Category Archives: Montel Harris

02.27.13
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The best running back nobody is talking about

My favorite photo of Montel Harris as a Temple Owl, sharing a moment
of respect with Army linebacker and captain Nate Coombs after going for
351 yards and seven touchdowns in a 63-32 win.

My favorite Montel Harris moment this year had nothing to do with what he did during a game, but it had a lot to do with what he did on the field.
After the Army game, both Montel  and Army linebacker Nate Coombs shared a few words after Temple’s 63-32 win at Michie Stadium.

Draft expert Matt Waldman was talking about Harris.

After it was over, Montel and Nate shook hands, laughed and walked off the field.
That’s what sports is all about. It was a great sportsmanship moment between a future NFL player and a guy who is going to put it all on the line for our country.
We can only imagine what Nate told Montel, but we can guess it went something like this:
“Man, I tried to tackle you, but it was like tackling air out there.”
After a fairly good performance in the recent NFL combine, draft expert Matt Waldman called Montel “the best running back nobody is talking about.”

The thing the combine can’t measure is start/stop ability and Harris is the best I’ve ever seen 

I think they will be talking about him on draft day.
Last year, I predicted Bernard Pierce would go in the third round. I think Harris goes in the sixth, no lower than the seventh.

How Harris and Pierce compared at the NFL combine:
40 time
Bench Reps
Vertical Jump
Montel Harris
4.68
19 (at 225 pounds)
32.5 inches
Bernard Pierce
4.49
17 (at 225 pounds)
36.5 inches

How Harris and Pierce did in best single season:
Carries
Yards
Longest Run
Montel Harris (2009)
308
1,457
72 yards
Bernard Pierce (2011)
273
1,481
69 yards

After watching Harris last year and Pierce the three years before that, the difference is simply this:
Pierce is faster and can do more damage on the outside but Harris is much better between tackles and starting and stopping to get out of trouble.
The only reason Harris drops three or so rounds below Pierce will be his knee injury history, but his knee held up pretty well at Temple despite the workload.
To me, the combine numbers are nowhere near as important as these numbers:
Career Carries
Career Yards
Average  (2012)
Career Long
Career
TDs
Montel Harris
973
4,379
5.7
72
39
Le’Veon Bell
671
3,346
4.7
69
31
Montee Ball
924
5,140
5.1
67
77
Ray Graham
595
3,271
4.1
78
32
Gio Bernard
423
2,481
6.7
68
25
Jawan Jamison
486
1,972
4.2
64
13

To me, what you do on the field is a lot more important than what you can do at the combine and Harris’ numbers stack up very well against some of the top running backs in the group above.
Remember, Harris never fumbles while Eagles’ seventh-round pick Bryce Brown fumbled a lot. You can gain all the yards in the world and have all the speed and the vertical leap and bench press, but if the ball ends up in the hands of the other team after the play is over you are worthless.

How cool would it be for Montel Harris to introduce himself on Sunday or Monday night football by saying, “Montel Harris, Temple Football Forever”

That’s another metric that can’t be measured at a combine.

How cool would it be for Montel Harris to introduce himself on Sunday or Monday night football by saying, “Montel Harris, Temple Football Forever.”
Heck, if Mo Wilkerson or Bernard Pierce beat him to the punch, that would be cool, too.

Whatever questions that some may have had about his character were answered with a season as a solid citizen and terrific teammate at Temple.
I wish him all the best.
My guess is that Army’s Nate Coombs does, too.

11.23.12
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Game Day Preview: At least the weather is good

The weather at UConn on Oct. 13 (above) was colder than is forecast for today.
The weather (above) for Philadelphia on Nov. 23.

“Having 500 yards of rushing for Coach Daz is like giving an addict another baggie of crack. We may never see another forward pass.”
_ Fan post on Scout.com

Steve Addazio’s affinity for the running game reminds me of my obsession with the lottery.
It never does me any good, but I keep going back to it every Saturday.
If 1-3-13-19-20 and 6 come up this Saturday, I will be writing my next posts from Clearwater Beach and waiting down there for the six weeks it will take for some of the early pitchers and catchers to report.
Before I hitch my brand new Chevy Volt to a chartered Auto Train in Lorton (Va.), I will donate $200 million to Temple to start its own stadium fund. I think I can scrape by on the remaining $156 mil. (I’ll stop by the house of the lone TFF donor from Lorton beforehand and give him a $1 million check for believing in me when I was poor.)
Otherwise, I still will be up here pounding the payment.
If the numbers 351 and 7, as in yards and touchdowns for Montel Harris, comes up Friday, Addazio and his Temple Owls will probably be going bowling. (Yeah, I know the Owls will be a five-win team, but they will be the only five-win team with just six losses and the hottest running back in the country.)
Neither my winning the lotto or those numbers coming up for Daz will happen, but I know I’m willing to lay odds against either of us trying.
The Army game was, as Jeffrey Lurie might say, Fool’s Gold.  Army was ranked 118th in rushing defense. Syracuse is ranked 43d in the same category. Big difference. If Temple approaches Syracuse with the same game plan it took to West Point, the Owls will be the team losing, 63-32.
Somebody had a great line on Scout.com the other day about that and I wish I could give him credit but I’m afraid he’d get in trouble so here’s the perceptive fan post of the year:

“Having 500 yards of rushing for Coach Daz is like giving an addict another baggie of crack. We may never see another forward pass.”

Why do I get the feeling that the first three plays Friday morning will be Harris off-tackle right, followed by Harris off-tackle left and a read option that goes for no gain?

To me, that’s the wrong way to go but I’ve been saying that all year and I now know Daz doesn’t give a wit what I think.
Temple’s best chance of  moving the ball and keeping it out of Ryan Nassib’s hand is to deftly fake it to Montel Harris on A LOT of first downs, then make “explosive plays in the passing game downfield” to spread the defense and get the eight out of the box.
With Harris’ history established as the Owls’ chief offensive weapon, a play-fake to him is likely to freeze the defense long enough that Jalen Fitzpatrick and Ryan Alderman and company will be so open in the seams that both will probably be frantically waving their hands above their heads.
That way, the Owls can go back to Harris and the running game a lot more effectively, chew up large chunks of each quarter and salt away an important victory over the Saltine Warriors.
Why do I get the feeling that the first three plays Friday morning will be Harris off-tackle right, followed by Harris off-tackle left and a read option that goes for no gain?
If Daz proves me wrong for the first time all year, that will be a little like winning the lottery without the monetary reward.
If not, I will still always have Saturdays to look forward to at about 11 p.m.

Tomorrow: Complete game analysis and Saturday football picks

11.22.12
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Throwback Thursday: The last time vs. SU

A week ago, Temple had a one-man show putting up 63 points in a win at Army, courtesy of Montel Harris.
Funny, because the last time Temple played Syracuse at Lincoln Financial Field was also a one-man show.

Trust me, at 6-3, 240, you did not
want to tackle this guy in open field.

The man was quarterback Walter Washington.
The show was 185 yards rushing, 130 more yards passing that accounted for all of Temple’s touchdowns in a 34-24 win over visiting Syracuse.
The Orange, coached by Paul Pasqualoni, went on to a winning season.
The game was the highlight for Temple and its second win in a two-win season.
Despite winning only two games, Washington, an All-American JUCO out of Dodge City (Kan.), was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Year.
Ironically enough, this TU-SU game, also at Lincoln Financial Field, will feature a JUCO All-American quarterback playing for Temple in Juice Granger (Pierce Junior College, Calif.).
Washington was an unstoppable force in 2004, often carrying multiple defenders as many as 15 yards downfield to get his yardage.

Another great day in the TU-SU series, the 1982 game.

He turned down his final year of eligibility at Temple in order to go to pro football. That didn’t work out too well, since he spent the 2005 season in the stands with Temple fans lamenting his decision.
But he gave Temple fans a terrific memory in 2004 and the Owls their second-straight win over Syracuse in Philadelphia.
Two years earlier than that, Mike McGann and Tarnardo Sharps led the Owls to a 17-16 win over the Orange in a game played at Veterans Stadium.
This year’s memories and principal players are yet-to-be-determined but, if Granger and Harris can pick up where Washington, McGann and Sharps left off, the Owls could be in pretty good shape.

Friday: Game Day Preview

11.21.12
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A tribute to the seniors

Brandon McManus was the reason the Owls opened 2-0 in the Big East.

One of the constants of being a Temple football fan is change.
As long as I’m living, and hopefully that will be a long, long time, I will be in the stadium six times a year.
Have been for the last 30 years and, God-willing, will be for the next 30 years.
I also understand a lot of great people I’ve met along the way, parents and players, won’t.
(I’ve only seen parents of two players who’ve graduated come back and those were Mr. John Haley and Mr. Elliot Seifert whose only connection with Temple was that their kids were Owls and then they became great fans afterward.)
A lot of the players come back, but a lot of them don’t.
So it is with great sadness every year that this day comes, Senior Day, as it will again on Friday. I may never see some of these guys again, but the memories will always remain.
A few words about some of these guys are appropriate now:

Matt Brown: Toughest Owl ever

MATT BROWN _ Everybody remembers the 226-yard, four-touchdown, performance at Army two years ago year but I have a couple of other favorite memories about this unparalleled Warrior. Last year, during the Kent State game he limped off the field. I turned to my seat neighbors and I said, “You know, I’ve never seen him get hurt.” Pretty much the most durable player I’ve ever seen play at Temple and, pound-for-pound, the toughest. Another memory was Brown scoring the TU third touchdown of the Eagle Bank Bowl to give Temple a 21-7 lead over UCLA. Before he squirted through the hole and into the end zone, 23,000 people rose to their feet with the loudest “Let’s Go Temple!” cheer I’ve ever heard, in or out of Philadelphia. People were pounding on the RFK Stadium frozen seats and going crazy and Brown did not let them down. Last year’s enduring memory was head coach Steve Addazio putting his arm around Brown and walking him down the sideline with some encouraging words when Brown appeared to be beside himself angry for not playing early in the New Mexico Bowl. It would be a sad irony if this amiable young man could not play Friday due to injury. I’m betting he will.
And here it is, Matt’s TD: (The Zapruder Film was shot in higher quality and that was in 1963)

BRANDON MCMANUS _ Without question, the MVP of this year’s team. My favorite memory was McManus’ game-winning kick in the second Mayor’s Cup game. Al Golden screwed the pooch by playing the first game too close to the vest and the Owls took a loss. They simply could not afford to lose to Villanova the second time and McManus drilled a 44-yarder that won a game the school absolutely needed. His 330 points (hopefully about 345 after Friday) will be a record that will stand a long, long time at Temple. Because he is a rare triple threat kick guy (kickoffs, FGs and punts) and can take up one roster spot normally occupied by two guys, he will be playing on Sundays next year.

My favorite TU photo of Montel, talking to Army linebacker
Nate Coombs after a seven-touchdown performance.

MONTEL HARRIS _ I used to call Bernard Pierce “The Franchise” but I really believe BP would have had a hard time seeing the field if Montel had been here the last three years. This kid has a greater initial burst into the hole than Pierce did and better moves inside the pile than Pierce did. The only thing Pierce had better than Montel is breakaway speed once he made it around the tight end and a quicker burst in that direction. I believe Harris will also be playing on Sundays. I can’t wait until a smiling Montel looks into the camera on Monday Night Football and says, “Montel Harris, Temple Owls.”

The only good thing is that the Owls lose just a dozen players and the returning ones should put Temple in the conversation for the upper half of the Big East in next year’s preseason predictions.
Here is the complete class (click over the name for Owlsports.com bios):


SENIOR STATUS
Twelve members of the 2012 Senior Class— RB Matt Brown; Vaughn Carraway Justin Gildea  Marcus Green . C/.JHammond  Montel Harris , Maurice Jones  Brandon McManus  Darryl Shine , Ahkeem Smith , Martin Wallace, John Youboty 


WHERE’S SEAN?
Senior OL Sean BoyleSean Boyle will not participate in Fridays’ Senior Day activities. The NCAA has granted him a five-year clock extension, giving him a sixth year of eligibility. Plagued by injuries, Boyle did not play during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. He returned to action this fall as the team’s starting center but has missed the last three games. I see Sean slotting into Martin Wallace’s spot as an OT next year, strengthening an improving offensive line. To think that Sean started the 2009 opener against Villanova and will start the 2013 opener vs. Notre Dame is both mind-boggling and reassuring.

Tomorrow: Throwback Thursday

11.19.12
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You think you’ve got troubles?

Every time I start to feel sorry for myself that I still haven’t found a job in the newspaper business after cutbacks cost me mine and the money is about to run out (there still is a newspaper business, right?), I see something that I have to shake my head about and thank God for my blessings.
Lately, it was a story about a poor military guy who lost both legs in Afghanistan or Iraq and is keeping on keeping on.
I plan to do the same, although the next step might be as a greeter at Wal-Mart. I’ll keep my hand in writing here.
That brings me to fandom.
A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling sorry because my university, a school I said was going to shock the Big East world a couple of months ago, was getting pasted for the fourth straight time by a Big East team.
It rocked my world, but it could be worse.
I could be a Boston College fan.
I found this while searching a Boston College fan site the other day:

This from a Boston College fan lamenting a bad day in a bad season.

Montel Harris was trending on Yahoo late Saturday afternoon.
It was the second item right below General Patraeus.
That’s good news for Temple, bad news for Boston College.
While Temple is 4-6 with two more Big East wins than many of the pundits thought possible, Boston College is a two-win team looking for a new head coach.
The Eagles have a great on-campus stadium, but a terrible product and the guy who they kicked off the team is doing pretty well at Temple.
Yes, it could be worse.
In life and in fandom.

Wednesday: A tribute to the seniors

11.18.12
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Better late than never

Montel Harris (8) needs a lift  to see what is distracting Cody Booth (38) and Wyatt Benson (44).

Two phrases rattled around my head during the fourth quarter of Temple’s 63-32 win at Army on Saturday:

  • That’s more like it.
  • Better late than never.

This is the Temple football team I envisioned back in August and September.
No, I’m not crazy enough to think that Montel Harris would have gone for 351 yards and seven touchdowns every Saturday but I thought both Harris and Matty Brown could go near or over 100 yards each game and that their running ability would set up some “explosive plays downfield in the passing game” that head coach Steve Addazio promised in the summer.

Temple football records Saturday:
Most rushing yards game individual: Montel Harris (351)

Most touchdowns game individual: Montel Harris (7)

Most career points individual: Brandon McManus (332).
Most touchdowns game by a Big East team (9).

Whatever the Owls lacked on defense I thought could be made up by an offense turning the Lincoln Financial Field scoreboard into an adding machine.
And, I thought, that would have been good for at least six wins and, maybe, as many as eight.
Now, the best the Owls can do is five because those explosive plays in the passing game never materialized, simply because the Owls stubbornly tried to pound the rock against bigger, more talented, defensive fronts for most of October and November. They might as well have been pounding their heads against a rock with that misguided approach.
The Owls were just as stubborn on Saturday in a 63-32 win over Army, but they could afford to do that against a team ranked near the bottom of the country in rushing defense.
They also helped themselves by eliminating the turnovers which, as Michael Vick can tell you, is the key to winning any football game.
If the Owls can somehow parlay Syracuse’s fear of Harris (and Brown) into some, err, explosive plays downfield in the passing game (perhaps off a fake to Harris on an early down), they can make a statement that they are ready to make a run at the top of the Big East ladder next year by rudely sending Syracuse off to the ACC.
The Owls won’t have Montel or Matty next year, but Jamie Gilmore and “Montrell” Dobbs figure to have the requisite three-star talent to pick up where those two left off.
And, pretty much, the rest of the team is back although I’d like to see a serious upgrade in the defensive secondary (hint: Kevin Newsome).
Harris’ performance was an eclipse that obscured a lot of other good things on Saturday, but it should not go unnoticed that Brandon McManus set the school record for career points by an individual, breaking Bernard Pierce’s standard of 324. McManus needed four going into Saturday’s game.
Another great kicker, high school All-American Jim Cooper, Jr., arrives for summer classes in July.
Other than that, as Jose from Norristown might say, it was amazing to see how much misinformation is out there.
Twice during the game, CBS Sports announcers said that Harris was the “leading rusher all-time in the history of the ACC’ and, later, the “15th-leading rusher all-time in the history of the ACC.”
Both were wrong.
In reality, Harris is still the second-leading rusher in the history of the ACC, falling 828 yards short of Ted Brown’s record set at North Carolina State. He is only 50 yards away from another 1,000-yard season.
I was privileged to see Paul Palmer’s 349-yard game against East Carolina and Saturday’s performance by Harris was even better, both on the stat sheet and stylistically.
Harris will have spent only one year here but he will always be remembered by me as a warrior and a great Temple Owl.
So will Brown and McManus and the rest of the seniors.
They deserve to go out in front of a large, appreciative home crowd on Friday.

Tomorrow: You think you’ve got troubles?
Tuesday: ???
Wednesday: A tribute to the seniors 
Thursday: Throwback Thursday 
Friday: Game Day Preview

11.01.12
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Throwback Thursday: Temple 55, Louisville 14

Bill Cosby opened a monologue on Oct. 11, 1982 praising TU’s win over Louisville.

The Tonight Show host opened his guest stint on Monday night, Oct. 11, 1982 with this line:
“I love Louisville. I love Louisville because Temple beat them, 55-14, in football Saturday night. Crushed them. I love Louisville.”
The guest host, a comedian named Bill Cosby subbing for Johnny Carson again, received loud applause from those in the audience who loved Louisville the town and Temple football.
Then Cosby went right into a hilarous routine about his playing days at Temple.
Louisville football fans did not appreciate the mention as much and flooded NBC with letters (this was before the days of email).
Evidently, there were few Louisville football fans in the Burbank audience.
There are many more Louisville football fans today.
Winning can do that for a program.
There was a time not all that long ago when Temple was not only where Louisville is now, but was much better than Louisville. History shows that the Owls are 3-2 all-time vs. Louisville, with their only losses coming, 21-12, on the road in 2003 and 62-0 at home in 2006, the first year of the Al Golden Reclamation Project. Temple has beaten Louisville by an average score of 24-12.
Louisville is rated about 105 slots ahead of Temple in the current rankings.
Temple coach Al Golden is confident that the Owls are headed in the direction Louisville is now.

Rick Pitino explains to reporters that Temple can beat Louisville
if the Owls use play-action fakes to Montel Harris on first down
to find open receivers and buy time for Chris Coyer to throw.
At least that’s what we think he’s saying.   Meanwhile, the Daily News’
Dick Jerardi (background) looks  longingly at the buffet table.

Golden is not a patient man and both he and Temple fans hope they can get there sooner rather than later.
What follows below is what can happen when a superbly-coached Temple team takes the field, an account of the Owls’ 55-14 win at Louisville a generation ago.
By Jere Longman
Inquirer Staff Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There was great optimism in the Louisville athletic department last night. Basketball practice starts Friday.
Football? Well, that’s another story. Football here ranks a distant fifth to varsity basketball, intramural basketball, fast-running horses and slow-sipping bourbon.
It’s not hard to see why.
Take last night’s 55-14 humiliation by Temple (3-3). The Cardinals jumped ahead early but were helpless as the Owls steamrolled ahead, 27-7, by halftime.
Led by linebacker Tom Kilkenny, the Owls tuned up for Pittsburgh by sacking quarterbacks Dean May and Scott Gannon eight times and intercepting May twice.
”Our defense gave us good pressure to make the offense go,” said Temple coach Wayne Hardin.

This is the Louisville weather starting tomorrow.

Louisville’s defense was as inept as its offense, surrendering 402
yards and resuscitating the Owls repeatedly with mental lapses.
Temple played with injuries to several of its running backs but still
delivered 277 rushing yards. Harold Harmon rolled up 108 yards in the first half before exiting with a bruised heel. Rod Moore, understudy to injured fullback Brian Slade, scored twice in the first half.
Quarterback Tim Riordan completed 8 of 11 passes for 132 yards and a 38-yard
touchdown.
Early in the third quarter, Louisville (2-3) closed to 27-14, but its defense was too leaky to contain anyone stronger than Wisconsin-Stout. First, the Owls drew the Cardinals offside on a fourth-and-one at the 38, then repeated the trickery to gain first-and-goal at the eight. Riordan rolled right, and tightroped his way into the end zone, putting the game out of reach, 34-14.
“We’ve come close before, but recently our offense has been
sputtering,” Hardin said.
“I don’t know of another team in the country who could lose their top three runners (Jim Brown, Slade and Joe Baiunco) and still play the way these kids played.”
For good measure, cornerback Anthony Young intercepted May late in the third quarter and returned the ball 54 yards to the Louisville four. A facemask penalty put the ball at the one, backup tailback Sherman Myers (58 yards rushing) vaulted over and the margin was now 41-14. The audience of 19,223 at Cardinal Stadium was not amused.
Early in the fourth quarter, a group of students began singing, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over,” but Temple scored twice more before anyone could find the switch.
Gannon was flushed from the pocket at the four, only to be rammed by
nose tackle Bob Shires. The ball bounced into the end zone and was
pounced on by Jerry McDowell.
With 5 minutes, 29 seconds left, Young fielded a punt and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown, pulling Temple ahead, 55-14. That was the most points the Owls had scored since 1978, when they rang up 56 on that vaunted football power, Akron.
“Anthony Young had another outstanding night,” Hardin said. “That was
our first TD on a punt return in about 10 years.”
The outcome was quite unexpected and embarrassing in Bluegrass
Country.
Fueled by an earlier win over Oklahoma State of the Big 8 Conference, the locals figured Louisville football finally was emerging from the shadows of its basketball team.
Indeed, Denny Crum, the basketball coach, has been appearing on television boosting Bob Weber’s football program. The local media wondered whether Louisville’s big problem this weekend would be taking Temple too lightly.
Now Louisville’s big problem appears to be regaining whatever shred of
credibility it once enjoyed. Some schools don’t score 55 points on the
Cardinals’ basketball team.
“We just got an old-fashioned whipping,” Weber said. “We played much poorer than I ever thought possible. The first half, we were just standing around, and the second half was just an after-the-fact happening for us.”
Temple grabbed a quick 3-0 lead on Bob Clauser’s dying-quail field
goal of 39 yards.

belt
Frank Minniefield gave Louisville some false confidence, fielding a punt and slashing up the middle for an 88-yard touchdown. The Cardinals were temporarily ahead, but it was all a mirage.
Temple quickly regained the lead, 10-7, driving 80 yards to score in
seven plays.
“What bothers me is that we started so slow and never got into the
game mentally,” Weber said.

Tomorrow: Fast Forward Friday

10.19.12
by

Montel Harris: ‘I want to help my team to the Orange Bowl’

Steve Addazio implores fans to take it to the next level.

About two minutes before the start of Temple’s game at UConn last week, a very loud chant of “LET’S GO TEMPLE” could be heard from the corner of the end zone where about 900 Temple fans stood.

Montel Harris, standing right next to Steve Addazio and loosening up, turned around and gave a “thumbs up” to the Temple cheering section and raised both palms as if asking for the volume to be turned up.

I’m glad  Harris is on Temple’s side for tomorrow’s game (noon, Lincoln Financial Field) with Rutgers.
He hears it and he gets it.

Michael Basiden has a phrase he repeats on WDAS-FM (105.3, Mondays through Fridays, 3-7 p.m.) when he says something people might construe as outrageous.

When you see the “this is our house” in the video, it’s a cue for a “Let’s Go Temple” cheer.

“That’s right, I said it!” Baisden, who has a popular nationally syndicated radio show, will repeat.
Harris doesn’t need to repeat it, but this quote has all but one Harris YouTube clip so far this season:

“I want to help my team to the Orange Bowl. That’s our goal.”
Harris wasn’t talking about Boston College.
 He was talking about Temple.
That’s right. He said it.
Last week’s game against UConn might have been a bowl elimination game.
Tomorrow’s game against Rutgers might be an Orange Bowl elimination game.
Win, and the dream remains alive.
Lose, and the dream in all likelihood is dashed.

Set the alarms for 7 a.m. tomorrow and enjoy the beautiful day at LFF.

If Temple wins, it is 3-0 in the league and might be all alone atop the Big East standings by 7 p.m., depending  on how the rest of the day plays out.
If Temple wins the league, it will go to the Orange Bowl and no amount of backroom dealing can keep the Owls out.
I like the way Montel Harris reaches for the stars.
Some Temple fans poo-poo such talk. Some might even call it embarrassing.
It is not embarrassing to tell people your goal is to be the best you can be.
Right now, the 2-0 Owls can be the Big East champs.
That’s a fact.
Whether they will be in a position to do it depends I think on a couple of things:
1) Can the fans take it to the next level? Can we get the 30K TEMPLE fans in attendance to stand and chant “Let’s Go Temple” at the top of their lungs and sing the fight song in unison like they did several times in the second half of the USF game? (If you don’t think the kids on the team hear it, see the first graph above.)
2) Will the offensive game plan be diverse enough to get the job done? In other words, maybe open up with a two-minute drill, throw in a trickeration play or two, throw on first down enough to set up Harris’ on second- and third-down runs?
I saw enough evidence in the second half of the Maryland and USF games to think No. 1 can happen.
No. 2, I’m not so sure about but I have to trust that a coaching staff with muliple national championship rings can  figure that out.
Harris and the rest of the Owls will be ready.
Will you?

Tomorrow: No story due to power tailgating but complete analysis on Sunday

10.18.12
by

Throwback Thursday: RU-TU memories

Bruce Arians was the youngest
coach in college football
when he called a “jailbreak”
blitz that resulted in four straight
Temple sacks of Scott Erney
to end the 1988 game in favor of TU

The headline and lede in story written by now talk-show host Mike Missanelli.

Rivalries are a beautiful thing.

I’m old enough to know when Temple and Delaware were rivals.
One of my fondest days was spent in Newark, Del., when Temple beat Delaware 31-8 in front of a still-record and still-stunned crowd of 23,619.
An even fonder day was Temple’s 45-0 win in Newark on another beautiful Saturday. The hot dogs in that post-game tailgate tasted like filet mignon. Delaware went on to win the national Division II championship (which became D1AA which became FCS).
Temple even got grief from the local media for scheduling Delaware.
“I believe in scheduling Delaware…and then beating the crap out of them,” was the way Wayne Hardin was quoted in response.
Bruce Arians responds to a text
message congratulatng him on
beating the Green Bay Packers.
BA is still a big Owl fan.
I loved it.
Can you imagine any coach in today’s “politically correct” world saying something like that?
Then Temple dropped its rivalry with Delaware and picked up one with Rutgers.
Penn State is supposed to be a rival, but to be one, you’ve got to prove that you can beat one.
Temple’s proven that against Rutgers numerous times, and the proximity of the schools combined with an animosity factor qualifies this as a real rivalry.
You’ve got to have a little animosity to stir the rivalry pot, and in Rutgers, there’s some of that.
Since Delaware, Rutgers has always been Temple’s biggest rival.
The rivalry was only further fueled by Rutgers’ involvement in kicking out Temple from the Big East. Despite Temple winning four straight games from the Scarlet Knights, Rutgers led the charge to kick out Temple for “non-competitiveness.”
“I’ve never lost to f-ing Rutgers, and I’m not going to end my career losing to f-ing Rutgers.” Temple center Donny Klein, halftime of the 2002 game.
So there’s some animosity there.
I have some fond memories, too, of some Rutgers-Temple games.
I’m sure Rutgers fans have similar memories as well of games that didn’t turn out as well for Temple, but that’s what rivalries are all about.
When Bruce Arians was Temple coach in 1988 and Dick Anderson was his opposite number at Rutgers, Anderson had a quarterback named Scott Erney who was killing Temple on the final drive of the game with Temple holding a 35-30 lead over an RU team that beat Penn State.
(Arians is now the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, but he has never forgotten TU, to which he remains fiercely loyal.)
Erney, running a two-minute drill against Nick Rapone’s prevent defense, drove RU to the Temple 20 in the game’s final minute and appeared to be leading his team to the winning touchdown.

Map and towns by N.J. Schmitty.

Arians then called a timeout, got in Rapone’s face, and ordered a jailbreak blitz on the next four plays. “Jailbreak” in those days was the Temple defensive call for eight men rushing, three back in coverage.
“We go jailbreak because we feel you can’t block us all,” Arians said. “My philosophy, as a former quarterback, is the best pass defense is putting the QB on his ass.”
The result?
Four straight Temple sacks, with a defensive lineman named Swift Burch ending the game on top of Erney at midfield. Temple won, 35-30.
“If I was going to go down, it wasn’t going to be against a prevent,” Arians said, holding the game ball. “I was going to go down with my guns blazing.”
With the backdrop of BE explusion, In 2002, at Rutgers in the rain, the Owls trailed at halftime, 14-3.
The Owls, by then, had won three straight over Rutgers, and a senior center named Donny Klein got up at halftime and pounded his helmet on the floor and started an F-bomb tirade. By that year, Temple got kicked out of the Big East and knew Rutgers would be staying in instead.

TU and RU were both 3-1 going into this game.

“I’ve never lost to f-ing Rutgers, and I’m not going to end my career losing to f-ing Rutgers,” Klein said, ending a 10-minute rant that included about 100 f-bombs.
Led by Klein’s incredible blocking, a back named Tanardo Sharps rolled up 215 yards on 43 carries, and Temple won, 20-17, on Cap Poklemba’s last-second field goal.
The Temple team then ran over to the Big East logo and danced on it, singing the school’s fight song in a monsoon.
That’s what I would call animosity.
That’s what I would call a rivalry.
Temple really hasn’t had one of those in long time.
It has now and it’s back. I hope these Owls can find a Big East logo and dance on it while singing “T for Temple U” oh, about 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Maybe even Poklemba, who now leads the student cheers as a welcomed “old head”, will join in and give dance lessons.
10.17.12
by

TU-RU by numbers: Who’s poop now?

Steve Addazio and the Owls react after reading posts on Rutgers’ rivals’ site about Temple.

If you have read the Rutgers’ message board over the last year or so, you get the impression that all Rutgers’ fans agree on at least four things:
1) Temple can’t draw more than 15K to its home games;
2) Temple is a bad addition to the Big East while Rutgers is good;
3) Temple doesn’t own the Philadelphia TV market;
4) Temple never has had a winning season.

Notice this poster has Rutgers beating Temple for the same reasons he had USF beating Temple.

One fan even went as far as to post a poll on the Rutgers’ website comparing the Owls to “poop.”
Those beliefs are based, as Steve Addazio has stated, on “way back when days.”
The metrics back up Addazio:
 1) Temple has averaged nearly 30K fans to its home games over the last three years. Temple’s home game last year vs. Villanova drew 32K fans, 31K from Temple. Temple’s home game against Villanova this year drew 33K, 32K from Temple. Temple drew 26K to the USF game and there might have been 100 fans from USF (would you leave Tampa for Philly in Oct.?). The Owls’ home game vs. Penn State last year drew 57K fans, at least 40K wearing Cherry and White, as Addazio correctly pointed out in the Maryland post-game press conference (go to 6:00 in time stamp) last year.

Another typical “know-it-all” (err, know-nothing) Rutgers’ fan.

2) Most of the schools thought Temple was a good enough addition to the Big East to invite the Owls back in on March 7, 2012, despite what Rutgers’ fans think.
 3) Temple’s bowl game against UCLA drew the second-highest TV rating of ANY BOWL EVER on ESPN in the Philadelphia market, second only to Penn State’s 2007 appearance in the Alamo Bowl and higher than any SEC, PAC-10 or Big East matchup ever shown in the Philadelphia market.
 4) Temple is working on four straight winning seasons, while Rutgers is not.
Who is poop now?
More Temple vs. Rutgers’ numbers:
Temple opponents (2012): 18-14; Rutgers’ opponents (2012) 10-21. Advantage: TEMPLE.
Temple in its last 20 conference (MAC and BE) home games: 17-3; Rutgers in its last 20 conference road games: 8-12. Advantage: TEMPLE
Temple in its last 20 overall conference games: 12-8; Rutgers in its last 20 overall conference games: 8-12. Advantage: TEMPLE
Temple overall record last 3.5 years: 29-14; Rutgers’ overall record last 3.5 years: 28-16. Advantage: TEMPLE
Temple current streak of winning seasons: 3; Rutgers current streak of winning seasons: 1. Advantage: TEMPLE.
Temple wins against Rutgers in last 6 games: 4. Advantage: TEMPLE
Temple at home against Rutgers in last 4 games: 3-1. Advantage: TEMPLE
Temple all-time in Philadelphia against Rutgers: 9-6. Advantage: TEMPLE
Temple this year in BE road games: 1-0; Rutgers this year in BE road games: 1-0. Advantage: EVEN
Temple Bowl MVPs currently on roster: 1; QB Chris Coyer Rutgers Bowl MVPs currently on roster: 1, RB Juwan Jamison. Advantage: EVEN.
 Jamison rushing yards against UConn: 110; Montel Harris rushing yards against UConn: 142. Advantage: TEMPLE
Temple coaches with national and SEC title rings (3;) Rutgers coaches with national and SEC title rings (0). Advantage: TEMPLE
Temple conference championships (1, co-MAC East, 2009); Rutgers conference championships (0). Advantage: TEMPLE.

Tomorrow: Throwback Thursday