One week to C and W: Maybe K.C. is onto something

If Jaxon Smolik or Ajani Sheppard turn into Evan Simon 2.0, start casting this statue for just inside the E-O gates,

Call me crazy but I don’t think I was the only Temple fan who went into this spring football camp concerned about the quarterback room and the defensive line room, but head coach K.C. Keeler might be onto something.

Unlike me and SOME of my fellow Temple fans, he’s not concerned.

That’s encouraging.

Why?

Because I’m not the current winningest active head coach in Division I college football and nobody I tailgate with is. I will see a lot of these folks when I return to campus on Saturday (April 11) for the Cherry and White game at the E-O and we will have a good time. We always do.

What we won’t know for sure is can we sack the bad guy’s quarterback enough or throw enough touchdown passes to approach a double-digit win season.

If I had to leave the answer for that question to anyone else, it would be for the current winningest active head coach in Division I college football.

Fortunately, he’s not in Texas, Alabama or Florida.

He’s right here and he will be right there on the same day I will be.

Keeler answered a couple of questions I wanted answered in his Tuesday presser. A couple really stood out.

On Temple’s defensive line: “It’s tough to bring in starters in the transfer portal. It really is and we’ve brought in not just starters but some really good players.”

The Cherry and White game was once played at Lincoln Financial Field. One thousand people in a 70,000-seat stadium was the worst atmosphere ever. However, 3,500 people tripping all over themselves at the E-O is a great atmosphere.

Keeler added he felt the team was 10-deep at the defensive line position and upgraded in the talent area from what he had last season. Since he had Sultan Badmas, Khalif Poteal and Sekou Kromah, that’s a good upgrade.

Or he’s lying.

Since he had no reason to lie, I believe him.

My biggest bone of contention with the QB spot is that you are expecting Penn State’s third string quarterback to beat Penn State’s first team quarterback if Jaxon Smolik turns out to be the starter. My contention since the end of last season was to bring in someone better than Evan Simon. Even though Smolik threw three touchdown passes in Saturday’s live scrimmage, I don’t see the same talent level.

Maybe Keeler does. Last August, Simon threw six touchdown passes in his first game. I saw it coming because he threw five touchdown passes the year before against Utah State.

Do I see a similar thing happening with Smolik? Man, I’m going to have to order some expensive Cherry and White glasses from Amazon to see that now.

Maybe Keeler does.

One of the most disappointing things about last season was that JoJo Bermudez had two long punt returns called back due to penalties and the 57-yard return against Georgia Tech was something the CW announcers felt should not have been called. Will Blackman, the booth analyst, said: “The Temple guy raised his hands before even trying to execute the block. Most officials will see that and allow the play to continue. For some reason, that guy threw the flag. I disagree with that call.”

Keeler might have addressed the issue on Tuesday by saying a lot of starters will be on special teams.

“We’ve got the best punt returner in the country (JoJo Bermudez),” he said.
“If we don’t put a really good unit out there to give JoJo a chance, that’s on us.”

The losingest head coach in the country might have let that slide. The winningest one told us that’s a problem he’s going to solve.

That makes me confident he’s going to address any other issues that might arrive between now and the opener.

No backseat driving here, just enjoying the ride for now.

Monday: The Best Solution

One thought on “One week to C and W: Maybe K.C. is onto something

  1. Beat both academies and it’s game on. Temple must run the ball well and stop the run, it’s that simple.

    Why? Temple finished in the bottom half of the conference in both categories last year. Temple must improve rush and rush defense to be competitive.

    QB will be a huge unknown until someone steps up and separates. If you ranked the position group rooms on offense today, the QB room would not be near the top. However, much can change between here and Rhode Island, we all hope for the Best..,

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