Category Archives: Rod Carey

10.29.19
by

Temple vs. UCF: Disgraceful and Inept

temple-ucf-matchup

Editor’s Note: Fizzy, a former Temple player,  just about every one of the other 29,000 fans in attendance, was shocked and appalled by the Owls’ poor play on Saturday night. His summary follows. 

By Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub

Today’s analysis will be brief.  That’s because everything I said about SMU, could be an accurate comment about the UCF game.  So take last week’s out of the trash bin and read it again.

And therein lies the problem.  Nothing ever changes with this coaching staff.  The weaknesses we showed against Buffalo, were capitalized on by SMU and UCF.  We stay in the four-three with man to man coverage, despite our total inability to operate that defense successfully.

weinraub

Fizzy here at the Boca Raton Bowl, where the Owls will probably return if they only win one more game.

I would like to take some time here to apologize.  As we ran out to a  5- 1 record, I kept talking about how much more talent we had than the teams we beat. Well, yes Doris, that was true then, but it’s not now.  When we got to the really good football programs, everything changed. Now, most of the good programs have talent that is equal to, or better than ours. I should have known that.

So what that means is the coaching staff has to innovate. On defense, there are many different alignments I can think of that would upset the blocking schemes. Some would put more pressure on the QB, (we had none) and some would throw many unusual zones and combo zones and man-to-man pass defense up so the QB could no be sure of our alignment, and still bring pressure.  In our three losses, we have been beaten for at least nine long touchdown passes and six long runs.  Our defense stinks.  If you can’t pressure the QB and you can’t defend long, what’s left?

On offense, we also show no imagination as we have basically been stymied. Forget the terrible play calls in many situations.  If it’s broke, fix it!  Try a hurry-up or unbalanced line with two backs in the backfield.  Try a power I, or go to one of the split formations.  Damn, go to a single wing for a few series, anything to make the defense uncomfortable.  Put Centeio and Russo together, so there are two passing threats.  I don’t want to hear the coaches say, “Well that’s our offense and they have to stop it.”  Guess what?  They have stopped it.  You have to do something different if we are not to be further embarrassed for the rest of our schedule.

In short, if our coaching staff doesn’t innovate on both offense and defense, well, I’m not going to sit out in the cold.  It was bad enough I left with eight minutes into the third quarter last night.  A friend offered us seats upstairs in an enclosed box, and I didn’t want to throw-up on the nice seats.

Thursday: Some Explaining To Do

Saturday: Game Day Without The Owls

10.23.19
by

TU-UCF: Getting The Swag Back

The real testament to how badly SMU beat Temple was not the final score on Saturday; 45-21 was bad enough for those of us who thought those types of beatings were over under the stewardship of Rod Carey.

The real testament could come in a couple of nights.

Can Temple get its swag back?

cherryhelmet

Gosh, you have to hope so but that’s the kind of loss that could shake anyone’s swagger.

The Owls have always played with the confidence of a team under control of what was happening on the field. The fact that so many things went wrong on Saturday could shake that confidence.

Or not.

The last time this happened was in Buffalo and the Owls got their swag back rather quickly and played well after that.

You have to hope for the same again but UCF is a very talented team.

Are they as talented as Memphis?

I don’t think so, but we will have to find out on Saturday night.

Unlike the last couple of years, this is a beatable UCF team. They lost at Pitt, the same Pitt team that beat Delaware by three points. They beat ECU by pretty much the same margin Temple did.

This is more about Temple, though.


Temple football is establishing
the run first then, only after
the run is established,
bring the linebackers and the
safeties for the bad guys up to
the line of scrimmage and making
the defense susceptible to explosive
plays in the play-action
passing game

Defensive backs that were reliable all season long got beat like drums against SMU. Receivers with relatively good hands (except for the Buffalo game) dropped balls like they were soaked with oil. Coaches who made good decisions all year made questionable ones. (Like, how on any 3d and 5 would you have Todd Centeio in when a completion has to be made?)

One of the things the Owls have to do, in my mind, is changing things up. The film UCF will watch is one of the Owls trying to match SMU point-for-point and that’s not really the Temple football we’ve all come to know and love. Temple football is establishing the run first then, only after the run is established, bring the linebackers and the safeties for the bad guys up to the line of scrimmage and making the defense susceptible to explosive plays in the play-action passing game.

That means using a Temple strength–the offensive line–to establish the run and, at times, using the tight ends as H-blockers for both Ra’Mahn Davis and Jager Gardner if straight-ahead blocking isn’t enough to get the job done.

That approach limits the touches of the high-octane UCF offense, chews some clock, and allows Temple receivers to roam free through the UCF secondary as a result of play-action occupying the eyes of the UCF linebackers and safeties. If Temple has two eight-minute drives that result in touchdowns, the Owls win this game. Even one such drive might be enough.

That’s what UCF hasn’t seen on film so far and that’s what it needs to see on Saturday night.

That’s probably the best way to get the Temple swag back. It probably is the only way.

Friday: Game Night Minus-1 Clues

Sunday: Game Analysis

10.15.19
by

Fizzy: We’ve Come a long way, baby

Editor’s Note: Great job by Fizzy here. Made only one edit to change the name of Memphis running back Daniel Tyce to Kenny Gainwell.

By Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub

Late in the first quarter, I stood and slowly looked around the stadium at the sea of over thirty thousand people wearing cherry and white.  Finally, I thought, we got a perfect day for homecoming and just look at the crowd.  Then, I sort of merged the vision of the acres of cars and people happily tailgating in the vast open spaces in the parking lot and laughed to think the school had considered trying to shoe-horn a small stadium with no parking into North Philadelphia.  We were playing a ranked opponent, but our guys looked to be more than an even match on the field.  Wow!  If you couldn’t step back and smell the roses on this perfect Saturday in the fall, well, maybe you needed help.

weinraub

Then I flashed back to a mere sixty years ago, 1959 to be exact, and we were getting ready to play Bucknell.  We were scrimmaging under the lights in the old Temple stadium when I tore up my knee.  The scrimmage couldn’t continue because I had been the twenty-second guy, and we didn’t have any more players.  On the field in front of me, on Saturday, however, there were about seventy guys dressed for the game and a host of others standing by.  We’ve come a long way baby!

Oh, I almost forgot.  Let’s talk about the Memphis game.  The wisp of nostalgia has blown away.

Screenshot 2019-10-14 at 9.08.27 PM

First, I want to congratulate the defense.  Each week, they stop the opponent on third and/or fourth and short, and each week a different hero emerges.  This week, it was Harrison Hand who was simply outstanding, supported by lots of other guys. Why would any coach playing Temple try to get a first down by going with a straight, up-the-gut handoff?  On the downside, there were lots of missed tackles vs. outstanding Memphis running back Daniel Tyce, and some miscommunications which left Memphis receivers wide open in key situations.


“Then I flashed back
to a mere sixty years
ago, 1959 to be exact,
and we were getting
ready to play Bucknell.
We were scrimmaging under
the lights in the old Temple
stadium when I tore up my knee.
The scrimmage couldn’t continue
because I had been
the twenty-second guy, and we
didn’t have any more players”
_ Fizzy Weinraub 

Correspondingly, why would Temple go straight ahead with Davis, in a fourth and short situation?  Alternatives are a QB sneak with a 6-foot-4, 235-pound man:   A fake dive quick slant, a fake handoff, and pitch to the outside or inside reverse, etc. etc.  How about a hard count and then a play if it didn’t work.  C’mon coach Uremovich, open up the playbook in those situations.  However, Uremovich’s call for a pitch right – throwback left to QB Centeio, was a thing of beauty.  Centeio though, took his eye off the underthrown ball which resulted in a bobble and then a strip.  Also, we did a lot more pitches to the outside, some were sort of a half-reverse, and we saw Centeio playing some wide receiver which adds another offensive threat.

Next,  should it be two, or not be two, that is the question.  (See, I went to that English Lit class.)  After Temple scored its last touchdown, they were up eight points.  If Temple kicked the extra point, it would be nine points.  If they were successful going for two, they’d be up 10 points. If not, they’d still be up eight.

Throughout the last quarter, I thought we were going to lose the game by one point.  Memphis has an outstanding field goal kicker, and I didn’t think it was possible we’d keep him out of range.  There were two times this year when we needlessly went for two (my opinion), and this time we didn’t.

I would have gone for two, to make it a 10-point spread.  If we didn’t make it, Memphis would still have to make a successful two-point conversion to tie, after a TD.  What I’m trying to say is a Memphis TD and field goal could only tie us, not beat us.

As it turned out, the UNCATCH saved the day.  When I got home, I played the UNCATCH back ten times.  I thought the view from the backside showed a lack of control and the point of the ball forcing a bounce up and to the right.  So I thought the call was correct, but it could have gone either way.  This time we lucked out.  Remember back when Al was coaching and we scored a winning TD against Connecticut in the back of the end zone. The catch was disallowed because the replay didn’t show the receiver’s foot coming down.  Gee, lucky we were still playing at the Linc and had all those NFL cameras.

Now, after the UNCATCH, I thought our play calling was chicken shit.  We just ran straight ahead and tried to run the clock.  All we need was one first down to seal the game, but Memphis used their timeouts to force a punt.  This was the time when we needed an imaginative, but safe play to close out the game.  Memphis only needed to get to kick from our 45, to have a chance for the winning field goal.

Last, let’s talk about QB Anthony Russo.  I was asked before the game for a prediction.  I said if Russo has a great game. we’ll win.  Well, Russo had a good game, but he still missed two guys open for TD’s.  He has a terrific arm but I’m still waiting for that great game.   Also, I think bringing in Todd Centeio is a great changeup.  But I still ask the question why Russo can’t run sneaks, keepers and bootlegs.  There were times he could have scored using a walker.

Thursday: Reasons For Optimism Against SMU

Friday: Game Day Minus-1

10.13.19
by

TU Homecoming 2019: Unabashed Joy

You can cash by taking the winning horse but an exacta and a trifecta always make the wallet that much fatter.

Screenshot 2019-10-12 at 8.34.14 PM

 

On Homecoming Weekend 2019, Temple football had a superfecta in a 30-28 win over Memphis:

  • Owls won
  • Owls beat a Top 25 team
  • Owls drew a season-high 34,253 beautiful and involved fans
  • Owls honored their greatest team at the end of the first quarter.

No money exchanged hands, but it was the kind of day money cannot buy.  Perfect 72-degree weather in mid-October with the good guys coming out on top and just about all of their preseason hopes still on the table.

In the end, it was pretty much unabashed joy. No complaints. Much was made in Memphis of the call that overturned a catch by a tight end that might have led to a game-winning field goal but those same fans said nothing about a worse call–a phantom hold on Temple that negated a 60-yard Ra’Mahn Davis touchdown. The film showed no hold, just a push from the front which is a legal block. Davis scores there and Magnificio’s alleged catch is just another magnifico catch to make a blowout closer. You can see both announcers say it was a catch initially but the analyst at least saying it was a great overturn after watching the ball come loose.

Screenshot 2019-10-12 at 8.04.29 PM

He’s a good man, that John Goodman

Could Temple have played better?

Yes.

Hell, I’d like to see this team have a killer instinct and turn a 23-7 lead into a 35-14 one every now and then but we’ve got to remember that the guys in the other locker room are highly recruited, too, and also have good coaches and resilient personalities.

Any time you win in college football is a good day. Mix in Homecoming and a big crowd with that and some overdue tributes and it turned out to be an outstanding day. The fact that the win made Temple the all-time winningest team in the history of AAC football games was the Cherry on top of this delicious White cake.

Hopefully, it makes this team hungry for more in the upcoming weeks.

Tuesday: Fizzy’s Corner

 

 

 

10.09.19
by

2019 Homecoming Offers Chance at History

We’ve seen a lot of interesting things the last few Homecomings for Temple University.

In 2015, we saw a wave that engulphed the entire lower bowl of Lincoln Financial Field because 35,711 fans were there that day in a 48-14 win over Tulane and almost every seat in that lower bowl was filled with Cherry and White-clad fans.

Fitting, because playing the Green Wave produced that Cherry and White Wave with the above video courtesy of an OwlsDaily poster named Victory Engineer. The crowd for a Homecoming game has averaged roughly 7,000 more than a “normal” home game for each of the last five seasons. Because of the importance of this game, Homecoming and the records of the two teams, anything less than an announced crowd of 36,000 fans would be disappointing. Even more important, those fans have to be as loud and involved as the 30,000-plus fans were for Maryland this year and the 33,026 were against Cincinnati last year.

Screenshot 2019-10-08 at 8.09.57 AM

That’s all nice but there has been nothing HISTORIC about any Temple Homecoming until maybe now.

For the first time in recent Homecoming history, the Owls not only have a chance to grab a Top 25 win, but they also have a chance to be a Top 25 team themselves by knocking off one of the 16 remaining unbeaten teams in the FBS. More importantly, as you can see below, Temple becomes the all-time winningest team in AAC games with a win. That’s not up to pollsters; that’s a fact.

Screenshot 2019-10-08 at 10.46.32 PM

A win on Saturday would make Temple the all-time “winningest” team in actual AAC games.

While they were also playing a Top 25 team last year in unbeaten and No. 20 Cincinnati for Homecoming, they were far out of the picture themselves with a 4-3 record at the time including a brutal loss to FCS Villanova. The loss this year, Buffalo, is somewhat less brutal due to the fact that the Bulls are a fellow FBS team.

The Owls got a vote in the Top 25 this week and can move significantly up by going 5-1 and registering their second win over a Top 25 team this year. They have already beaten a No. 21 (Maryland) and beating a No. 23 (Memphis) on top of that could move them up fast.

How far up is yet to be determined by essentially two questions:

One, does Memphis scare you?

Two, does Temple scare you?

The answers to those questions, at least in my mind, are no and yes, respectively, for different reasons.

Memphis (5-0)  has beaten Ole Miss (3-3), 15-10. Good win, but the Ole Miss of today is a little different than the Ole Miss of Eli Manning or even 2015 when the Tigers also beat them.

Other than that, Memphis has beaten Southern (55-24), South Alabama (42-6), Navy (35-23) and Louisiana-Monroe last week (52-33). Impressive scores, not so impressive opponents with the exception of Navy and that game was in Memphis. They have a running back with both a great name (Kenneth Gaineswell) and great wheels but Temple has three of the best linebackers in the country to counter him.

Last week, on the road against Monroe–a team that was beaten, 72-20 by Iowa State–the Warhawks outgained the Tigers, 575 yards to 535 and had 30 first downs to Memphis’ 21.

Got to believe here that Temple is a far better team than Monroe but the Owls scare me for different reasons. They have repeatedly violated former coach Matt Rhule’s No. 1, err, rule: Protect the football. This, to me, is an easy fix. Of the six interceptions and four fumbles lost, nine have come when the Owls lined up in an empty backfield. The other was a Jager Gardner fumble on a run from scrimmage.

An empty backfield telegraphs the play to the opposition. “Hey, guys, we’re going to throw the ball. It’s OK to blitz.”

Opponents have obliged. When that happens, there is no time to throw and the result usually is a blindside hit or a forced throw. Keep a back in the, err, backfield and a lot of those turnover problems go away because of the equal chance of a run or throw on any particular play and the defense has to stay home.

There is a lot to learn from that Monroe film that produced 575 yards and 30 first downs with lesser talent than Temple. The Warhawks used a lot of play-action and misdirection to get those yards. There is even more to learn from the Temple film of the last five games.

How fast the Temple coaches learn both lessons will determine whether this Homecoming is remembered for a fan-based wave or a player-generated tsunami that puts the Owls among college football’s elite when Sunday’s Top 25 is released.

Saturday: Game Day

10.04.19
by

Turning out the lights on East Carolina

The lights went out with 3 minutes, 34 seconds left in Temple’s 27-17 win over host East Carolina but, to borrow a famous Don Meredith phrase, the party was over long before that.

The score was 27-10 at the time but, in reality, it seemed a lot more dominant game by the Owls than that.

It seems like first-year Temple coach Rod Carey has found the formula going forward: Heavy on the run game to open up passing lanes and light on the turnovers.

That’s the lesson of the unfortunate Buffalo loss. The Owls tried to do too much up there and, as a result, had too many turnovers and put their defense in too many bad spots.

No more.

Screenshot 2019-10-04 at 9.18.04 AM

When all is said and done, I think ECU will be a better team than Buffalo–it already owns a win over an Old Dominion team that played Virginia Tech pretty even–but that’s not as important as the Owls finding their own familiar identity.

Pound and ground and hit a few important plays in the passing game as a result of the bad guys being so intent on stopping the run. It limits turnovers, but probably doesn’t lead to some of the blowout wins we’ve seen in the past.

That’s a preview of the game plan with teams like Memphis and UCF ahead and probably the only way to win.

turn-out-the-5c3b25

Re’Mahn Davis solidified my view that he’s a big-time back. He had a career-high in rushing (157 yards) and he broke more tackles on every drive than Eagles’ tight end Zach Ertz has in a seven-year NFL career. He’s got a unique running style that I can’t quite pin down. He’s not as elusive as Heisman Trophy runner-up Paul Palmer nor as fast as state champion sprinter Bernard Pierce but he breaks tackles like no Temple running back I’ve seen recently. Maybe Montel Harris (351 yards, 7 touchdowns in a 2012 win over Army) is the closest comparison I can make.

I made a point out of watching Carey’s face coming off the field and it was the pained look of a guy who lost 27-17 and not won. That’s a good sign. That shows he’s a perfectionist and that’s what Temple football needs in the CEO spot. There were far too many penalties and the Owls are going to have to figure out a better way to keep the rush off Anthony Russo. To me, the best way is putting a fullback in as a lead blocker for Davis and Jager Gardner and also drop back to help in play-action pass protection for Russo. Ask Paul Palmer what helped him nearly get the Heisman and he will tell you fullback Shelley Poole. Wyatt Benson did the same for Pierce and Kenny Harper played that important role for Harris. Nick Sharga’s fullback blocks helped Jahad Thomas, Ryquell Armstead and teammates beat Penn State and win an AAC title. Temple has a long tradition of great fullbacks.

Carey will have to come to that conclusion for himself.

Meanwhile, winning a game in college football is hard enough and winning a game on the road is even harder so it is better to learn those lessons after a win than after a loss.

Prediction Tonight: Cincinnati getting 4.5 against visiting UCF.  Bearcats, UCF and Boise State are the leading candidates to get the G5 NY6 slot and the Bearcats have already made one statement for it by beating Marshall, 45-17, on the road. How was that a statement? Boise struggled to beat Marshall, 14-7, at home. UCF was unimpressive in losing to a middling ACC team like Pitt in OT. Bearcats win this outright, 27-21. Last week we were 4-3 against the spread (winning with ECU and Toledo as dogs and SMU and Cincy as favorites but losing on Maryland as a dog and UAB and Wake Forest as favorites. YTD: 17-5 straight up, 13-9 ATS.

Tomorrow: Key Saturday Games

09.29.19
by

Georgia Tech fans now know the feeling

About 11 a.m. yesterday at the dimly-lit City Hall subway stop, I ran into a group of smiling Georgia Tech fans eagerly anticipating a win over the Temple Owls.

Nice people, but I had to shake my head knowing what I know about their head coach and offensive coordinator and what I know about my current guy.

testile

Carey towers over Collins in more ways than one

In one corner, you had those guys, mostly coaches who came from the ranks of the FCS to jump into FBS ball for the first time at Temple. In their first game at Temple, a 16-13 win over Villanova, the defensive line jumped offsides three-straight times.

“That was when I got the feeling this entire staff was learning on the job on Temple’s dime,” I told Temple AD Pat Kraft before the Maryland game.

They still are after a 24-2 loss to Temple.

In the other corner, you had a professional FULLY FBS staff mostly from Northern Illinois, who produced multiple league championships at pretty much the same level Temple plays.

When the doors to train opened, knowing the managers in both corners of this fight, I was never more confident about an outcome.

Now Georgia Tech fans know how we felt after losses to Villanova and Buffalo to start last season.

Last week, the Owls suffered their own embarrassing loss, another one to Buffalo, but the last time we saw Rod Carey he promised to fix what ailed the Owls and he devised a clever game plan that accentuated the run and allowed the offense to manage the game and allow the defense to do its thing.

Re’Mahn Davis rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns and the Owls controlled the clock and won the turnover battle. Football is a simple game. You protect the ball, control the clock to keep the defense rested and you usually win. It would be nice to see a downhill runner like Davis following a fullback through the hole, but you can’t argue with Carey’s results.

That was the game plan and it was executed to perfection. That’s what championship staffs do.

Still, you’ve got to feel for the other guys and gals sometimes. I’ve been there and I’m glad Carey, and not Collins, is here.

Tuesday: Fizzy’s Corner

 

 

 

09.28.19
by

Game Day: Revisionist History

 

collins

Maybe the Owls’ defense will finally show Collins what Mayhem looks like this afternoon.

You never like to say a guy is lying but, for two years, Geoff Collins stretched the truth a lot of his time at Temple University.

None more than earlier this week in the formal press conference leading up to today’s game (3:30, Lincoln Financial Field) when he answered a question this way:
On whether there’s familiarity in the Temple roster after being the coach there previously:

“The entire two-deep either played for us for the last two years or we recruited them.”

Hmm.

Not exactly a lie, but not exactly the truth either. The truth part is that “the entire two-deep either played for us” is correct. That’s to be expected, though. What was Collins supposed to do when he arrived at Temple? Play guys who weren’t there previously? The recruited part? Not so much.

Screenshot 2019-09-27 at 10.01.13 PM

Checking the two-deep released in the pre-game notes against the recruiting charts of both Scout.com and Rivals.com, as many as 17 starters in today’s game were recruited not by Collins but by Matt Rhule and one (Harrison Hand) was recruited by Rod Carey.

Less even last year when only two starters–both offensive line tackles–were recruited by Collins.

When he arrived, Collins promised defensive Mayhem. If you count your own players not staying home on cutback running plays as Mayhem, he delivered. If not, and I don’t, Mayhem never arrived.

Screenshot 2019-09-27 at 10.33.12 PM

Pre-game watching at the Steve Conjar tailgate …

OK, Geoff, whatever you say.

The bottom line of the Collins Era at Temple is that he underachieved with the talent he inherited and wasn’t the dynamic recruiter everyone expected him to be when he arrived in Philadelphia. Rhule, who won 10 games in consecutive years, left Collins with 10-win talent both seasons and Collins underachieved by roughly five games.

web_7day_1280x720 (1)

Just a Cherry-colored tank top or t-shirt needed today. Hopefully, everybody goes in from the tailgates and cheers their lungs off for the Owls.

That’s not to say Collins–an engaging bull-crapper, no doubt–won’t be able to sweet-talk recruits to attend Georgia Tech.

It is to say that it did not happen for him here.

For Temple to win today, it will have to do something that Rhule put a premium on–protecting the football. The Owls have to treat it like Gold and, if they win the turnover battle, they should be all right. That should be the lesson of Buffalo going forward.

Something tells me Carey understands that better than the snake oil salesman who is someone else’s problem now.

Screenshot 2019-09-27 at 10.35.29 PM

Post-game watching at the Steve Conjar tailgate (although I think he will be packed up long before the 10 p.m. game)

Tomorrow: Game Analysis

Tuesday: Fizzy’s Corner

Thursday: ECU Preview

Friday: Game Analysis

09.26.19
by

Patenaude: Just what the doctor ordered

Let’s face it: The Temple Owls looked sick last week against Buffalo and they need a prescription to look like their old selves–or at least the Rosey-cheeked (Cherry-cheeked?) group that played against Maryland.

A Dave Patenaude pill washed down by a little of Geoff Collins’ swag juice might be just what the doctor ordered and that should be delivered at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) when Georgia Tech head coach Collins and his offensive coordinator Patenaude come to town.

At least that’s what Vegas thinks as the Owls were installed as a 9.5-point favorite and that rose to double-digits quickly.

Football is a strange game with an odd-shaped ball that takes funny bounces so it cannot be predicted from a mathematical standpoint. If that were the case, Syracuse, which beat Liberty (24-0) and lost to a Maryland-team (63-20) with Liberty beating Buffalo (35-17) would have meant Temple over Buffalo by 85 points.

It didn’t work out that way because it’s hard to give an X factor to overconfidence or a Y factor to turnovers or a Z factor to three dropped third-down passes.

Still, the variables involved with Patenaude and, to a lesser extent, Collins are pretty rigid and well-known in Temple land and have carried over to Atlanta.

performance

Patenaude with the approval of Collins overhauled a highly successful Temple pro-type (at least the same pro-type run by Bill Belichick in Boston) and turned it into a spread ill-advised to suit the talents of the team he inherited all because that’s what “everybody else” does or because that’s what he did at Coastal Carolina.  He probably should have won nine regular-season games his first year (instead of six) using the Matt Rhule system and at least 10 his second year but underachieved both years. In the 40-plus years I’ve followed Temple football, Patenaude was the worst coordinator-level coach here I’ve ever seen and there was not even a close second.

National people who don’t know better think Collins did a great job here. Local people here, not so much.

So what has he done in Atlanta?

He repeats the same mistake again, trying to force-fit square pegs into round holes.

Both have a team that was exclusively recruited to run a triple-option and have now turned it into a college spread because (you guessed it) “everybody else does it.” Great generals know if they have a strong infantry and weak cavalry they don’t design an attack based on the kind of cavalry they hope to have. Instead, they accentuate the infantry in any battleplan. Similarly, great coaches like Belichick don’t do things because everybody else does it. They do things to fit their personnel and make it work with flawless execution. If Patenaude and Collins were great coaches, they would recruit the personnel they want to fit their offense first and make it work only when those guys are ready to play and not the other way around. They would try to make some form of a triple-option work until then.

Rod Carey proved last week that he wasn’t perfect (really, no one is). I’m still no more thrilled that he has Anthony Russo run a read-option offense than I would be if Belichick did the same with Tom Brady. Overall, though,  I’m glad he’s the doctor to nurse this team back to health and those guys on the other sideline holding up silly money down placards are the cure.

At least that’s what my instincts tell me. We will find out for sure in 48 hours.

Predictions early this week (to get the Maryland-PSU game in): MARYLAND getting 6.5 against visiting Penn State, WAKE FOREST giving 6.5 against visiting Boston College, SMU giving 7 at South Florida, EAST CAROLINA getting 3 at Old Dominion, UAB giving 2 at Western Kentucky, TOLEDO getting 3.5 over visiting BYU, CINCINNATI giving 3 at Marshall. Last week: 5-0 against the spread with Coastal Carolina covering the 17 against UMass (winning, 62-28), Old Dominion covering the 30-point underdog status at Virginia (losing, 28-17), Boston College covering the 7 at Rutgers (winning, 30-16), Indiana covering the 27 against UConn (winning, 38-3) and Iowa State covering the 29.5 against Louisiana-Monroe (winning, 72-20). Season so far: 12-4 straight up, 6-5 against the spread. 

Saturday: Game Day

Sunday: Game Analysis

09.19.19
by

Behind Enemy Lines: A conversation with Bull Run

Stadium

A good panorama look at 29,016-seat Buffalo Stadium. Even though the North Campus is located in the residential suburb of Amherst, the neighbors supported building it in 1992.

This is a real Throwback Thursday post, back to the days when the Temple Owls were a member of the Mid-American Conference

My favorite of the competing MAC blogs back when Temple Football Forever was a member of that conference was Buffalo’s Bull Run.

It still is and its platform is SB Nation.

Screenshot 2019-09-18 at 11.16.06 PM

We had a running and friendly exchange with Bull Run back then and we’re resuming it now in advance of Saturday’s 3:30 game (ESPNU) in Amherst, N.Y. Buffalo’s home stadium is located on the North Campus, which is a little like Temple putting its home stadium on the Owls’ North Campus (Ambler).

The driving engine behind that blog Tim Riordan, which is the same name of a former great Temple (and Philadelphia Stars of the USFL) quarterback. They are not related other than they were and are very good at what they do.

Bull Run mixes in coverage of the Bulls with some occasional humor that always makes it a fun read.

We threw these five questions out to Tim and he was kind enough to answer them:

How was the fan atmosphere at Liberty and was there any audible cursing in the stands at the right-wing religious institution?

 I was not at the game, sadly, but for a team which had been beaten as thoroughly through two games as the flames were the atmosphere seemed rather impressive. I”m going to guess that the honor code there probably kept the cursing to a minimum.

Temple’s attempts to build an on-campus stadium have been seemingly blocked by no more than 20 neighbors. With the Buffalo Stadium located in a residential area, did the neighbors try to stop it when it was built many years ago?

 

Well, UB’s stadium is on Campus and was built originally to help host the 1992 World University Games. It’s one of the reasons that the layout is so bad in the stadium, it was built for track and field. 
Other than the QB and TE, who were the key losses for the Bulls last season?

 

 Where to start? UB only returned seven or eight starters this season. In addition to Tyree and Mabry, we lost three receivers, two linebackers, three defensive backs, and an all-MAC center. Basically, offensive guards and tackles are the returning units.
It will be almost a completely new team you’re seeing this year.
Thoughts from a conference foe on Rod Carey, who is 5-0 against Buffalo?

 

The guy went 38-10 in the MAC, won four division titles and two conference championships. That’s more a statement of his competence than the fact he owned Buffalo. Though I will say last year he really out-coached Leipold at the half. 
Would Buffalo be interested in taking UConn’s place in the AAC since it brings a better current hoop and football program and a bigger TV market?

 

While it might not be the best financial move in terms of the non-revenue sports I would love the move for Buffalo. The New York to DC corridor is a huge location for our Alumni base, and Buffalo is getting more students from that Area than they do from Buffalo itself.
That along with the better depth you have in hoops would make a move to the AAC a no brainier for Buffalo. So if you have any pull with the folks at the American office, pass along a note for us.
Saturday: Game Day and Polls