One of the popular topics over on the OwlsDaily.com message board is about the over/under win total involving our very own Temple Owls.

The 2.5 wins posted by Vegas seems an insult to a lot of Owl fans used to winning (pre-pandemic) an average of over eight games for the previous decade.

Yet some of the responses are sad and amusing in a way.

One of the fans said: “at 2.5 I will make a small wager” and another said “four wins is doable.”

I had to shake my head. That’s the kind of stuff I’m used to reading on the Rutgers’ board over the last decade or so, not the Temple one.

This is what Temple football has become, perception-wise, after two Rod Carey seasons.

Even the Owls’ own fans have some doubts and the expectations of even the most optimistic are rather low.

I hit the 2-4-3 trifecta on the Belmont Stakes on Saturday and came away with a paltry $43. The same winning $2 bet in 2019 (thanks to a tip from The Daily News’ Dick Jerardi) cashed me $637.50. (The difference being eight horses vs. 18 and only five good ones among the eight.)

I’ll stick with the horses.

Temple winning three or four games holds no particular appeal to me, not after being so close to a couple of 10-win seasons.

Talk of the “hope” of winning four games reminds me of the Bobby Wallace days and I so wanted to forget about them.

Temple’s expectations should be much higher than that.

I’m not even sure Carey or his staff have high expectations because I have not read a single quote from either the head coach or any members of his staff even mentioning a winning season or a championship. All I’ve seen from Carey is that we want to “field a team that plays hard that our fans will be proud of ….”

That’s pretty damn vague and designed to tamp down any expectations.

I’m sure a lot of 1-11 Temple teams played hard in the past but didn’t have the, err, horses.

As far as the bet itself, I don’t see–at least at this juncture–Temple being favored in any game other than Wagner and Akron so that’s one good reason to stay away. Put it this way: Temple was an inexplicable unforced error away from being 0-7 last year, lost 15 players and gained nine and more of the 15 were proven than most of the nine coming into the E-O.

It’s neither a sucker bet nor a sure thing but low expectations should be have been a thing of the past century, not the current one.

Friday: Opening Clues

It’s Memorial Day which signifies both a solemn and reflective day and the beginning of summer.

When it comes to Temple football, it’s solemn for a different reason in that Vegas has set the over/under for 2.5 wins so influential people on the outside think the Owls are not going to improve that position in the next three months.

Around Labor Day, though, a much clearer picture could emerge.

If this were, say, 2019 and the Owls were sitting on those expectations, it would be pretty grim but this is the era of the transfer portal and the Owls could be a much different team in three months.

Two wins is a pretty low bar but there are a number of things that could go right for the Owls not only to go over it but to surprise just about everyone with a winning season.

To me, they are improved on the offensive line, running back and at least as good in the wide receiver department.

The return of Ty Mason at one corner and bringing in a good Big 10 corner along with Freddie Johnson and a transfer from UConn makes the Owls improved at that position. Amir Tyler brings steady leadership to the safeties and William Kwenkeu and Audrey Isaacs are proven linebackers.

To me, quarterback and defensive line are unproven commodities.

If, say, D’Wan Mathis breaks out and tosses 30 touchdown passes or more and limits the interceptions, that’s one thing Vegas isn’t counting on happening.

If the Owls are able to bring in some defensive linemen who can stop the run and get after the passer–they already have three two-deep players from North Carolina and Kentucky coming in–that’s another.

Putting a real emphasis on special teams–and by that I mean blocking punts and field goals and returning kicks for big yardage–is a third area.

But, to me, it all comes down to the quarterback.

Protecting yours and putting the other guy’s on his back.

The Owls have the protection locked down and, in the coming months, they have to bring in some guys who are capable of breaking down the protection of the bad guy’s quarterback.

So far, the defensive line is just not good enough either in the stopping the run or getting after the passer department. Add a couple more edge rushers and run stoppers in what is still a very talent-rich portal and things could change. You’ve got to think Temple’s highly-paid staff knows this as well.

Their careers pretty much depend on attracting that kind of talent and the urgency is now, over the next three months, not next year or two years from now because they are staring down a 2-10 or 4-8 disaster otherwise.

That’s pretty much the hope we have going forward, that they know what everybody else knows.

Friday: What Could Go Wrong?

Monday: A sucker bet?

Other than the occasional PBS series by Ken Burns, I found myself slowly but surely drifting away from watching network television since the wonderful shows of the 60s and 70s (Twilight Zone, Bewitched, even Mr. Ed, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Tyler Moore, All in the Family, etc.). When I get home from work, I gravitate to some very good Youtube free TV content like Bald and Bankrupt (about an English guy visiting Russia), The Daily Woo (about a Florida guy visiting quirky places), Arms Family Homestead (about an Oklahoma family living a normal farm life), etc. Pretty amazing that normal people can put on more entertaining stuff than the best sitcom writers in Hollywood today.

To me, at least, that homegrown content hits, err, home and says all of the right things.

I found a little of that this spring on the Temple football twitter account.

Not knowing much about our new quarterback (D’Wan Mathis), I gravitated to this interview of him:

While we didn’t hear too much about “winning games” from Rod Carey in the month-long spring practice, it took first-team starting quarterback Mathis about three seconds to mention the two most beautiful words in the interview “winning games.”

That pretty much cut to the chase for me.

Like the homegrown generated Youtube content referenced in the initial paragraph, Temple football has been a mostly entertaining few hours for me every fall because of the winning decade between 2009-2019.

The 1-6 disgusting and disgraceful 2020 season needs to be erased as soon as possible.

If Carey isn’t going to put the emphasis on winning, I’m glad the kids are because those are the guys who need to make the plays necessary to make it happen.

Here’s Will Rodgers:

To me, the key to winning in college football is putting the opposing quarterback on his ass consistently. That leads to fumbles and interceptions and Rodgers, who already has nine Power 5 sacks to his credit at Washington State, should help the Owls in that area. He’s an upgrade over the guy (who shall remain nameless) who transferred to Penn State.

Keeping Mathis’ jersey clean is the other key and the Owls’ offensive line is one of their strongest units.

These two interviews suckered me back into buying season tickets and, if these two guys bring me a win over Rutgers, I’m all aboard the Rod Carey train. (Err, not holding my breath, though.)

Anything less and it could be a fall totally dedicated to ONLY Lot K tailgating or, even worse, bike riding and jogging on Saturday afternoons. My preference is for Temple Owl wins and at least these two newcomers said the right things.

Talking the talk is a start. Walking the walk is more important but now at least we know there is a possibility for some entertaining content starting Sept. 4. The remote will be reserved for away games.

For home games, my season ticket check is in the mail.

Going inside for the entirety of the season will depend on getting off to a good start. I have a feeling a lot of Temple fans feel the same way.

Monday: The Tunnel