One of the greatest position changes ever made at Temple: Matt Brown from slot receiver to RB. Khalif Herbin would give the Owls some high-end Matty Brown-type depth at RB.

About a year and a month ago at this time, I suggested one trick play for head coach Steve Addazio: Double reverse with Jalen Fitzpatrick getting the ball on the second handoff and then throwing it all the way across the field to Chris Coyer.

Got to love former Owl great Raheem Brock, still representing at the restaurant he owns, Brocks Wings, 1600 North Broad. You can get this schedule at Brock’s Wings and attached are discount cards.

Addazio, who would not know a trick play if it bit him on the butt, finally used the play in the season’s eighth game against Louisville. It went for 12 yards and a first down.

The thought behind that was simple: Fitzpatrick was a former Big 33 quarterback out of Harrisburg High. Coyer an athlete good enough to be named MVP for both the football and basketball teams at Oakton (Va.). Fitzpatrick knows how to throw a ball and Coyer knows how to catch one. We might know that. I’m not sure if teams playing Temple pay a whole lot of attention to that kind of detail.

I don’t know if that was the first trick play Daz ever used at Temple, but it certainly was the only one of 2012 and, thankfully, his last. I do know Matt Rhule uses trick plays. His call for a Joey Jones pass off a reverse resulted in a touchdown in a 42-25 win at Army in 2010 was pure genius. That was the tightest spiral thrown all season. So I don’t think I’ll ever have to suggest a trick play for Matt. He’s good at that.

Rhule gets a big thumbs-up for his well-thought-out position changes, too, in my humble opinion. While Addazio was perfectly comfortable using a four-star talent to hold a clipboard all last year, Rhule won’t allow that to happen.

I called for this pass to be thrown against Rutgers back in the summer of 2012. Unfortunately, wasn’t used until Nov. 4.

I had three position changes outlined for coach Matt Rhule in a post dated March 20, 2013 and titled “Matt Rhule Bobblehead Day” and one of them was switching Alex Jackson from tight end to defensive end.

Matt didn’t go for it in the spring (practice began two days after that post), but, thankfully, he did not wait until the eighth game of the season to switch Alex Jackson from tight end to defensive end. Jackson was switched to defensive end last week and I think this is a trade that will benefit both clubs (offense and defense).

I’ve always said the two biggest keys to winning in college football (other than ball security, of course) are protecting your quarterback and putting the other quarterback on his ass. I have a feeling that  having the combination of the speedy 6-4, 280-pound Jackson in there at one bookend with Sean Daniels at the other will give the Owls a much better pass rush. Jackson was a DE in high school and showed a lot of ability to rush the passer at Dunnellon (Fla.) He only played high school football one season after earning a reputation as one of Florida’s best basketball small forwards. At Temple, he was switched to TE and had trouble catching the ball in big spots the past two seasons particularly.

I think the offensive line is shaping up real well and it looks like new tight end Romond DeLoatch will be a reliable pass-catcher.

The other position change I’d like to see at some point is Khalif Herbin to running back.  With Kevin Newsome leaving the program (he doesn’t want to play football anymore), I think that move is now needed more than ever. High-end depth at tailback is going to be a problem without Herbin filling a “Matty Brown-type” role. Fullback is a real good spot for the Owls. If they use Wyatt Benson (the best blocking fullback in Temple history) on defense, they still have Kenny Harper (another good blocker) and  Coyer who can also play the position. High-end depth at tailback means a battle between guys like Jamie Gilmore, Zaire Williams and (hopefully) Herbin. Out of those  guys, hopefully one or two “home-run hitters” will emerge.

Still, I see a lot of good pass-receiving options and Herbin is the kind of talent who I’d like to see touch the ball more than the 5-7 times a typical slot receiver touches it during the course of any game.

Matt Brown was in a similar position to Herbin at the start of his freshman season and Al Golden saw the light and switched him before the 2009 opener with Villanova. To me, Herbin and Matt Brown are the same player except that Herbin is slightly bigger and slightly faster. Brown and the Owls benefited from the extra touches and there’s still plenty of time for the Owls to determine Herbin’s eventual spot.

Pete White shows good pass protection technique giving Danny O’Brien time to pass.

While the current 2014 Temple recruiting class is highly rated, it includes a lot of three-star players but no marquee four- or five-star.

That all changed over the weekend when Temple head coach Matt Rhule announced to people attending the “Down the Shore” event at Wildwood, N.J. that highly touted offensive lineman Pete White was coming to Temple. Since White is a fifth-year senior who graduated from Maryland in May, he will not have to sit out. He’s the “Montel Harris” of offensive linemen. (Paul Layton is the Montel Harris of punters, graduating from Albany before coming to Temple to replace Brandon McManus’ role.)

Cool off with some ice cream at the Reading Terminal Market tomorrow

In 30-plus years of following Temple football, I can only remember one other four-star recruit snagged by the Owls and that was New Jersey Player of the Year Kevin Harvey (Paulsboro), a quarterback whose dynamic ball skills were wasted when then head coach Bobby Wallace switched him over to cornerback.

Other schools recruiting White out of St. John’s (D.C.): Florida, Miami, Oregon and Virginia Tech. Those schools make very few recruiting mistakes.

Temple will only have White for one year but if this guy lives up to his potential, he could be a nice addition to an already strong offensive line for the Owls. Remember, this line includes impressive sophomore-to-be Kyle Friend and 2009 starting center Sean Boyle. Cody Booth, who switched from tight end to tackle, also had a great spring blocking for the Owls and probably will be a starting tackle along with Boyle.

White started six games for Maryland in 2011 and one of them was not against Temple. The Owls won that game, 38-7, and their defensive line, led by the Steelers’ Adrian Robinson, had a field day, registering three sacks. White started the first two games at guard in 2011 and was injured in the 33-27 loss to West Virginia in the Terps’ second game. Interestingly enough, the Terps beat Miami (Fla.), 32-24, two weeks before losing, 38-7, vs. Temple, causing maybe even Al Golden to thank God he did not have to play Temple in the 2011 season.

White missed the Temple game due to an injury and, with him in the lineup against Miami and West Virginia, Maryland was the only team in the country to not allow a sack in the first two games.

Then Temple came to town.

All Temple fans will miss Keith Pompey

Full disclosure.
I know Keith Pompey.
I worked with Keith Pompey at the Inquirer.
I don’t know John Mitchell at all, but I’ve read his work.
Keith Pompey is that rare journalist who combines caring and passion with writing ability and knowledge. He was that way covering high school sports and he was that way with Temple.
All Temple fans are going to miss Keith Pompey, the old guy, who is replaced by Mitchell, the new guy.
That’s because, judging by his work with the Sixers, I put Mitchell in the category of a guy who does just enough to skate by, like Pompey’s predecessor, Kevin Tatum.
While Pompey typically did two and three stories on every Temple football game, Tatum just did one.
Often being at the games Tatum covered, I saw the game notes.
Tatum used quotes handed to him in the game notes, while Pompey dug for fresh stuff.
Mitchell covered the Sixers pretty much the same way Tatum covered the Owls.

Mitchell’s first story AFTER being switched to the Temple beat was on the Sixers.

That should tell you something right there.

When Mitchell was asked by a fan why no Temple stories, he replied “there’s nothing much happening” yet the same fan was able to come up with eight stories on University of South Florida football in the same time frame written by that school’s beat writer for the Tampa Tribune. The same kind of stories are happening at Temple.
While moving onto the Sixers’ beat is a promotion for Pompey, I get the strong sense that Mitchell views his new Temple assignment as a demotion and won’t do the job with the same vigor as Pompey did.
I hope I’m wrong.

Zaire Williams has never played a game for Temple, not even a spring game, yet he has become one of my favorite players on this year’s team.

Williams, who will be wearing No. 23 for the Owls this season, has declared early for the NFL draft.

Do the math.
Williams promises his father that, after three years, he will be the provider in the family.
That means Zaire will forego his would-be senior season at Temple.
I see this as a good thing, not a bad thing.
Temple got three terrific years out of Bernard Pierce.

Bernard Pierce’s records at TU, all accomplished in 3 years.

If Williams, a late Temple commit who decommitted from West Virginia, is fortunate enough to get drafted, like Pierce was, chances are he’ll be putting up the kind of numbers that Pierce did.
Had Pierce stayed for his senior year, he would have broken all of Paul Palmer’s running records. As it was, he broke most of them.
If Williams is drafted, he’ll likely put up Pierce/Palmer-like numbers and, if that happens, Temple will have some very good seasons.
Remember, this was a guy who in a high school game ran for 386 yards and six touchdowns. Those are Montel Harris-vs.-Army-type numbers.

You’ve got to love Williams’ confidence, a swagger if you will. To me, one of the biggest disappointments in last year’s 4-7 season for the Owls was that they didn’t play with the swagger they showed in previous years.

I think Matt Rhule’s brought the fun back. Guys like Williams  are raising the entire team’s confidence level.

Plus, got to love a guy who shows that kind of love and respect for his father, who will probably be his biggest fan this fall.
I might not be the second-biggest fan or the third, but I’ll definitely be in the top 10.

After eight years of Temple Football Forever on blogger, I thought it was best to move to a WordPress format.

The reason I’ve done that is in my other job I work almost exclusively in wordpress and it’s easy for me to hit the same buttons for images, text, etc., going back and forth to this hobby I love, Temple Football Forever.

We’ll get back to regular posts soon.

The only thing I liked about the former website was the design with the black background and all of the sidebar items I was able to use.

We’re working on the design and hopefully some of the sidebar items will return. (If you want to see the countdown clock, etc., or donate to Temple Football Forever, please visit the old website at: templefootballforever.blogspot.com … all the buttons work there).

Meanwhile, the Owls are practicing for Notre Dame and we’re here practicing to get this website up in tip-top condition within the next few days and hopefully not weeks.

Bear with us.

Thanks.

Coming Soon: TEMPLE FOOTBALL FOREVER ON STEROIDS!
(by that, we mean bigger and better and more frequently updated than ever, not using banned substances …)
Same great content, probably not with the same design. (Looked at the new templates and it probably won’t look anything like this site, unfortunately.)
We’re going to a new platform coming over the next few days and you may be either redirected or asked to  bookmark a new website.

We’ll iron out these technical details soon.

Thanks for all your support since 2005.

Just a couple of days before the nation celebrated the anniversary of the signing of The Declaration of Independence, another American Revolution was taking place.
Instead of throwing some tea overboard in Boston Harbor, American Athletic Conference (AAC) football fans bombed Stanford.
No worries.
No real explosives were used, just an internet bombing of the Stanford blog.
For some reason, ESPN pulled the plug on its AAC blog, written by Andrea Adelson, who was transferred over to the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) to do that blog.
Apparently, ESPN plans no blog-specific coverage of this new conference, a move that outraged the fans.

Orlando Sentinel reports on AAC fan revolt.

This is the same ESPN that has TEAM-specific blogs for both Notre Dame and Stanford.
I could see Notre Dame, but not Stanford.
Neither could the fans of the AAC, who have taken over every discussion at the Stanford board.
I think it’s a brilliant move.
While it will drive more traffic over to Stanford, the discussion will be dominated by AAC fans.
A topic on the quarterback controversy at that school, say, will turn into a discussion about the AAC from the comments below the story.
If ESPN was smart, they would rid themselves of this problem by assigning a guy (we suggest Matt Fortuna)  to start an AAC blog.
Then the Stanford fans can get back to commenting about Stanford and the AAC fans will have a place to go.

Hopefully, the Owls will be smiling like this after the RU game in November. Photo by Patrick Rosenbaum

After the 2012 Temple spring game, I talked to a couple of Temple players in the parking lot at Lincoln Financial Field.
I asked the two guys to do me one favor.
“If you do anything this year, please beat Rutgers,” I said. “I’ve never seen more obnoxious fans in my life.”

This is how every RU-TU game should go. ….interesting use of the possessive in headline.

“Don’t worry,” one of the Owls’ said, “we’ve got something special planned for them.”
Their fans are at it again today, calling the Owls’ recent recruiting surge into New Jersey “getting RU leftovers” and saying that the Owls’ recruits are “RU Plan B” guys who Piscataway can pooch on signing day if needed.
I don’t get this RU fixation with downplaying Temple’s recruiting successes, but it does stir the rivalry juices.
I guess if Kent State didn’t teach RU a lesson in humility, Temple is going to have to come the first Saturday in November.

Not all RU fans are like this, to be fair, but from the 54 plus replies to that thread, a good 50 of them give Temple no credit.
Last year, it was Temple’s fault.

It’s football, not rocket science, so:
On offense, look for the Owls to use guys like Khalif Herbin and Jalen Fitzpatrick on quick slants to open up the running game for, say, Zaire Williams, on wraparound draws.
On defense, use the Owls’ speedy LBs to get in Nova’s face one second after he snaps the ball.

After Temple blew a 10-0 halftime lead and went on to lose, 35-10, last year I could not blame the kids.
They could have not known that the “something special” their coach had planned for Rutgers was to run the ball up the middle all day against the then top-ranked run defense in the country.
Nor did they figure the Owls would play defense passively, dropping eight into coverage at times and allowing the Rutgers’ QB all day to throw the ball in the second half.
As far as Temple games go, it was the worst game day strategy I’ve seen since Ron Dickerson and that’s pretty bad.
Yesterday, the Owls spent all dayhelping build a house in Philadelphia as the Habitat for Humanity program.
I hope when they go to Piscataway in the fall they help tear down one.
Just judging by what new coach Matt Rhule wheeled out in this spring’s game, I think Temple will have a much better plan of attack this fall.

A week later, Kent State showed Temple what should have been the blueprint for beating the Scarlet Knights _ use ultra-quick linebackers in blitzing situations and force Gary Nova, the QB with happy feet, into  six interceptions.
That should be the plan this year.
It’s football, not rocket science, so:
On offense, look for the Owls to use guys like Khalif Herbin and Jalen Fitzpatrick on quick slants to open up the running game for, say, Zaire Williams, on wraparound draws.
On defense, use the Owls’ speedy LBs to get in Nova’s face one second after he snaps the ball on both gap and edge blitzes.
I’m looking forward to Notre Dame, like every other Owl fan, and I fully understand the “one game at a time” mentality in a 12-game season.
With apologies to Thomas Jefferson, though, not all wins in a 12-game season are created equally and the first Saturday in November certainly qualifies under that declaration of war, not independence.