Author Archives: Mike Gibson

05.25.25
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Tush Push Could Return to Temple

Not quite the tush push, but a reminder of the days when “Temple TUFF” was more than a phrase.

Something that got plenty of attention here, but little elsewhere, was the story of the tush push staying in the NFL.

It’s always been legal in college football.

Temple’s last head coach, Stan Drayton, dabbled in it with mixed results in the last two seasons. When he tried it with a big tight end, David Martin-Robinson, it worked pretty well two years ago. When he tried it with a 160-pound backup quarterback a year ago at UConn, the play went viral for being laughable.

Temple TUFF dictates that the play return under the former framework, not the ladder.

The Owls are deep with big tight ends who can do the pushing. They have a big defensive lineman, Colin Greene, a former quarterback, who can do the tushing. The great thing about having Greene take the snap is that there can be a lot run off the tush push, like a quick pass or a fake tush push and a toss to the running back.

It’s a play perfect for new head coach K.C. Keeler to run because he understands the dynamics involved and how he can make it play to his advantage.

K.C. Keeler tush pushes his way through the Eagles’ victory parade.

Nobody that we can recall asked Keeler what he thinks of the play but he’s a big Eagles’ fan who attended the victory parade so he might dictate that show up in the playbook at some time in the future.

Former Temple DC Fran Brown already said he’s going to run the play at Syracuse and it makes sense.

For a team that rebuilt the offensive line over the offseason and is deep at tight end, no play makes more sense at Temple than the tush push.

It’s already popular in Philadelphia.

05.23.25
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Way too early 2025 Temple football predictions

K.C. Keeler might have this pose after the Owls beat North Carolina in the Military Bowl.

Our “way-too-early” 2024 predictions appeared in this space on May 19, 2024.

Only four days and a year later, we’re going to swing and hopefully hit on a lot of these but first a review.

We predicted the 2024 Temple Owls to go 2-10 and they went 3-9 (again). We pretty much nailed the Tulsa game on the head, predicting the Owls to win by 11 (they won by 10). Also nailed the UConn game predicting the Owls would lose, 17-14 (they lost 29-20).

Our biggest miss was Utah State, where we predicted the Owls to lose, 34-7 (they won, 45-29). We predicted a 77-6 loss to Oklahoma (they lost 51-3) and a win over Coastal Carolina (they lost that one, 28-20). Also lost FAU as we predicted Temple would lose to Tom Herman. Owls won, 18-15 and Stan Drayton was fired the next day.

The football is a strange shape and it takes funny bounces but we’ll give it the old college try in this spot:

Temple 24, UMass 10 _ The fact that Temple was able to steal UMass’ best linebacker tells you all you need to know about this one. Temple has a seasoned head coach in K.C. Keeler. UMass has a first-time head coach in a former Rutgers’ assistant. Evan Simon throws for two touchdown passes, Gevani McCoy adds another on the ground and Carl Hardin kicks a field goal. Temple is unbeaten (1-0).

Temple 48, Howard 7 _ Howard shocked the world a few years ago when it went to UNLV and came away with a win as a 37-point underdog against an FBS team. That’s not happening. Simon plays the first half and throws for three touchdown passes and McCoy does the same in the second half. Jay Ducker runs for 176 yards but no touchdowns as he is caught from behind twice. Temple is 2-0.

Oklahoma 34, Temple 14 _ Not completely sold on the Owls, the Temple fans are outnumbered in the stands by the visitors from 1,600 miles away. Crowd of 52,333 is heavily pro-Sooner and that makes the difference. Temple is now 2-1.

Georgia Tech 38, Temple 7 _ Plenty of talk about Georgia Tech’s 24-2 loss to Temple in 2019 before the game. Yellowjackets are primed for revenge and get it. Temple is now 2-2.

Owls to face both Bill Belichick and any distractions Jordan Hudson can provide in the Military Bowl.

Temple 24, UTSA 21 _ Carl Hardin nails a 48-yarder with 2:53 left to give Temple a lead and Temple’s defense stops the Roadrunners at midfield to end the game. Temple is 3-2.

Navy 31, Temple 21 _ The Midshipmen, which lost to Temple, 32-16, in 2023, get some revenge for that one. Temple, though, shows improvement over its 38-11 loss to Navy last year. Still not good enough. Temple is 3-3.

Make that 99 as of today.

Temple 34, Tulsa 21 _ Jay Ducker runs for 142 yards and sets up two short touchdown passes from Simon to Antonio Jones and Temple comes away with a comfortable win in Oklahoma. Many of the Oklahoma fans who made the trip to Philadelphia show up rooting for the Owls. Crowd is generously announced at 6,234. Temple is 4-3.

Temple 28, Charlotte 14 _ Owls go into the 20,111-seat Jerry Richardson Stadium and come away with a comfortable win. McCoy starts, throws two TDs and runs for one. Simon comes in to close out the game in the fourth quarter. Terrez Worthy scores a 56-yard touchdown and wins the starting RB job from Ducker. Temple is 5-3.

Temple 28, East Carolina 20 _ The last time ECU visited Lincoln Financial Field, the Pirates escaped with a 49-46 win because the Owls couldn’t convert a third-and-1 at midfield (trying a pass instead of a run) and kicked the ball away with a lead. This time, the Temple defense has a much better day, getting two picks. Temple is now 6-3.

Army 31, Temple 28 _ Temple leads the whole game but Army, in a game similar to the 2017 game, wins on a last-second bomb from a backup quarterback. Afterward, K.C. Keeler shakes Jeff Monken’s hand and says, “You are the best coach in the country.” Monken returns the favor, saying, “K.C. you are not so bad yourself.” Temple is 6-4.

Tulane 28, Temple 17 _ Keeler spends the entire off week showing the Owls film of their 52-6 loss at Tulane last year. It helps only a little. Brian Smith’s defense contains but does not stop the Green Wave. Temple is 6-5.

North Texas 31, Temple 17 _ The late November temperature in Denton, Texas is 82 degrees. Owls, who have practiced all week in 30-degree temperatures in Philadelphia can’t hang. Temple finishes 6-6 and accepts a bid to the Military Bowl to play North Carolina afterward.

Keeler laughs.

“I have a lot of respect for coach Belichick but I don’t have the off-field distractions he has,” Keeler says. “We’re going to be focused on winning. I told the kids anybody who opts out of the bowl game is no longer a Temple Owl. Kids said they are all in and so am I.”

There you have it. Temple finishes 6-6 in the regular season.

I had them at 2-10 a year ago. I won’t be mad if they win one more game than predicted this season.

Again.

Monday: The Temple Push


05.18.25
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Wise betting on Owls will be the over this season

This is Sunday’s College Football News’ prediction.

According to most legitimate betting sites, the over/under on Temple wins for the 2025 season is yet to be determined.

However, if the last two years were any indication, that number rested on 2.5 prior to the season and the Owls exceeded the number each time. Shockingly so, because that was with Stan Drayton as head coach and Everett Withers as defensive coordinator.

CFN’s Top 10 Temple players.

That probably means Vegas is currently factoring in things like coaching changes, transfer portal additions (vs. losses) to come up with a number in a matter of weeks, not months.

My guess is that the addition of K.C. Keeler alone moves the needle to four games and that’s probably where the number will rest.

I never bet Temple, either for or against, because my rooting interest is for the Owls to win every game and most things less bum me out to no end. I get no satisfaction of betting against the Owls, and winning some money the same way I get no satisfaction in betting for the Owls and them losing a game they should win.

Yet, for those of you so inclined, I recommend the over.

That means a minimum of five wins. If everything goes right, and the Owls catch a break with very few injuries at important positions, it could be six.

One thing I do know: It won’t be three.

Or less.

I’m not the only one.

On Sunday, College Football News came out with an assessment of the Owls and said their consecutive three-win seasons are over.

For the good.

They say four.

Most Temple fans I’ve seen say five.

I’m leaning toward six.

How they get there will be determined in Friday’s post.

Friday: Promises Made, Promises kept

Monday: Temple and the Push

05.15.25
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Temple football: We’re No. 4

Nobody is predicting that in a league with 14 teams Temple finishes No. 4.

Yet in that same league, Temple has a coach ranked No. 4.

A couple of days ago, the popular college football site Yardbarker ranked the top four coaches in the American Athletic Conference and new Temple coach K.C. Keeler was in the group.

Not surprising considering Keeler is the all-time winningest FCS coach and a lock to be the third Temple Owl ever inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame when he hangs up the clipboard.

What does this mean for the 2025 Temple football Owls?

Both a lot and a little.

Everyone knows in these terrible days of college football when money talks and bullshit walks, money means a lot.

Yet it doesn’t mean everything.

As a lifelong football fan, particularly of high schools and colleges, I’ve seen a lot of remarkable stories and wrote many of them.

As a sportswriter for The Doylestown Intelligencer in the 1980s, I covered perhaps the greatest high school football program of all time in Central Bucks West. The coach there, Mike Pettine Sr., a Villanova grad out of the same Conshohocken high school as legendary Temple baseball coach Skip Wilson, took a team of mostly 5-10, 170-pound white kids to multiple state championships. First, “mythical” ones when the PIAA did not conduct postseason playoffs and then reaffirming those in real state championship games in large school football playoffs. Pettine’s lifetime record: 364 wins, 42 losses and three ties, including 10 unbeaten seasons.

Amazing.

Mostly done with only about 700 boys in a school district split in half when Central Bucks East came onboard. I arranged a series between CB West and a big-time Catholic League power, Archbishop Ryan, and West won those games, 22-14 and 14-7. At the time, Ryan had 2,500 boys and West had 700.

“Hey, Mike, can you imagine how good we’d be with 2,500 boys?” assistant head coach Mike Carey said to Pettine as they walked off the field after the second win.

A few years earlier than that, watched as Wayne Hardin took the Temple Owls from a small school schedule to three consecutive close losses against a national championship contender in Penn State. Hardin was the real deal, having proven himself as the head coach at Navy, leaving the Middies to the No. 2 ranking in the country in the 1960s with a program that required a five-year service commitment after graduation.

I know what good coaches can do against insurmountable odds.

These guys aren’t Temple fans but they see what the college football world sees.

Maybe the NIL and transfer portal odds facing Keeler today are tougher than those facing Pettine and Hardin but I doubt it.

Hat tip to Finland for its support of TFF.

Unlike Stan Drayton and Rod Carey, Keeler has dipped into the portal and filled a lot of needs of this program by bringing in good players.

No doubt in my mind–like Pettine and Hardin–he can coach them up.

Others are noticing what a good hire this is for Temple.

Keeler doesn’t have to finish in the top four in the league but a top six finish isn’t out of the question.

That’s why this season is the most exciting one in at least half a decade. There is no sport where a great head coach makes an impact more than football on any level and we are witnessing it now.

Somewhere up there, Pettine and Hardin are looking down and nodding.

05.11.25
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A King Solomon-like solution to Temple QB controversy

Gevani McCoy highlights at Oregon State last season.

Whatever happens in the summer camp when Gevani McCoy arrives to do battle with Evan Simon, Temple appears headed for a quarterback controversy.

While this happened a half-century of so ago at Temple, new head coach K.C. Keeler might need to pull out a more ancient solution, about 2,900 years earlier. When two women claimed to be the mother of a baby and wanted custody, they went to King Solomon. When Solomon suggested they split the baby and give one half to each, the real mother said give to the other one.

Marty Ginestra’s stats in Temple’s 1973 season were better (9 TDs, 0INTs) than newcomer Steve Joachim’s (11 TDs to 10 INTs) below. Interesting that as a PSU backup in 1971, Steve tossed 7 TDs vs. 3 INTs for Joe Paterno.

Solomon, in his wisdom, figured that gesture indicated who the real mother was and awarded the baby to the one who didn’t want it killed.

Or at least that’s the story.

Splitting the baby in the Simon/McCoy battle could be the way to go considering what happened a year ago.

Temple once split the baby, playing two QBs in the 8-2 season of 1973.

Through summer practices, then head coach Stan Drayton screamed up and down that the battle was even and he would announce the starter on the day of the Oklahoma opener. Drayton (wrongly) went with Forrest Brock, who must have been the greatest practice quarterback of all time because when he appeared in actual games, he looked like the worst QB in college football history.

On the other hand, in real games, Simon was pretty good–hitting his high-water mark in an 45-29 win over Utah State. Simon threw four touchdown passes in that one–all under pressure and into tight windows–while adding another one on the ground.

In hindsight, Drayton, if he was really torn, would have been better served by the King Solomon solution. Play each quarterback a few series in real games under real fire and then go with the hot hand.

Pretty sure that was Henry Hynoski.

Temple fans of a certain age might remember this kind of approach served the Owls well a half-century ago when another Hall of Fame coach, Wayne Hardin, welcomed a big-time transfer in from Penn State (Steve Joachim) to battle with a fairly good Simon-like holdover in Marty Ginestra.

Ginestra was the fan favorite in 1973, throwing nine touchdown passes, while Joachim tossed 10 TDs that same year. Temple wasn’t hurt by the shuffling as the Owls won eight games.

The real benefit wasn’t felt until a year later when Joachim tossed 20 touchdown passes and won the Maxwell Award as the best college football player in the nation for the 1974 Owls, who finished 9-1.

If the Owls get an eight-win season in a two-quarterback system and a Maxwell winner and 9-1 or better next year, Keeler would probably sign for that now.

This King Solomon guy evidently had a lot of wisdom. So did King Hardin.

05.08.25
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One outsider’s view of the Temple top 10

I don’t get the “7-6 record” in 2024 at the top of these stats. I wish it wasn’t 3-9.

In this age of no good reason, reason sometimes lacks logic.

An outsider takes a look at Temple football and gives his top 10 players and an insider, like me, looks at the same roster and comes up with another 10.

Take the outsiders with a grain of salt, though.

The guy in the above video puts Evan Simon at the top of his 10 but makes only a passing (no pun intended) mention of a newcomer who was the starting quarterback at Oregon State last year.

Gevani McCoy started nine games at quarterback for Oregon State. When was the last time Temple recruited a guy like that?

No bigger Evan Simon fan than me but I think Gevani McCoy has a real good chance to beat him out.

Do I think he does?

Let the field decide that.

Here’s my top 10 Temple players this year, knowing that it could (and probably will) be a different list at the end of the year:

  1. Gevani McCoy–You don’t bring in a starter from a recent P5 program to put him on the bench and he more fits the kind of the kind of pass-first, tuck-the-ball-away and run if nothing is there offense new head coach K.C. Keeler wants to run.
  2. Simon–A terrific player and a team leader who loves Temple and his teammates love him. I will never forget in a 52-6 blowout loss to Tulane, Simon fumbled the ball and crawled on all fours for five yards to cover a meaningless fumble. His teammates appreciated that. Hell, for someone who invested nearly four hours in watching that disaster, I appreciate that as a Temple fan. If McCoy–who allowed himself to be sacked 15 times last year in nine games–goes down, I have no doubt Simon can lead the Owls to a bowl game. Heck, if he beats McCoy out in the summer, I have no doubt Keeler will do the right thing for Temple and start Simon.
  3. Demereck Morris–This solid DT, a single-digit guy, transferred to Oklahoma State and decided that the grass isn’t always greener than the artificial ones at Chodoff Field.
  4. Antonio Jones–This wide receiver is tough as nails and, although listed as backup on the depth chart now, he doesn’t drop passes and can be a big play threat.
  5. Grayson Mains–This center from South Carolina was the anchor of the offensive line last year and should benefit from better coaching.
  6. John Adams–Should start opposite Jones as wide receiver. Showed his explosiveness in a 59-34 loss vs. USTA two years ago when he caught two touchdown passes and amassed 157 yards. Blocked a punt for a TD with his long arms that should have won the UConn game last year if the idiot in charge had called for a Sam Cunningham leap with Terrez Worthy instead of a tush push with a 160-pound backup quarterback.
  7. Worthy--Speaking of that, Keeler brought in Jay Ducker, who was the leading rusher at both Memphis and Sam Houston State before coming to Temple. More importantly to me, Worthy SHOULD have been the starter at Temple last year if Stan Drayton didn’t have a brain cramp and start E.J. Wilson in the first three games. Keeler’s only objection with Ducker’s great spring camp was his lack of finishing speed. Worthy has that.
  8. Ryder Kusch–The Canadian tight end was the star of spring practice for Temple, joining another foreign player (Peter Clarke, UK) as pleasant surprises. Both are immune to the transfer portal and the NIL since they can’t benefit from it so they will be here for the long haul
  9. Daniel Evert–also a tight end, Evert made a beautiful move in the middle of the field for a long touchdown against Army. If you want to jumpstart the old Temple-type running game, put Kusch and Evert in a two-tight end set and have more blockers at the point of attack than defenders.
  10. Ty Davis--Delaware’s best linebacker of last year is ready to step up and become Temple’s of this year.
05.04.25
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Executive Order could level the playing field

Hell might have frozen over.

There is an issue out there where the Democrats and Republicans might come to an agreement.

This is probably the best-case scenario for G5 teams like Temple.

A talk at the University of Alabama commencement between President Trump, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban and former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville could produce something needed in college football.

An even playing field, which would be something both Democrats and Republicans–and basically all fans of college football–can agree on right now.

If nothing changes, the playing field Temple plays on next year against Penn State will be tilted heavily in the Lions’ direction. That probably would have happened anyway. Hell, it happened since the 1975 renewal of the series but, unlike those first days, we have a situation now where Penn State can steal Temple’s one or two best players from this year–if it wanted to–and Temple could steal no one from Penn State and that field would be so far uphill the Owls would never have a chance.

There are no details of what such an executive order would entail but both Saban and Tuberville stressed in their conversations with the President that the “playing field needed to be leveled.”

They didn’t say how.

My guess is that it refers to an even playing field among the P4 powers, not including the G5 schools. That would probably mean no transfers allowed between P4 schools and an even distribution of NIL money among the power conference schools.

However, an executive order distributing an even amount of NIL money over the 130 schools would certainly help Temple and that’s what we have to hope for even if it’s a pipe dream.

Certainly an EO would face a strenuous court test but it might move a Congress that had no prior interest in college football to move to help the have-nots. Can’t imagine Congress would get behind the 20 or so schools who want to take all of the money so this probably is a bipartisan issue.

That’s a move Democrats would get behind and certainly Tuberville and Saban understand the inequity that currently exists.

What we do know is the status quo isn’t helping Temple or any other G5 schools so a shakeup is positive news.

My vote: A 145 percent tariff on the P4 to help the G5. Not gonna happen, but we can always dream.

05.01.25
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Getting a little ahead of ourselves here but …

Under a great coach like Bruce Arians, Temple lost to PSU by scores of 27-25 and 23-18.

Getting a little ahead of ourselves here because the focus should always be on the next game but new Temple head coach K.C. Keeler is building a team of guys with chips on their shoulders.

Good, talented, guys, who have played a lower level of football but finally have a chance to get on a larger stage at Temple.

Question: Can you beat a team like Penn State with a group of guys who have a chip on their shoulders?

As one of The Three Stooges would say, “Certainly.” It definitely happened in 2015.

The next game with that same team is 2026. This is 2025.

We know. We know.

Colin Chase’s most recent film. He is now an Owl.

The focus should be on UMass but Keeler is faced with the task of playing a big-time P4 team in one year and he is putting together a group of talented guys.

Since the Cherry and White game, Keeler has signed a dozen transfer portal guys who can make a difference both now and a year from now.

The latest included a pair of wide receivers, including Jo Jo Bermudez and Colin Chase.

Bermudez is the third big-time player who eschewed Delaware for Temple, including the Blue Hens’ top running back recruit and best linebacker and, now, best wide receiver. Temple football doesn’t lose players to a program like Delaware but compare and contrast that to Temple losing a Penn State transfer guard in basketball to Delaware.

Bermudez’s high school coach once called him “the best football player in the state of New Jersey.” That was at a time when the Philadelphia Eagles’ first-round draft choice, Jihaad Campbell, was playing for a high school less than 20 miles away.

Ugh.

If that isn’t the best illustration for the job K.C. Keeler is doing at Temple visa ve Adam Fisher, I don’t know what is.

I don’t think $75 is low but that’s life on a fixed income.

Above is a screenshot of an article I wrote for Calkins Newspapers in 1986. At the time, those three newspapers (Bucks County Courier Times, Burlington County Times and Doylestown Intelligencer) had a combined daily circulation of 170,000 subscribers (better than the 2025 Philadelphia Inquirer).

Those were the halcyon days of daily newspapers.

Now people get their news other ways.

The big news at Temple these days is football is hot and basketball not so much.

We’d like to see both thrive but this says more for a good A.J. Johnson hire vs. a bad one.

Beating Penn State is a pipe dream in today’s current monetary environment, but a group of motivated guys with chips on their shoulders can move mountains.

We saw a mountain move once a decade ago. Keeler might be hooking another mountain up to a tow truck.

It should be fun to watch in two years and maybe more fun this one.

04.27.25
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Ground Game: New pieces stand out

Hunter Smith’s high school recruiting film.

Recruiting guru Lou Adler is credited for saying it first:

“The best predictor of future performance is past performance.”

Adler said it in his capacity of recruiting business talent, but it also applies to football talent.

Last week, the Temple football Owls probably grabbed their starting quarterback in Gevani McCoy, although Evan Simon might have something to say about that.

Around the same time, the Owls appeared to have fixed their run game depth by adding Hunter Smith.

This is where the past performance comes into play.

With the addition of Smith, this is what Temple’s running back room looks like: Jay Ducker, the one-time leading rusher in the MAC is pairing with the one-time Louisiana-Monroe rushing leader in Smith.

Smith led the Warhawks with 507 rushing yards in 2023 before suffering an ACL injury. Ducker led the MAC in rushing two years earlier (2021) with 1,184 yards.

Temple head coach K.C. Keeler said Ducker had a “good camp” for the Owls in the spring but said Ducker needs to turn a lot of those yards he got into touchdowns and improve his closing speed. That opens the door for holdover Torrez Worthy to grab the job as he is the fastest back (4.49-40) since Ray Davis in the 2019 season. Davis now plays for the Buffalo Bills.

A red flag for both newcomers is that speed, as both scored just three touchdowns. Worthy outran the entire Tulane team for Temple’s only highlight in a 52-6 loss last year so if he wins the job, it will be by speed alone. A dark horse to win the job is another speedster, De’Carlos Young. Joquez Smith also had a 142-yard game for Temple two years ago so he’s in the mix as well.

At a number of positions, Keeler has brought in more significant transfer portal talent since Cherry and White Day than both Rod Carey and Stan Drayton did in the past six years.

The running back room is a perfect example of that.

Still, Worthy, Young (who hasn’t had a chance yet) and Joquez Smith have not produced the same kind of numbers at the FBS level as Ducker and Smith so the Owls appear to be in capable hands with those two.

At least past performance says so.

Friday: Getting a handle

04.25.25
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Temple grabs a real quarterback in McCoy

Watching the NFL draft on Thursday night made me jealous.

Always a college football fan first and an NFL fan second, the last half-dozen or so years have soured me on college football and led me to realize the NFL has the best business model.

At least to capture the fans’ interest.

Temple’s new QB is in pretty good company.

Thursday night, the NFL proved why its business model is better than college football. Worst team gets the best pick in a league where there is a salary cap. The entire organization benefits with interest spread somewhat equally among 32 teams with the top teams sacrificing. Imagine how good the transfer portal would be if the 130th FBS team (Kent State) got the first choice and everybody had a salary cap? Never will happen but expect college football to lose a lot of fans under this new system that benefits only the top 1 percent.

If college football had basically the same thing and, say, NEXT Thursday was the first day of the transfer portal, Temple would have essentially a lottery pick with the 10th one.

Imagine the kind of excitement around here if the Owls were getting one of the best players in FBS college football, with his NIL money being paid by a pool of TV money where all of the other 129 FBS teams contribute.

Gevani McCoy started nine games for Oregon State last year.

Won’t ever happen because the NFL sees the big picture and the colleges want the top 1 percent to hoard the riches.

A week ago, Temple was excited to bring in the top quarterback in Division II football but he canceled his scheduled visit to North Broad in order to sign with Ole Miss.

Now the Owls have apparently replaced him with The Real McCoy.

Or at least one of them in Gevani McCoy, who won the Jerry Rice Award as the best freshman in FCS college football a couple of years ago.

His skill set fits both what new head coach K.C. Keeler and his offensive coordinator (Tyler Walker) want to do at Temple, which is to spread the field with receivers and, if nothing is open, have an elusive running threat at QB who can move the sticks on his own.

That doesn’t mean Evan Simon can’t beat him out because he certainly can.

What it does mean is that we won’t see what we saw too often over the last six years. Temple looked like a high school team when Anthony Russo missed games in the Rod Carey Era or E.J. Warner missed games in the Stan Drayton Era.

We spent all last offseason pleading with Drayton to get a big-time quarterback in here, but Drayton was more interested in taking a two-week summer vacation in Houston than finding the Owls someone to pull the trigger.

Keeler is rolling up his sleeves and getting the job done.

This is college football and quarterbacks are going to go down and miss games here and there and a good program has an insurance policy. Until yesterday, there was no insurance policy for Simon going down.

Now Simon becomes McCoy’s policy and McCoy becomes Simon’s and maybe, in McCoy, the Owls have someone who can be the best quarterback in the AAC.

Monday: The Ground Game