UTSA game: An appeal to Chris Woods

When Everett Withers was fired at Texas State, Chris Woods took over the HC responsibilities. Now that Stan Drayton has been fired at Temple, Woods is the new DC. He could be the key tonight.

There are plenty of damn good coaches on the current Temple football staff.

If Temple was held back by coaches, we can identify three of them–head coach Stan Drayton, OC Danny Langsdorf and DC Everett Withers.

Unfortunately for the Owls, two of the bad guys are coaching tonight (ESPN2, 7 p.m.) when the Owls travel to UTSA.

One of the good guys is in charge of a third of the team and another good guy (Adam Scheier) is in charge of another third (special teams).

Withers is the interim head coach, but he has promised to stay away from the defensive and offensive play-calling and, if true, that’s a good thing.

That leaves a bad guy (Langsdorf) in charge of the other third (offense), so expect a lot 2-yard passes on third-and-7.

The Owls have looked putrid their last three appearances on major ESPN networks and the major reason was Withers, as his defense gave up 55 (ESPN) last year to visiting SMU and 51 (ESPN) this year at Oklahoma before completing the 50-burger trifecta two weeks ago in a 52-6 loss at Tulane (ESPNU).

One of the good guys will have something to say about the outcome and that is interim DC Chris Woods, who coached the most impressive Owl position group, the linebackers.

Our low/risk, high/reward, picks this weekend. Elijah Robinson’s Syracuse defense can’t stop a nosebleed, and UConn has the running game to punch them in the nose. If Nebraska can give Ohio State a game, so can former Temple assistant coach Curt Cignetti; Virginia is sneaky good at home and, if UCLA can win at Rutgers, the No. 24 team in the country certainly can.

My plea to Chris is this: Go down (or hopefully up) with your guns blazing. The Owls have been way too passive on defense this whole season under Withers. It is now time to bring the house, especially those talented linebackers.

Every third-and-long, do what Withers failed to do all season in allowing the Owls to yield 35 ppg: Put the opposing quarterback on his ass.

In this case, it’s Owen McCown, the son of former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Josh McCown.

McCown has fueled UTSA’s trip to a bowl game, which could be clinched tonight with a win over Temple. Even in a 46-45 loss to a Tulsa team that the Owls defeated, McCown was impressive.

Why?

Because Tulsa played soft coverages against him.

Temple has played soft coverages all season but that was never Woods’ call.

Woods was Bob Stoops’ DC for the Dallas Renegades in the XFL, where he was much more aggressive attacking the passer than Withers has been his whole career. Dallas led the XFL in sacks under Woods with 26, and a dozen of those were by linebackers.

Good news for Temple.

Temple has some very good players in defense, including linebackers Tyquan King and D.J. Woodbury, and it would be nice to see that kind of talent unleased sacking McCown instead of dropping back into coverage.

If Woods has the balls to do it, the Owls have a fighting chance.

If not, we will all know that Withers broke his promise and dabbled in the defensive play calling.

Late Tonight: UTSA Game Analysis

6 thoughts on “UTSA game: An appeal to Chris Woods

  1. Players may put up a superb effort for this game in order to have some good video for other programs to look at when they hit the portal. Maybe Woods sets up a game plan enabling the players to shine.

    • 7-3 bad guys. For the second time in the last 15 years, we have the best field goal kicker in the nation. Amazing.

      • Fry is sitting there thinking.., how can I get this budget busting and bad TUFB albatross off my neck?

        Step 1 – Fire the AD

        During his entire tenure at Temple, Fry will regret letting Johnson pick the next HC.

        The albatross will get heavier by the month.

      • Yeah, the signs aren’t good. Fry had to sign off on Drayton getting fired. (Johnson could not have done that on his own.) So my guess is that he will wait and see if this hire is a home run (Al Golden, Jon Gruden, Gabe Infante, Charles Huff, K.C. Keeler) or a foul ball (Elijah Robinson or Jeff Nixon). If it turns out to be a foul ball, he’s outta here.

  2. if you listen carefully it sounds like the existence of Temple football is far from a sure thing

    But perhaps that is true for many schools ?

    For most programs, football is simply not sustainable the way Division I is set up

    Is Saturday the last game ever?

    will the program exist in 2 or 3 years?

    why does Pitt get so much support in that city, and why does Jeffrey Lurie get away with setting up unnecessary hurdles for Temple?

    • They would not have let Arthur Johnson fire a coach (and eat $6 million of a buyout) if they were going to get rid of football. Firing Drayton was a decision made above both Johnson’s and Fry’s pay grade. They could have kept him, cut football in two weeks, and not paid the $6 million buyout. Firing him means they are all in on football and will get a guy who can win here.

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