Author Archives: Mike Gibson

11.13.11
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Time for watching JJ today

If you were hit by JJ, you’d go play baseball, too.

Heck, my favorite college football player is Bernard Pierce.
Didn’t get to see him on Wednesday night (except for yelling encouragement from the sidelines).
Damn.
My favorite pro player is DeSean Jackson.
Won’t get to see him today (suspended for missing a team meeting).
Damn.
But my two favorite teams are the Temple football Owls and the Philadelphia football Eagles (in that order) and I will get to mix both of those starting today (1 p.m., Fox).
That’s because former Temple Owl Jaiquawn Jarrett gets his first pro start.
Go JJ.
Go Birds.
(Both Eagles and Owls.)
Then I’ll go work off the Applebee’s Oriental Chicken salad I’m planning to eat while watching the game.

11.12.11
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Teams to root for today: UB, SMU, Rutgers

Even in this age of instant communication, it’s going to be hard to find the score of the Buffalo at Eastern Michigan game.
First off, it’s never on KYW-AM (they only give top 10 scores) and it’s not on over the air TV (even pay cable) anywhere.
But it is on the internet and, for Temple fans, provides a rooting element.
All these teams would do Temple a big favor by winning:

Hooter is more endearing.

BUFFALO at Eastern Michigan (1 p.m., MAC all-access) _ If the Bulls finish ahead of Bowling Green in the standings, they provide a positive backup tie-breaker for Temple should it finish in a three-way tie with Miami and Ohio. Eastern Michigan is a three-point favorite. The game is on internet only. Buffalo’s got a chance. It beat Ohio.

She’d be perfect for me
if she was 20 years older
and I had $1 million

Navy at SMU (3:30, FSN) _ Southern Methodist football players wrote a letter to the school newspapers complaining about the lack of enthusiasm by their own fans in a win over TCU. They must be looking at the coeds and not on the field of play. Navy has to win all three of its remaining games (at SMU, at San Jose State and vs. Army) to qualify for a bowl Temple could be looking at attending (D.C., likely) and SMU is the toughest of the three. SMU is a seven-point favorite.

Cos and Hall and Oates are more famous.

RUTGERS vs. Army (3:30, Yankee Stadium, CBS College Sports) _ Same deal with Navy as Army has to win all three of its remaining games to qualify for a bowl. If Temple LOSES to Army, it still has a chance to qualify for a final bowl slot if Army loses today. Hopefully, both Rutgers and ESPECIALLY Temple beats Army. The Black Knights of the Hudson have proven to be a tough out on occasion this year, losing at Miami (Ohio) by only a touchdown and beating Northwestern, 21-14. Northwestern, you’ll recall, won AT Nebraska last week. Rutgers is an eight-point favorite.

11.12.11
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Bradley, Addazio and the MAC Roundtable


In the interview process, dynamo (left) always beats wet noodle.

One of the unexpected perks of blogging about Temple football is the people who reach out to me and try to fill in some questions that I have to help me keep the general TU football community relatively well-informed.
Some of them are well-connected people.
Around Dec. 23d, I was scratching my head when the name Steve Addazio came up as the guy who got the Temple head coaching job. All I heard for a week was Tom Bradley was the leading candidate and then with about five furlongs left, Addazio comes charging at the finish line and nips Bradley at the tape.

Graphic by Tim Riordan (not the ex-TU QB)

Or so I thought.
I, quite frankly, wasn’t excited about either one and I never even heard of Addazio.
Then I got an email from someone who was in the room when both Addazio and Bradley were interviewed.
“Mike, it wasn’t even close,” the man wrote. “Bradley came in and had the personality of a wet noodle and this guy [Addazio] was a dynamo. It was an easy choice.”
I watched the “wet noodle” Thursday in his first press conference as a head coach at Penn State and I understood just exactly how the Temple search committee felt.
All I could imagine was Lew Katz or somebody asking him what his “expectations” are for the Temple football program and Bradley saying “the expectations are the expectations” which he seemed to be saying like 100 times on Thursday.
No thanks, Tom.
Thanks for coming to Philadelphia and don’t let the door hit you in the backside on the way out.
I need more specificity than that.
I got it with Addazio and I’m pretty confident Temple made the right choice.
Since the penultimate day before Christmas, Addazio has been that dynamo.
Knowing what I know now, I’m glad to have a guy with that kind of personality leading my team. Also knowing what Bradley probably has known for 15 years, I don’t want anybody like that near my team.
This week, I’m hosting the MAC Blogger Roundtable and just like Addazio, both Tim Riordan (Buffalo) and B.J. Fischer (Bowling Green) are blogging dynamos and wasted little time in answering the questions.
Riordan is always the first across the finish line and his answers are here.
Fischer came in a couple of hours behind. One of the more interesting things in B.J.’s blog is that a Bowling Green alumn gave $10 million to athletics. I thought only Karl Smith had that kind of money to give Bowling Green.
I’ll add the rest after this paragraph when the ballots are counted:
Let’s Go Rockets

11.10.11
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Temple becomes bowl eligible

Any Eagle fan can tell you what the first words out of a famous Temple football father’s mouth will be after a win.
Andy Reid will clear his throat, cough a couple of times, and say:
“First off, any win in the National Football League is a good win.”

Deon Miller makes nice catch for touchdown.

That’s pretty much how I feel about the Mid-American Conference these days.
Any win in the MAC is a good win and Temple’s 24-21 bowl-eligible-qualifying win over gritty Miami (Ohio) was a good way to cap one of the most beautiful November days and nights, weather-wise, I can ever remember in my nearly half-century of living in Philadelphia.
The game was not as perfect, mind you, but pretty much what I expected.
Pretty much what all the Temple fans I talked to in the pre-game tailgate expected, too.
“Twelve-and-a-half points is way too high,” I said to pretty much everyone.
“Yeah,” pretty much everyone replied.
I thought the defense recaptured a little bit of the swagger it lost in the last couple of weeks (heck, it was hard to blame the defense for the Bowling Green loss) and the offense did just enough.
Game-plan wise, I would have liked to seen more first down play-action passes and not being forced into a situation where you HAVE to pass on third down all the time. I don’t think Temple mixed it up particularly well on offense. Then again, compared to last year’s offensive game plan, it was pure genius.

Dream remains alive
The ONLY scenario Temple can win the MAC East:
(Updated 11:35 a.m., 11/11/11)
Temple wins over Kent
Ohio loses to Miami (assuming it beats BGSU)
(TU, Miami and Ohio all tied
with 5-3 records but TU wins
on basis of second criteria)
Note: If Ohio loses to BGSU but not Miami, Ohio wins tie-breaker
source: MAC League Offices

There were a couple of silly penalties, one a late hit out of bounds and one an offsides, but those things can be fixed in the next week or so of practice.
I was heartened to hear that people behind me were getting text messages from folks watching at home that their enjoyment of watching the Temple game was curtailed because ESPN cut in for a Joe Paterno press conference.
Good.
There is no reason to be living within an hour’s drive of the stadium for a Temple home game and watch on TV. If my friends from Palmerton sitting behind me can get by one night of the year on four hours worth of sleep, then so can the Philadelphia couch potatoes who give Temple a bad fan reputation by staying home. I hope they missed a lot of exciting plays because I saw them all. I know Temple has a “softcore” fan base who stay at home and watch every time the Owls are on local TV (ratings indicate it), but that part of the fan base does the team and school irreparable harm by doing so. You can’t talk about being in a BCS conference and not travel to a home game.
End of rant.
From a personal standpoint, a highlight of mine was finally getting to meet my favorite player’s Mom.
I have three favorite players from the current era, Adrian Robinson, Adam DiMichele and Bernard Pierce, but Pierce is The Franchise in my mind and therefore my favorite. Heck, speaking as someone who saw Paul Palmer play every game, he’s flat-out better than Boo-Boo and that’s the highest compliment I can ever give anyone. He’s faster than Paul Palmer, has better moves and vision in the open field and can deliver more punishment to tacklers. The only facet of Paul’s game that was better was his durability.
So Pierce is my favorite Temple player and he has been since his freshman year.
Tammy is Bernard Pierce’s mom and while it was sad to see BP not playing (he should be back against Army), it was good to see the entire Pierce family just as wrapped up in the Owls as they would be if he was out there.
Hopefully, when The Franchise finally gets out there, Scot Loeffler will tweak the package for him just enough to get Pierce the ball in open space and not utilize him on “fullback-type”  draws so much. Pitchouts to the wide side of the field and screen passes ought to make Bernard Pierce lethal once again.
Still, you can’t say enough about the relief effort of tough hombre Matty Brown. If it wasn’t for Matty’s 120 yards, there would be no three-point win over a good team.
Even Andy Reid would agree.
Time’s yours.

11.08.11
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Temple TUFF: Meaningful or an empty phrase?


The latest edition of Temple TUFF.

Nothing perturbed me more at the beginning of the season than the notion “Temple is going to take a step back without Al Golden.”
If I read that once, it seemed like I read it 100 times.
That logic might have computed to those on the outside, but made no sense at all to those of us who follow the program closely.
Logically, Golden gave new coach Steve Addazio his best group of players to date (save for the quarterback position) and Addazio was bringing in a battle-tested SEC staff to “coach them up.”

Temple-Miami common scores
Bowling Green 13, Temple 10
Miami 37, Bowling Green 23
Miami 41, Buffalo 13
Temple 34, Buffalo 0
Toledo 49, Miami 28
Toledo 36, Temple 13

An improvement upon last year’s 8-4 record was expected.
I still expect an improvement.
But Addazio’s margin of error now is zero.
The Owls must win three straight games and at least appear in a bowl game this year for any reasonable person to see an improvement upon last year’s 8-4 season.

Temple TUFF will be put to the test more than ever, starting tomorrow night (8 p.m.) at Lincoln Financial Field against a good-but-not-great Miami (Ohio) team.
Does Temple TUFF have any meaning or is it just an empty phrase?

Temple got away from Addazio’s “Plan to Win” in the past two weeks. The plan to win is playing great defense, making a difference on special teams and establishing the run to set up play-action passes. You can’t establish the run when you use the PIAA 100-meter dash champion up the middle like a fullback, which Addazio did almost exclusively at Ohio. You’ve got to get that kind of speed to the outside edges at least half the time.

He nearly got Bernard “The Franchise” Pierce killed with an ill-advised third-and-five draw at Ohio. Hopefully, Bernard will play and they will find ways to get him the ball in space (i.e., pitchouts and screen passes). If not, Matty Brown will do a fine job with similar plays.


Temple could not have ordered bettter weather.



To win three straight, Temple’s defense is going to have to play with the kind of zeal it displayed during games vs. Penn State and Maryland.  They can’t pick and chose when to play TEMPLE TUFF.

It boggles my mind that a team which shut out Ball State (42-0) and Buffalo (34-0) can lose to a team that lost to both of those teams. The defense played with a purpose and a ferocity in those two games they did not show at Ohio.
Temple should (will) be favored in all three of its games, but there is significant reason for concern.
Miami (Ohio) beat Army and Army beat Northwestern and Northwestern beat Nebraska, so these teams have talent. Kent State pummeled Bowling Green. These are no slouch teams Temple is playing.
Still, Temple has more talent and the time to show it is now.
Remember, Temple beat a Maryland team which beat the real Miami which beat the real Ohio (State). That’s why a loss to the fake Ohio and the fake Miami will be harder to take. Temple was two minutes away from beating a Penn State team which is unbeaten in Big 10 play.
Two weeks ago, bowl scenarios were talking about Temple playing Ohio State in Detroit or the real Miami in D.C. After losing to Ohio, nobody is talking about that anymore.
It’s time to polish the Temple brand and finish strong and make the Owls an attractive national name again.
To do that, Temple will have to do no more or less they play the way it played most of the time on the way to a 5-2 record.
Temple TUFF is needed now more than ever.

11.07.11
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Sandusky’s Temple connection

You may question Daz’s loyalty to Chester Stewart as costing the team a MAC title, but you can never question his character as a human being and that’s a lot more important.

 Just  when I’m feeling depressed after losing a pair of winnable college football games, a shot of perspective comes down to jolt me back to reality.

At least I’m not living in (Un) Happy Valley today.
Man, you think losing football games is tough, how about having that cloud hang over your program and town?
We won’t get into the sordid details (there’s enough of that information out there), but suffice it to say: There But For the Grace of God Go We.
Or, in this case, Joe Paterno.
Up until Saturday, Paterno had been considered God by some in then Happy Valley.
Even though he’s been exonerated by the law, I think his legacy has been knocked down a few pegs over the last 48 hours.

dodged
I have to thank Joe Paterno today, though, on behalf of the entire Temple community.
Paterno talked Sandusky out of taking the Temple job. Sandusky had an offer on the table from Charlie Theokas, who was then Temple’s AD.
Instead of getting Jerry Sandusky back on Dec. 20, 1988, Temple got Jerry Berndt.
I’d never thought I’d say this, either, but Thank God for Jerry Berndt. (Hey, Berndt did take talent Bruce Arians recruited and gave us our last win over a Big 10 team, 23-18, at Wisconsin, in 1990.)
Penn State can have that Sandusky headache and heartache.
Temple can look forward to a three- (or four-) game winning streak, starting in a couple of days.
Suddenly, I’m not so depressed anymore and, ironically enough, it is thanks to Joe Paterno’s bad-mouthing Temple.

11.05.11
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Root for Air Force and Troy today


This video is like that jigsaw puzzle game, where you pick two shots that don’t match. My favorite is the Ryan Alderman catch at the sticks (2:09 time stamp), the ridiculous spot, and the criminal call of a catch (6:45) when the ball clearly hit the ground that gave Ohio the game. You can probably pick out 10 more mismatched calls, all against Temple.

When I was a kid working my way through college at Temple University, I was once assigned to write about an Overbrook at John Bartram high school basketball game in the hood.
I was literally the only white guy at this game (including refs, administration and security) and a little after the start, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“Who you rootin’ for?” a fan about two years younger than me demanded.
“I’m not rooting for anybody, I’m here to cover it for the Philadelphia Bulletin.”
“Bulletin? Put my name in there. It’s Winston. That’s W-I-N-S-T-O-N.”
“Yeah, OK.”
Winston never got his name in the paper, but I never went back to John Bartram.
I think about Winston every time I watch college football on a Temple-less Saturday.
Since the only bookie I ever trusted moved to Utah some 15 years ago, I haven’t placed a sheckle (or a dime) on any sporting event since and I really don’t root for anybody but Temple.

Temple’s bowl hopes
While Temple has to win three games it will be favored to win, Army has to win three of four and Navy has to win all four to get the Owls’ most likely bowl slot.
Army Remaining:
@ Air Force
Rutgers
@ Temple
Navy

Navy Remaining:
Troy
@SMU
@San Jose
Army
Source: emh55

Now, though, because Temple needs some help, I’m forced in a position where I have to root for somebody.
Temple’s season could be helped immeasurably by an Air Force victory over visiting Army (TV, Versus) and a Navy loss to Troy (TV, CBS college sports network) today.
Navy is an eight-point favorite.
If both Army and Navy lose, that could open up a spot for Temple in the Military Bowl. Temple is now coveted by the Military Bowl after Owl fans saved its bacon in the 2009 game, bringing 20,000 of the 23,000 fans to the game against UCLA.
Right now, other than Navy (which has to go 4-0 to earn a spot), Temple would be a great get for the Military Bowl because of its nearby fan base. (Army, though, might be able to bring 15-20K on its own.)
The MAC is a backup option for that bowl and the Army/Navy/MAC team will face a team out of the ACC, which, at this point, figures to be Miami (Fla.).
What a story that would be, Al Golden vs. Steve Addazio in D.C.?
Talk about TV ratings and building the Temple brand nationally, nothing would do it like a win over The U in D.C. on national TV.
Temple has to hold up its end and needs only a little help to make it happen.

11.03.11
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Hosed in Ohio

“Listen, if it looks like Temple is going to take this next kickoff to the house, throw the flag.”

Every time I mention that Temple should get out of the Mid-American Conference, I’ll always have one or two Temple fans (out of about 30) say something like: “Let’s win the MAC first.”
I try to explain that should be immaterial to things like school size, TV ratings, size of the market, etc.
I should have added officiating.

The impossible dream
The ONLY scenario Temple can win the MAC:
Temple wins over Mia and Kent
Ohio loses @ CMU, @ BGSU and Mia
BGSU loses to NIU and Buffalo but beats Ohio
Mia beats Ohio
Temple wins MAC title game in Detroit
source: emh55

If Temple has any chance to win a big MAC game, you can bet on officiating playing a factor against it.
Bet is the key word since the line opened and 5 1/2 points and quickly went down to three by game time.
You think maybe some of the Vegas people might have seen that Temple was penalized 12 times to Bowling Green’s two last week and that might have set off some MAC officiating alarms behind the betting window?
Just sayin’.
For Exhibit A, I give you tonight’s 35-31 loss in Athens to Ohio.
Both ESPN announcers said that one of the Ohio touchdowns should have been taken off the scoreboard due to the new launching yourself into the end zone rule, commonly known as the “excessive celebration” penalty.
“These points are coming off the board,” play-by-play guy Mark Neely said after watching the replay. “That’s the new rule.”
“Yeah, Mark,” color guy Ray Bentley said.

When an ESPN sports center anchor not named Kevin Neghandi implies Temple is hosed, Temple is hosed.

The official saw the celebration (how could he not, it was right in front of him) threw the flag, but then put it in his back pocket, then announced they would enforce a sideline penalty instead. You cannot launch yourself into the end zone while ahead of the field of play. It’s a rule in the books that has been enforced all year but not against any MAC team playing Temple.
I don’t expect it ever will.
Have Matty Brown do it next week on national TV against Miami and I’m sure the flag would be thrown, points taken off the board and the call would stand without hesitation. I would bet $100,000 that would be the case.
Once a “supposed” catch that preceded a touchdown, the replays clearly … clearly …  showed the ball was never in possession of the receiver yet the replay official refused to overturn it.
Shades of UConn.
Not only did the ESPN announcers say the ball appeared to come out, but Mike Tirico said so on Sportscenter.
When a sports center anchor not named Kevin Neghandi implies Temple is hosed, Temple is hosed.
I read lips pretty good and Steve Addazio told the official: “He never had control AND he was out of bounds.”
Addazio was right.
Ryan Alderman catches a ball right at the sticks and the officials move it a yard farther back.
Adrian Robinson gets horsecollared to the ground on Ohio’s last long pass play and the officials keep the flag in their pocket.
Etc., etc., etc.
Something smells rotten in Hicksville, Ohio.
I feel sorry for the Temple fans who made the trip and for players like Chris Coyer, who had a breakout game in his first real action as an Owl. He was put in an unfair position of having to win a game his team already won twice before.
Look, the MAC is a fine conference and it is hard enough to win these games on merit.
It’s impossible to do so when the field is tilted so heavily in the direction of the old-line MAC teams against the newcomer.
I don’t care if it’s the Big East or Conference USA, the time to get out of this hick conference is now.

11.01.11
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Temple-Ohio: The Whole World is Watching

One of the great things about Facebook is catching up with old friends, like Joe.
Joe is a terrific college football play-by-play guy who went to Temple.
We both worked in Doylestown in our 20s, me as a writer for the Doylestown Intelligencer, him doing Central Bucks West football play-by-play for WBUX-AM.
I don’t get Joe, though. He’s like a lot of Temple people I know.

That’s why, unless a change is made at quarterback, I don’t have a feeling one way or the other. This team cannot win with two hobbled running backs when the QB is unable to make a positive play on his own. This team has too much receiving talent to not make explosive plays in the passing game. Seeing that talent go to waste irks me to no end. They just haven’t found the right guy to light the fuse.


Every time I post something positive about Temple football on Facebook, he says nothing. Didn’t say a word after the 38-7 win at Maryland, the back-to-back shutouts of Ball State and Buffalo (two teams better than most people credit) or the gut-wrenching lost to Big 10 leader Penn State.
Yet lose to Toledo or Bowling Green and Joe is the first guy to post.
“Toledo?” was his one-word post after the Toledo loss.
“Bowling Green?” was his one-word post after the Bowling Green loss.
I asked him:
“Why do you hate Temple so much? You seem to revel in the failure, yet never comment on the success.”
“Don’t hate,” he replied. “Just don’t want to make them out to be anything more than what they are.”
Well, that got me to thinking.
What are we?
We’ll find out on Wednesday night at Ohio (8 p.m., ESPN).
Really, the whole world will.
On every TV in every bar in the United States (and some across the world), Temple football will be the only thing on in the background. A lot of assumptions of what Temple is will be made that night.
It’s time to put up or shut up.
Here’s what I think “we” are: A championship-caliber MAC team that is also good enough to win the Big East. Last year’s Temple team beat the BE champion by two touchdowns. This year’s Temple team is better than that one.
I think most Temple fans, maybe not Joe, would agree.
I think a team that won, 42-0, at Ball State and a team that beat Buffalo, 34-0, should be able to handle this Ohio team. Heck, both Ball State and Buffalo did.
However, I think the team that went three-and-out with maddening consistency at Bowling Green due primarily to subpar (and that’s a kind word) quarterback play will struggle at Ohio. That’s why, unless a change is made at quarterback, I don’t have a feeling one way or the other. This team cannot win with two hobbled running backs when the QB is unable to make a positive play on his own. This team has too much receiving talent to not make explosive plays in the passing game. Seeing that talent go to waste irks me to no end. They just haven’t found the right guy to light the fuse.
I’m not seeing any indication that a change will be made at quarterback so I’m thinking it will be a four-point game either way.

This week’s blogger roundtable questions come from Let’s Go Rockets:
1. As we enter the final month of the regular season for most teams, what piece has been missing from your respective team? Can adjustments be made in the remaining schedule to fix it?

TFF: Quarterback. Temple can win a championship with Mike Gerardi. I’m not sure about Chris Coyer because I’ve never seen him throw the ball. All he does is score 80-yard touchdowns. I don’t think Temple is a championship team with Chester Stewart at quarterback. Sorry, I just don’t feel that way.

2. How do you feel about the new uniforms in college football this season? Seems like teams are rolling out throwbacks and unveiling special uniforms for certain games. Should the MAC hop on board with this trend?
TFF: No. I hate new uniforms. I even hate the T on the Temple helmet. I think a team should stick with the uniforms it had during its most successful era. For Temple, that was TEMPLE on the helmets and Liberty Bell stripes down the side of the pants.
3. If you were creating an ideal MAC team using the offensive, defensive, special teams, and coaching portions of current MAC teams, list the components of your powerhouse combination.
TFF: I’ll pass on that one.

4. What one player on your team has the best chance of making an NFL roster?
TFF: Bernard Pierce is a second-round pick if he comes out now. If he comes out next year, he’s a first-round pick with big bucks.
5. Rank ‘em
Toledo

Temple

Western Michigan

Ohio

Northern Illinois

Eastern Michigan

Bowling Green

Ball State
Central Michigan

Miami

Buffalo

Kent State

Akron

10.31.11
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Former Pa. Gov. lobbying for TU in BE

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Ed Rendell introduces Hillary Clinton at Temple University.

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We’ll have a complete preview on the Temple vs. Ohio game tomorrow (which is really the only important thing to me right now) but I thought I’d use Monday to share some good news.
Former two-term Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell came out solidly behind Temple’s all-sports inclusion into the Big East Conference in a very big way today with an appearance on WIP Sports Radio (94.1FM and 610AM).
The Villanova Law grad also lectured his “other” alma mater on obstruction and really ripped them a new asshole, for want of a better term.
Since all of the Big East presidents are in town for the next two days, we assume this has gotten around and hopefully they will take Rendell’s advice to heart.
Place cursor over the gray area and advance it forward to the 5:25 mark.