Category Archives: Penn State

09.15.11
by

PSU: Temple’s biggest game ever

The field is ready and the nation will be watching the Owls on Saturday.

Let’s face it.
No matter what happens this year, Penn State is probably going to go to some nice, warm-weather, bowl game.

“We had over 30,000 some Temple fans for our game against Villanova, including 10,000 students. I don’t know how many Temple fans we will have Saturday, but it certainly won’t be any less than that.’
_ Steve Addazio

The best Temple can hope for, even if it jumps over the two or three teams ranked ahead of it (Toledo, Northern Illinois and maybe Ohio) and wins the MAC is Detroit.
Or Boise.
Or, in the best-case scenario, Mobile, Ala.
That’s life in the MAC these days.
On Saturday, Temple plays Penn State in the national (not regional) game on ESPN.
The Owls will be playing in their own hometown in front of roughly a split crowd (which is an improvement on all other Penn State games of my lifetime, with the exception of the 1975 game at Franklin Field).
“We had over 30-thousand some Temple fans for our game against Villanova, including 10,000 students,” Temple head coach Steve Addazio said. “I don’t know how many Temple fans we will have Saturday, but it certainly won’t be any less than that.”
Temple won’t be in a better bowl game this season unless it beats Penn State, Maryland and Toledo in a row and then finishes the season by running the table.
The bowl game in Washington D.C. in a half-empty and freezing RFK was nice, but it is not this.
A win over a 6-5 Cal team in the Garden State Bowl was nice, but it was not this.
Seventy-thousand people and a national TV audience is a chance for this program to make its mark nationally.
Maybe its only chance.
This time, a win is well within the realm of reality.
Temple beat UConn by two touchdowns last year and UConn found itself in the Fiesta Bowl.
Two years ago, without a quarterback, Temple handed a 10-2 Navy team a 28-24 loss on the road. That Navy team beat Missouri, 35-14, in its bowl game.
So it’s not as if this program hasn’t done some impressive things in the last two years.
Temple won eight games last year and nine games the year before and just about every Temple fan will tell you that this team is better than those two teams.
This is a chance for the Owls to show it on the biggest stage and in front of the most people who will ever watch them play.
A lot of kids play football their whole lives and never get a chance like this. These Owls are only a few hours away from getting their shot.

09.19.10
by

Penn State week: Robinson stole the ball


“You know I’m going to take that ball from you the next time you see me,” Adrian Robinson appears to be telling his cousin, Penn State’s Curtis Drake.

“I saw the ball and it was loose, I ripped it out and it was Murder-She-Wrote from there.”
_ Adrian Robinson.

I don’t have access to Harry Donahue’s call of the play of the game Saturday vs. UConn, but if Chick Hearn was calling the game, it might go something like this (apologies to John Havlichek):
“Adrian Robinson stole the ball. Robinson stole the ball. Game over.”
Well, the game wasn’t over then be it might as well have been.
Adrian Robinson has been making big plays all of his life. Defensive players of the year make defensive plays of the year and Robinson’s strip of Jordan Todman might have been just that.
“I saw the ball and it was loose, I ripped it out and it was Murder-She-Wrote from there,” Robinson said.
It was a great non-call from the officials because Todman was fighting for extra yardage. How many times have you seen guys fighting for extra yardage break out of piles like that and score? I’ve seen it a lot. (How about Navy two years ago?)
Much to the credit of the UConn fans, nobody was calling for that play to be blown dead.
They were too busy killing their own team in general and their fine coach, Randy Edsall, in particular.
How is it that the Friday BEFORE the Temple game these same fans were saying Temple’s got no chance, Temple’s no good and the Huskies might be better than the 1966 Michigan State Spartans.
Then the day AFTER the Temple game, UConn stinks in their eyes.
Can’t have it both ways.
I guess they confused Temple with Texas Southern.
Edsall gave Temple no credit, but the UConn players were unanimous in their praise of the way the Temple kids played and hit.
The kids on the field know. They know.
The adults on message boards not so much.
The implosion on Boneyard.com, the UConn message board, is about as impressive as the explosion caused by the Enola Gay in 1945.
It’s a nuclear-type jaun, as my friend, Jay “Chief” Cooke, used to say.
Yet  it’s also an over nuclear reaction if you ask me.
All week long, I got responses to my messages on the Bonehead, err, I mean Boneyard, board asking me to come over and “apologize for my Temple lunacy” at about 3:30 on Saturday afternoon.
My response was simple.
“I hope you do the same, apologize for your disrespect of Temple, but I don’t think you have the class to do so.”
Just like the Big East ref/touchdown flag prediction, I was right.
The same guy who called me out for my “Temple lunacy” never apologized for his “UConn lunacy.”
A little perspective is in order.
For three years with each MAC foe falling to Temple for the first time, I’d go over to the vanquished foe’s message board.
The reaction is the same and can be summed up in one sentence.
“I can’t believe we lost to Temple.”
Gradually, they’ve gotten used to it.
UConn will, too.
Good Temple football is here to stay. Get used to it.
Al Golden promised when he arrived on North Broad Street that he was “building a house of brick, not straw.”
That means IF he leaves, it will be in good hands. Whether those hands belong to Mark D’Onofrio or Bruce Arians, Golden has proven one thing.
You can win at Temple. The Owls have now won a school-record eight home games in a row.
Last year, they beat an Army team that beat Vanderbilt and a Navy team that crushed Missouri and beat Notre Dame.
This year, they beat a UConn team with a relatively recent win over South Carolina.
If he can finish that fancy porch he’s putting in by Saturday, the house might be so nice Golden could take a long look at it and said, “Heck, I want to live here.”
Let’s hope so.
“We’re finally a Division I program now,”  he said on Saturday.
There’s a lot of wringing of hands on the UConn board these days but I think that’s premature.
The Big East is so bad I wouldn’t be surprised if UConn ran the table the rest of the way.
In fact, I hope they do.
I hope Temple beats Penn State next week (Temple is significantly better than Kent State) and I hope UConn and Penn State (and, of course, Temple) run the table after that.
Then maybe our friends at UConn will finally develop the same kind of perspective it took the MAC awhile to accept.

01.18.10
by

Why AG turned down East Carolina (and Cincy and Tenn.) …

I don’t mention coach Fran Dunphy on here because I’m not much of a hoops fan, but I admire the man a lot.
The thing I admire most about him is that he already is a Hall of Fame coach in my mind but he doesn’t drag Temple needlessly through speculation every time a big-time opening comes up.
Fran Dunphy is a Philly guy through and through and even if he wins the national championship with the Owls, he will likely remain the Temple head coach.
Temple will be his last head coaching job.
There is much to admire about that.
You can throw a Brinks’ truck worth of money at him and he will likely wave the Brinks’ truck by so he can get to his Suburu parked in the Liacouras Center lot.
Philly and family mean that much to him.Temple fans are comforted by that and they don’t take it for granted.
They trust Fran Dunphy. They have plenty of reasons to do so.
I must admit that I get uneasy with this yearly speculation that comes up surrounding Temple’s other high-profile coach, Al Golden.
Word comes tonight from multiple reliable sources that Al Golden has withdrawn his name for consideration for the East Carolina head football coaching job, reportedly telling Terry Holland to politely take his job and shove it.
Politely, of course. (Rick Stockstill will likely get that job now.)
It’s all part of The Plan.
I have to trust Al today because the one thing he said when he took the Temple job was that he had a plan to turn Temple’s football fortunes around and that it wouldn’t take long for Temple fans to discern that plan.
You’ve got to give the guy credit. He had a plan and it didn’t take any of us long to realize that it would work.
He is an East Coast recruiter without peer who has high schools from Boston to Washington, D.C. locked up. He can walk into any one of them today and be welcomed with open arms.
He would have to change his whole recruiting footprint if he went outside that corridor. Cincinnati, Tennessee and East Carolina are far outside that footprint.
His alma mater, Penn State, is not.

I have a feeling he’s got a similar plan for his own career.

My guess is that he’s had his eyes on the Penn State job all along.
Think about it.
What better way to get the attention of the people he wants to nudge than to have Temple … TEMPLE … beat Penn State in State College next year?
Golden told selected boosters at the bowl party that the Owls were “loaded” next year.
Loaded, with emphasis on loaded with talent.
Penn State people may not realize it, but Temple was a quarterback away from being in the game until the end with the Nittany Lions this season. I’m not talking about a Colt McCoy here. I’m talking about an Adam DiMichele, a guy who is capable of making 20 to 30 positive plays on his own.
Temple might have that guy next year.
With one swift Temple over Penn State blow, he would unsettle the Penn State fan base and hasten the departure of the legendary Joe Paterno and sell himself as his successor in the same day.
He would not get that chance at Cincy or at Tennessee or at East Carolina.
ESPN.com reported him as the leading candidate at Cincy before he withdrew his name from consideration for that job. My guess is that Golden, not Cincy, made that decision.
Same with Tennessee.
Do you really, honestly, think Louisiana Tech’s Derek Dooley is a better coach than Al Golden? The same Dooley who had a losing record in the past three years?
I didn’t think you did.
If Al Golden wanted that job, he probably could have gotten it.
He didn’t want Cincy.
He didn’t want Tennessee.
He didn’t want East Carolina.
He wants Temple.
It’s all part of The Plan.
Hopefully, The Plan evolves into Al Golden seeing Temple the way Fran Dunphy sees Temple but that’s up to Al to decide.
With no attractive jobs left, he’ll have another year to think about it.
What the Temple administration does behind the scenes and what he Owls do on the field will determine the future now.

07.24.09
by

Al Golden’s ‘secret’ plan to beat Penn State

… First ‘official’ practice starts Aug. 6 …

By Mike Gibson
I don’t know who started this Al Golden Twitter thing, but my guess was it wasn’t Al’s idea in the first place.
Don’t get me wrong.
Nobody keeps up with current internet and texting trends like Golden, still one of the youngest head coaches in the NCAA.
Today, I applaud Al’s “tweet” because it references former Owl football coach Spencer Prescott and mentions that all of our thoughts and prayers are with him.
Indeed, they are.
We’ve chronicled the Spencer Prescott story here in the past. Page down to get a link to Don Hunt’s piece.

Some Al Golden recent tweets:

July 20, 7:56 p.m.: “Our kids are working really hard in summer school and our freshman are getting used to classes…”

July 16, 7:15 p.m.” “Team is really working hard in preparation for the 2009 season!!”

I’m guessing, though, that “tweeting” wasn’t Al Golden’s idea because I’ve been reading some of his other tweets lately and they are not exactly scintillating.

Here are just a couple:
July 20, 7:56 p.m.: “Our kids are working really hard in summer school and our freshman are getting used to classes…”
July 16, 7:15 p.m. “Team is really working hard in preparation for the 2009 season!!”
Hmm.
If Al really wanted to make news with twitter, he’d liven some of these up.
It’ll be good fodder for the fans to read in the upcoming weeks.
Some Al Golden tweets we’d like to (but will never) see:
Aug. 5, 7:16 p.m.: “Practice is going well. We’re putting two offenses in. One for Villanova and one for Penn State. The Nittany Lions will never know what hit them.”
Aug. 6, 7:25 p.m.: “It’s getting dark early. Had a “pro-set” day with Charlton running it in preparation for Villanova. Tomorrow we go to our Penn State offense.”
Aug. 7, 7:32 p.m.: “We’ve got Chester Stewart and Chris Coyer running the old Texas wishbone for Penn State. It’s early, but coach Rhule has Ahkeem Smith in as fullback and Joey Jones and Kee-Ayre as the halfbacks.”
Aug. 8, 7:45 p.m.: “I’m leaving the defense up to coach D’Onofrio as usual. He’s doing a great job. I don’t think Villanova will be able to block us.”
Aug. 9, 8:10 p.m: “My God, this offense we have in for PSU is looking spectacular. PSU will go for the QB and Chester will pitch to Joey or Kee-Ayre and they’ll be gone. Plus, they have to watch Ahkeem on the belly series. I can’t wait until we shock the world on Sept. 19.”
Aug. 10, 8:01 p.m.: “Yeah, I know we have a game on Sept. 3. We planning for both PSU and Nova, but we’re thinking just Nova, believe me.”
Aug. 11, 7:32 p.m.: “Back to the triple option today and it’s scary. I know we needed three weeks to get ready for Navy. Joe will need more than that when we pull this secret weapon out of the E-O hanger.”
Aug. 12, 8:12 p.m.: “I’m so glad our practices are closed. I don’t think Joe gets twitter, either. Thank God.”

The best sports season ticket buy in Philly is just one click away:

04.01.09
by

Big 10 explores idea of adding Temple

As it turns out, that story that appeared in Newsday on Monday about Temple joining the Big 10 is more than mere speculation.

Exploratory talks have started last week between Big 10 commissioner James E. Delaney and Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw, according to sources.
“It’s a little premature,” Delaney said on Tuesday, neither confirming nor denying the talks, “but we’re at least intrigued by Temple.”

Delaney said that the Temple positives outweigh its negatives.

“Look, Temple is in the fourth largest media market, Philadelphia, and its football stadium already is larger than Northwestern’s and Indiana’s by a good bit,” he said. “It has a state-of-the-art basketball arena that more than fits our requirements and, academically, the school fits our profile group.

“The school is on the upswing in football. Four wins two years ago. Five wins last year. There’s a solid business model there now to keep that momentum going forward.

“This wouldn’t be like adding, say, Wake Forest, with only 4,000 students. This is a school that has 33,000 full-time students. This is a Pennsylvania state institution on par with Pitt and Penn State in many respects.”

Bradshaw wouldn’t comment, but has gone on record in the past by saying “we won’t get involved in an arm’s race” when it comes to bidding on coaches.
That could change, one high-level supporter said, once Temple is admitted to the Big 10.

“It’s safe to say that getting Penn State in here every other year will be terrific for both Temple and Penn State,” he said. “That alone would raise Temple’s average attendance profile significantly. Temple could afford to keep guys like Al Golden, if his bottom-line warrants it.

“Then you have the other issue. Getting teams like Ohio State and Michigan in here will be a big plus to the athletic department bottom line. Our attendance could go from a 20,000 average to 40-45,000 with no problem, especially if Al Golden can raise our level of competitiveness in football, which I think he can.”

The money coming in from Lincoln Financial Field attendance and Big 10 television more than make any extra investment the university makes on the short term sure to be covered on the back end.

“The most important thing is that the profile of the school goes through the roof nationally. This is a self-sustaining thing, really a license to print money. In this economy, our Board of Trustees must be aggressive in pursuing this.“

“It’s an exciting time for Temple,” the athletic supporter said. “You have 260,000 living alumni just dying to have a big-time college experience every Saturday. You get those kind of numbers of people energized behind the school and it has a domino effect. Attendance increases, revenue increases, things like donations and endownments increase. The most important thing is that the profile of the school goes through the roof nationally. This is a self-sustaining thing, really a license to print money. In this economy, our Board of Trustees must be aggressive in pursuing this.

“That said, it’ll work only if Al Golden can deliver the goods. By that, I mean, an eight-, nine-, or 10-win season this year in the MAC. Anything short of that and I don’t think the other 11 Big 10 presidents will pull the trigger.

“They’re willing to wait on us but not for long. I say we have until the end of the year and no more.”

The man struck a cautionary note, though.

“I don’t like the fact that this story is coming out on April Fool’s Day,” he said. “Is this an April Fool’s joke?”

Yes, the man was told.

It is.

Happy April’s Fool’s Day everybody.

12.09.08
by

Adam DiMichele: We may never see his like again

Adam DiMichele's fake kneeldown at the end of the first half at Navy that ended in a long-bomb touchdown to Bruce Francis will always be remembered as one of the greatest Temple plays of all time.

Adam DiMichele’s fake kneeldown at the end of the first half at Navy that ended in a long-bomb touchdown to Bruce Francis will always be remembered as one of the greatest Temple plays of all time.

Adam DiMichele will be missed by all Temple fans.

By Mike Gibson
OK, I’ll be the first to admit it.
I’ve been spoiled for the past three years.
I’ve never once wished for a quarterback change at Temple University when No. 13 was on the field.
The thought never even entered my head.
Not once.


It’s hard to
put your
finger on
it, but I
knew from
the first time
I saw Adam
DiMichele
in a Temple
uniform that
he was the
perfect quarterback
for me and my team.

“I love that kid,” I said to my friend, Mark, during the 28-14 win over Bowling Green three years ago.
“You have to,” Mark said. “Who wouldn’t love Adam DiMichele?”
Nothing kinky, mind you, but I love him as a (very) older brother or as a proud father.
Quarterback is a very strange position.
You either have it or you don’t.
It’s hard to put your finger on it, but I knew from the first time I saw Adam DiMichele in a Temple uniform that he was the perfect quarterback for me and my team.
He had all the qualities I ever wanted in a quarterback:
Arm?
Check.
Heart?
Check.
Courage?
Check.
Overlaping skills like moxie, determination, leadership?
Check, check, check.
Athleticism, escapability?
Check, check.
I made the list in my head and could put an emphatic checkmark next to each wonderful quality under Adam DiMichele’s name.
Check, check, check, check, check.

I slumped back in my seat. All these years of asking why the other team always had a better quarterback than Temple were over.

Wow.
I slumped back in my seat. All these years of asking why the other team always had a better quarterback than Temple were over.
There were other problems, but I was always confident in my quarterback.
For sure, there were similar stretches in other years, like when Walter Washington came or Henry Burris was here but not three years like this.
I don’t remember ever having three years of this level of confidence in the leader on the field.
I knew those days would be over once and now they are.
I don’t have that same level of confidence anymore.
I don’t know if I ever will.
I’ve never yelled from my seat in the stands for some kid to be pulled from the game, but I will admit I thought a few times it might be a better idea for Chester Stewart to sit and watch the Homecoming Day game from the bench and let Vaughn Charlton have a shot.
After the 7-3 loss to Western Michigan and after Stewart missed a wide-open Bruce Francis by 10 yards for what would have been a third time, I saw enough.
As I walked into the concourse, the first person I saw was Vaughn Charlton.
Not the kid, the dad.
“They should have burned the redshirt,” I said.

I wasn’t looking for a response nor did I get one. I just walked away, knowing that a precious game was frittered away.
The most important position on the field is quarterback and I would have liked to see how a year older and wiser Vaughn Charlton would have responded to the challenge at a time his team needed him the most, after DiMichele went down.
I didn’t see it. All I know is that, right now, I can’t picture either Vaughn Charlton or Chester Stewart throwing six touchdowns in a game, like Adam DiMichele did two weeks ago.
I don’t know if either one of them has the qualities down the line that Adam DiMichele does.
I hope they do, but hope doesn’t get me to a bowl game.

On the other hand, DiMichele came to Temple as the WPIAL’s all-time passing leader and, in his senior year alone at Sto-Rox, tossed 36 touchdown passes for 2,706 yards.
Charlton’s senior year at Avon Grove?
Nine TD passes, 1,337 yards.
Stewart’s senior high school numbers were slightly better than Charlton’s but not half as good as DiMichele’s: 72 for 134, 1,348 yards and 17 touchdowns.
What was that coach Bill Parcells said?
“You are what your record says you are.”
Well, with quarterbacks, you pretty much are what your stats say you are.
Adam DiMichele proved that. So did every other previous great Temple quarterback.
None of them came here and achieved at a high level without doing the same exact thing in high school or JUCO ball. Walter Washington (Jacksonville Mainland), Burris (Spiro, Okla.), Matty Baker (Central York), Brian Broomell (Sterling, N.J.) and Steve Joachim (Haverford High) and Doug Shobert (Central Bucks) were big-time high school superstars.

So was Adam DiMichele. It’s a good blueprint to look for when Temple recruits its next-great quarterback.

10.09.08
by

Why the MAC hates Temple

By Mike Gibson
I’m always wary of people I don’t know patting me on the back.
It’s those people who I always meet with an askanse eye, checking to see if there’s a knife in the other hand.
I learned this lesson as it relates to Temple football early in the season, as early as late August.



Dan LeFevour
in front of a billboard
of himself

After a few visits to the MAC bulletin board, a healthy number of posters wished Temple good luck against Army and, by the way, come back with a win.
Nobody mentioned that Army was a bad team in any of those 37 posts.
Yet, after Temple beat Army, 35-7, a roughly equal number of posts all carried this troubling theme:
“Good win against Army but, let’s face it, that’s the worst Army team we’ve seen in years.”
Why?
Because it lost to Temple, 35-7?
Obviously, that was the unsaid message.
Nobody is saying that any more because it really carries no weight, not after what Army did to Tulane (44-13) in New Orleans this past weekend.
Let’s face it: The rest of the MAC, with notable exceptions such as Karl Smith of PhillyBurbs.com, hates Temple.
Or at least a good sizeable portion of the MAC fanbase dislikes the Owls.
They mitigate anything good the Owls have done by saying “yeah, but.” After Army, it was “yeah but” and after Miami it was “yeah but.”
I respect a guy like Joe Paterno of Penn State a lot more. Not only does he slam the Big East refs for costing the Owls two games against UConn, he says his team’s 45-3 win would have been “a lot closer” had “the DiMichele kid not been knocked out so early. I feel sorry for Temple.”
You know Joe means what he says.
There are two guys running MAC websites who have NEVER picked the Owls in a game against another MAC team, yet the Owls have won two MAC games on the road and more at home in the last three years.
“Temple should have beat
UConn. It completed a pass
on the first play of overtime
that took the ball down to the 1
and it was called back on a hold,
which was a bad, bad, bad call.”
_Penn State coach Joe Paterno
on his statewide radio show

It’s not logic. It’s hate. Or an intense dislike.
The motive is simple.
Nobody wants a ex-BCS team kicked out of a BCS conference coming in and dominating a league known for some pretty good football.
Nobody wants a team carrying a bad “brand name” like Temple carrying the conference’s championship trophy around Ford Field come December. It doesn’t matter that the Temple they are thinking about is the “same old Temple” and not the group of Grade A recruits hauled in by Al Golden the past three seasons.
That’s why I’m wary about this week’s game at Central Michigan.

Let’s hope for a clean,
well-played, game decided
by the kids on the field
and not the adults
wearing prison outfits

Not only do the Owls have to deal with the league’s best healthy quarterback, Dan LeFevour, they have to deal with refs who have that built-in mindset.
It was manifested last year in a home game against Northern Illinois when one side judge called 10 of the 11 penalties, almost all bogus, against the Owls in a 16-15 win.
It was manifested against visiting Western Michigan a couple of weeks ago when the MAC supervisor of officials apologized to Temple for calling a sideline interference call on the Owls’ coaches after Temple got a crucial third-down stop and was able to force WMU to punt in the fourth quarter.
The guy who called the sideline interference call? Same guy as in the NIU game. He should be fired or at least investigated.
Good officiating means never having to say you’re sorry. It’s gotten so ridiculous at times this year that every time Temple makes a big play or scores a touchdown, I expect to see a flag.
This kid LeFevour is really good. Central Michigan purchased a billboard (pictured) of him and put it in the middle of the Detroit stadium complex. He’s a load to worry about on his own, playing for a good team. I don’t want to worry about him AND the officials, yet two days before the game that’s just what I’m worrying about.
Let’s hope for a clean, well-played, game decided by the kids on the field and not the adults wearing prison outfits.

What they’re saying about the Owls:
… “They out-physicaled us up front. It’s really the first time we’ve come out of a game feeling like we didn’t control the line of scrimmage. Even Nebraska, we kind of thought was a wash.” _ Western Michigan coach Bill Cubitt talking about Temple…

… “I was told by a lot of people before the game that Temple is really good but, man, this team has all kinds of weapons.” _ Ohio News Network sports director Andy Raskin during the telecast of Temple vs. Miami on ESPN360.com…

…”What my Owls have done this year–and I will call them ‘my Owls’ because I’ve been on this team since the beginning–is sensational considering they lost their starting quarterback. … Maybe people are starting to realize that this is one of the top defenses in the country.” _ Vegas handicapper Robert Ferringo…

…”They have high-caliber athletes all over the place. That’s the hardest-hitting team we’ve played all year. I’ve never been this beat up after a game.” _ Western Michigan offensive guard Phil Swanson…

…”It was just two great teams. Both Temple and us have made great strides and I don’t think there are two better teams in our league than us and them.” _ Buffalo tight end Jesse Rack, after a Hail Mary pass beat Temple, 30-28, at the buzzer…

07.15.08
by

"How’s Temple going to do this year?"

By Mike Gibson
One of my New York friends, a guy who loves the Yankees named Frank, asked me what is turning into a yearly question the other day.
He usually asks “How’s Temple going to do” but this year phrased it differently.
“How many wins is Temple going to have this year?” Frank asked.
“Seven,” I said.
“SEVEN?” he asked, incredulously. “They haven’t had seven wins total in the last seven years combined!”
(That’s not quite true but it’s what Frank and so many fans believe.)
“Seven,” I said again. “Check back with me in December.”
Now Frank is a very good sports fan, a Giants’ fan as well as a Yankee fanatic.
Strangely, he’s adopted Temple football over the years and has become a closet Owl follower. He went to Pace University and his wife went to Temple.
He pretty much knows everything about every baseball team.
He’ll tell me how many homers Ryan Howard, one of his fantasy players, needs to hit this week so that his team can advance.
On the front porch of his summer place near mine in the Poconos he has a sign that says “Mickey Mantle Way.”
A good, solid, sports fan with impeccable credentials. Yet he shook his head when I said seven.
I meant eight, but I said seven because I didn’t want to hear him follow me in his golf cart yelling while I was jogging and trying to listen to Mike and the Mad Dog at the same time.
Eight, I’m saying now.
I’d love to get greedy and have nine, 10 or 11, but I’ll settle for eight and consider seven OK.
As I turned the bend and rounded the road in the direction of the Blue Ridge Country Club, I thought Frank was pretty typical of the informed sports fan around the country, the kind of guy who just can’t picture Temple winning seven games.
Well, for the first time in nearly a generation, some informed fans and pundits are picking Temple to win seven games. One ESPN insider wrote as much. Athlon’s College football preview also predicted the Owls to win seven games.
Bright, intelligent, objective, people.
They could have chose any team to win seven games.
They chose Temple.
And they don’t see the world through Cherry and White-colored glasses.
You really have to know college football to pick the Owls to win seven games. In fact, you’d really have to be a hardcore college football junkie.

    Here are my simple reasons:

  • 1. Temple really won five games last year. The loss to Big East co-champ Connecticut was a well-documented travesty. Only some UConn fans really believe the myth perpetuated by some that Bruce Francis was juggling the ball. In fact, MAC officials used the side angle those same UConn fans claim showed Francis juggled it to support their apology to the Owls saying their officials got it wrong.
    The MAC officials viewed the play from every conceivable angle, including the Hartford TV station reverse angle, and came to the inescapable conclusion that BF had both the ball and possession. In fact, the ball clung to Francis’ hands so snugly that some claimed he must have had a sticky, glue-like, substance on those gloves.
    Bobble my ass.
    Period, end of story.
  • 2. Temple played the second half of the season without its MVP, quarterback Adam DiMichele. He’s back and better than ever. Check out the scrolling quote of the day on the sidebar of this blog. With DiMichele, the Owls beat UConn and later won three straight games, including a one-touchdown win over a Miami team that beat Syracuse, which beat Louisville (who also, by the way, beat UConn but that’s another travesty for another day). Temple led, 24-7, and physically manhandled Miami before the Redhawks came back to make the score respectable.
    You really have to know
    college football
    to pick the Owls
    to win seven games.
    In fact,
    you’d really have to be
    a hardcore college football
    junkie.
  • 3. Temple won those five games with just 64 scholarship players. This class brings the Owls up to NCAA norms.
  • 4. Temple recruited the best class in the MAC for the third straight year. It’s going to show up on the field. It has to.
  • 5. Temple is now strong in areas where it was weak last season (running back, offensive line) and stronger in areas where it was strongest last season. Remarkably, over the last few days, the Owls picked up a BC recruit, Eric Reynolds, who was considered the No. 1 high school running back in Pennsylvania last season. He might not be good enough to start and I’m serious because in Joe Jones, a kid from Florida who had to sit out a year with an injury, the Owls may have a future pro.
  • 6. Temple had the No. 1 overall defense in the MAC last season. Temple had the No. 1 red zone defense in the country last season. No. 1. Everybody is back from that defense.

I told Frank seven wins because he’s a doubting Thomas for now.
Much like the rest of the unwashed college football country.
That’s OK, though.
It’s going to make those of us who don’t doubt look all that much better once we get a helluva Christmas present under that tree.
Two tickets to a bowl game.
It’s going to happen.
At Temple.