Thursday night.

They might as well been grasping at straws.

Those big chunk passes Tulsa made all night were the result of the D-Line not getting to the quarterback. Temple might have to change its scheme and gamble with numerous all-out blitzes, using their most talented room (linebackers) to make plays like sacks, fumbles, fumble recoveries and interceptions. Do anything but sit back and get run over. That’s not Temple TUFF.

Not that we didn’t see this coming a mile away because we advocated many times for the Owls to get running backs from Ball State and Western Michigan and Liberty who remained in the portal and the Ivy League defensive lineman of the year from Harvard as soon as he entered it. You knew Darian Varner was leaving in December. The priority then should have been to get Temple fans two Darian Varners from the FCS ranks.

What did Temple do instead?

Hit the Junior College ranks for an offensive lineman and a cornerback and they’ve been pretty much the only help the Owls have gotten so far that has meant a damn.

Junior college should have been the last place Drayton and his staff looked because every year you see lower-ranked FBS teams knocking off P5 teams (Bowling Green over Georgia Tech on Saturday and Georgia Southern over Nebraska last year are just two of many examples).

Temple should have been able to talk some of those Georgia Southern and Bowling Green guys to come to Philadelphia in the offseason. Got to think one or two of those really good players who made impacts for those teams in those games would have given Temple some consideration.

We will never know.

Failing that, there are some great FCS teams. Albany beat Villanova, 31-10, on Saturday. You think there might have been someone from Albany who can help Temple now and who would rather play for Temple?

I do.

Owls have to put the playmakers they have in a position to make plays. D.J. Elliot did that. So far, Everett Withers has not.

There are great players on FCS teams who end up drafted by the NFL. Temple should go after those guys. Logically, a move up to Temple’s level would improve draft profiles. Instead, Junior College appears to have been their focus.

That’s two steps below where the focus SHOULD have been.

Now the Owls are caught between a rock and a hard place. There is an obvious need for talent especially on the defensive line and the Owls are out of big bodies who can stop the run and get after the passer.

There is no place to find those guys on campus now. They should have been found beating the bushes in the offseason.

Everybody knows what Jeff Traylor, a great head football coach, is going to do on Saturday: Run right at the Owls and dare them to stop him. Some FBS and FCS linemen in the portal last year could have helped them Saturday. Right now, the Owls have no choice to do it with the guys they have in the building. Having Layton Jordan drop five yards into pass coverage does nobody any good when he can create havoc rushing the passer. Increasingly, unless they figure out a gambling scheme that can cause more havoc and turnovers, the Owls need to win battles at the point of attack.

Although they didn’t show it at Tulsa, Owls may have the will to do it. They may not have the means.

Friday: Where’s the Urgency?

12 thoughts on “The roster: Grasping at Straws”

  1. Chatted with a friend, a former HS DC after the game. He felt the right defensive schemes were called, but the bodies were not able to carry out the assignments.

    Reply

    • That’s when you have to load up the box with linebackers and send more guys than they can block. We have pretty good linebackers, especially when Rigby comes back, and having a guy like Layton Jordan drop five yards back in coverage instead of pass rushing off the edge does nobody any good.

      Reply

  2. There didn’t seem to be a real game plan in recruiting from the portal. That one thing about the Tulsa broadcast was by the way the announcers were covering it Tulsa had a definite plan of attack and goal from the portal. I’m not saying this staff didn’t have that but rather didn’t seem like it. Regarding you comment about Elliot, seems to be doing something similar with the Eagle with the way Cunningham and Morrow are playing

    Reply

  3. https://www.inquirer.com/college-sports/temple/temple-collective-athletics-nil-money-owls-basketball-20231004.html

    The facts continue to build for an easy and logical decision for the incoming uni pres. The situation won’t get any better. Again, TU was caught sleep at the wheel. This is totally analogous to getting kicked out of the BE.

    The NIL era is the arms race times 10! The BOT didn’t see the arms race coming (College Athletics Landscape Change I), and made a conscious decision to abstain upon revelation. Good-bye Big East and the last legitimate shot at the P5.

    History repeat. College Athletics Landscape Change II. Temple is seemingly abstaining from NIL. Result is poor performance, attendance, support, and relevancy. The BOT is letting major programs die on the vine. Easy decision for new pres.., lease is up at the Linc end of ’24 season.

    Reply

    • If KJ’s prediction comes about, is the school on the hook ($) for payouts contracted to teams for non-conference games?

      2025
      08/30 – at UMass
      09/13 – Oklahoma
      09/20 – at Georgia Tech
      2026
      09/05 – Rhode Island
      09/12 – Penn State
      09/19 – at Coastal Carolina
      10/10 – UConn
      2027
      09/04 – at UConn
      09/18 – at Penn State
      10/09 – UMass
      2028
      09/02 – at Oklahoma
      09/16 – Duke
      09/23 – at Utah State
      09/30 – UConn
      2029
      09/15 – at Miami (FL)
      09/29 – at UMass

      Reply

      • It has been a long time since I practiced law, but a do remember that Duke, during a time when it was dreadful, cancelled a visit to a distant major football power. The University that was to play at home against Duke sued. The court declined to award damages, saying Duke was so bad, they could easily find a team to replace them.

    • KJ, I know for a fact that there are D3 schools that have raised more in Collectives than Temple’s 100k. That number was astonishingly low, you can talk all you want about a Director of Football Operations, the coaching, conference, the old days of TU football, but 100k in an NIL Collective with the size of TU alumni says it all. Temple’s issue is the irrelevance is hitting at the wrong time. NIL and Transfer Portal are the worst things that can happen to a fledgling football program. Recruits going to look at schools are asking 5k for a visit. That means the 100k can bring in 20 recruits, that leaves nothing for anyone else. Will never compete, they don’t have the support, enthusiasm or money. Don’t give me “we have well heeled supporters”, maybe you do but money talks. This was partially self inflicted, Carey put TU behind and now even if Drayton is a good coach, he can’t keep his top players from leaving. Heck, Penn State lacrosse, let me repeat lacrosse not football is paying guys 125k a year. That is more than TU’s entire collective for all sports. You are essentially taking a butter knife to a gun fight at TU. Unsustainable.

      Reply

  4. Utah football team reaps amazing benefit thanks to historic NIL deal
    By Andrew Kulha | Last updated 10/5/23
    Members of the Utah Utes football team have to be thanking their lucky stars for the NIL era right now.

    While plenty of superstar college athletes have made bank thanks to NIL deals, we haven’t seen many full-team deals that have transpired. We’ve seen quarterbacks, point guards and gymnasts get paid big, but not so much the long snapper.

    That has changed at Utah, at least, where it’s being reported that Utah’s Crimson Collective has ponied up enough money to get all 85 scholarship players on the Utes football team a leased 2024 Ram Big Horn 1500 truck.

    Beer for fans, funny commercials, endorsements and partnerships are all part of the game in the NIL era, but credit to Utah, because the Crimson Collective certainly stepped up its game.

    Per On3, this deal put a dent in the Crimson Collective’s wallet worth roughly $6 million. It is one of the largest NIL deals to date.

    Maybe some enterprising, interested alums can put together some collective that sells products people want and profits then can be donated to an Owl collective.

    Reply

    •  From another site: BOT Meeting, Tuesday, October 10, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT at the Fox Gittis Room in the Liacouras Center
      This is the first open meeting of the BOT in three years.

      WE NEED AS MANY PEOPLE AT THIS MEETING AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.

      You all know how bad things are at Temple. And specifically, athletics. This BOT has never been held to account. 
      Even if they do not schedule a time in the agenda for public questions and speaking (and they will not), they can’t force us to be silent. 
      OUR WAY OF LIFE IS IN PERIL!!!!!! THERE WILL BE NO ATHLETICS AT TEMPLE IF WE DON’T ACT NOW!!!!!

      So many of you have (correctly) questioned the actions of this Board.
      THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO DO JUST THAT. IN PERSON. IN FRONT OF MEDIA.

      WE IMPORE YOU. WE URGE YOU. HELP US CORRECT THIS BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. 

      Reply

  5. Give me Liberty, or Give me Death! Drop down to FCS level, or Give up the Ghost

    Reply

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