Category Archives: Temple football spring practice

04.15.16
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Cherry and White: A Day For Good Guys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=692&v=j9v-UzBxt0A

My favorite answer here comes at the 10:35 time stamp.

Full disclosure: I hate the Cherry and White game, but love Cherry and White Day.

I always have felt the same way about the game, because the Cherry and White game pits the Good Guys vs. the Good Guys. If, say, Marshall Ellick beats Nate Hairston on a fly pattern for six, half of me is high-fiving, but the other half is not returning the high five. The reasoning is simple. Half of me thinks we’re going to have a great vertical passing game and the other half is concerned about replacing Tavon Young at a corner.

If our defensive line gets 10 sacks, I’m worried about our offensive line. If Jager Gardner, Ryquell Armstead and Jahad Thomas gain 300 yards against the defense, I’m just as worried about the defensive line as I am excited about the offensive line.

stadiumnew

Work, in  a manner of speaking, already being done on new stadium site.

And on and on …

You get the idea.

There are really no winners and losers when the good guys play the good guys. To really get a feel for how the Owls will be this summer, we will all have to wait until the Army game. Or Stony Brook. Even then, it might be too early because

newstadium

Field samples taken earlier this week.

Penn State should be the telling game.

For the first 10 or so Cherry and White games, I left Geasey Field or Temple Stadium or Ambler thinking the Owls would go unbeaten. It’s the last 30  years or so I’ve discovered the real truth. You cannot tell anything from the game itself.

The day, though, is another story. It’s a chance for Temple fans to get together again and that is  where the real victory is. There is no better place to pick up Temple “stuff” than Cherry and White Day, so bring cash.

kid

Just what is this guy’s problem?

This year, with a new stadium on the horizon, there should be a palpable excitement among those fans knowing this is one of the last two or three games on the East side of campus. With that in mind, it would be nice to see a drawing depicting two things: 1) What the stadium will look like; 2) Will it be North-South or East-West? Fifty percent of the people swear up and down on a stack of bibles that the stadium will be East-West, while another 50 percent will swear that it is North-South. Me? I would like for it to be North-South (better view of Center City), but the land configuration dictates East-West.

Other than that, as Jose from Norristown might say, I would like to see a donation jar to purchase former Owl kicker Wes Sornisky his own grave stone (he is buried anonymously in a Potter’s Field in Delaware after dying alone in a fire),  a folding chair in Doc Chodoff’s name to given to a loyal fan and the revival of the Mark Bresani Spirit Award given to the most spirited player of the spring.

Maybe not this year, but certainly in the future.

Sunday: General Cherry and White Thoughts

04.13.16
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Practice Concerns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6rhxjQSeCg

 

P.J. Walker is ready for a big senior year in 2016.  Interesting that Adam DiMichele (background) is never far away.

So far, I haven’t seen the word “ameliorate” as a word of the day at the end of the Bill O’Reilly show, but it is a good word as any to describe how the Temple football practices have evolved this spring.

The definition of the word is “to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory” and, since head coach Matt Rhule has not canceled any practices in the last two weeks, the trend has to be interpreted that, in his mind, things have gotten more satisfactory.

cherryweather

Weather could not be better.

Rhule canceled practice a couple of week ago citing concerns about both senior leadership and the speed the redshirt freshman were learning the system.  Since Rhule the football CEO, we fans—the shareholders—should have been concerned that he had practice concerns. Since those concerns have “ameliorated” we have less to worry about.

The senior leadership has gotten markedly better and hopefully they will show the red shirt freshmen the way.

There is not much about this team I worry about. I think it is a double-digit win team but that doesn’t mean it is perfect. A little more girth in the middle of the defensive line would help. Not all that concerned about the linebackers, safeties or corners.

On offense, I have confidence in the line as tackle Dion Dawkins is the next NFL draft choice and Brendan McGowan has proven to be a capable replacement for Kyle Friend and there is a whole lot of talent battling for the remaining spots.

The running backs are deep and talented and I have a gut feeling that Jager Gardner is a future star.

In the passing game, I would like to see P.J. Walker able to fake it into the line, sucker up the LBs and safeties to the line of scrimmage, and float a long ball in stride for six. I haven’t seen that since Jalen Fitzpatrick (UConn, Penn State) in 2014. Maybe Cortrelle Simpson is that guy; maybe it’s Marshall Ellick. I was somewhat surprised Robby Anderson ran a track 4.37 on pro day, because he didn’t show it on the field last year. Maybe a guy like Ellick, who runs a track 4.5, runs a football 4.37.

On special teams, would be nice to see a Delano Green, a guy who can flip the field position all by himself, and fewer fair catches. Maybe, out of Sean Chandler, Simpson and Kareem Ali, one guy will emerge.

Either way, since it snowed last Saturday and will be 70 and sunny this Saturday, any other concerns have been, well, ameliorated.

Friday: Good Guys vs. Good Guys

04.11.16
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First Game Week Of Season

cherryandwhite

When you roughly have only a dozen games per season (and hopefully a couple more this one), it is more than OK to count the Cherry and White Game as one.

It is and it isn’t.

The great Paul Palmer—in my mind, the greatest Temple football player of my lifetime—messaged me a couple of days ago and said he did not play in a single Cherry and White game, so take this game for what little it is worth.

The actual game itself is not as important as getting Temple fans together. In my mind, Temple fans are the greatest fans in the country. You know, the few, the proud, the Marines? That’s Temple fans. It takes a leather neck and a leather heart to be one as I have been for nearly 40 years now. It’s easy to be a fan of Alabama. That team goes to a bowl every year. Try being a fan of a team which wins a bowl once every 32 years.

That’s hard.

So getting together with the guys who have been through these wars will be a special reunion. It is never near the absolute heroes who were getting shot at on Wake Island or Iwo Jima, but the verbal insults hurled by Fordham fans (“Temple sucks”) hurt in their own small way nonetheless.

I will admit that the Temple sucks from lowly Fordham probably was the low point.

Temple doesn’t suck anymore and let’s keep it that way.

If anything, Cherry and White represents hope for the future and the one game where there is a metaphysical certainly that no one will yell “Temple sucks” after it is over.

Wednesday: Practice Concerns

04.09.16
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Who Is Marshall Ellick?

 

Evidently, Marshall was a QB in high school but catches some passes at the 3-minute mark.

Every morning the local Allentown television station, WFMZ, throws a question in with its weather report and the one Tuesday morning was: Philadelphia is a one-day drive from what percent of the United States’ population?

ellick

Marshall Ellick last year.

The answer was 40 percent and the weather guy, Matt Broderick, made clear he did not mean one of those kind of 18-hour drives where you have to stick toothpicks in your eyes to keep from driving off the road, just a leisurely eight-hour or less one. It is one of those reasons Temple is in a prime position to be a football power, so close to so much talent and located in a transportation hub and world-class city like Philadelphia.

With so much of the population so close, it goes to figure that Temple will get its share of not only top talent inside that circle, but guys who are overlooked.

Redshirt sophomore Marshall Ellick might be one of those guys.

The same day Philadelphia was the answer to a trivia question on TV, Temple football head coach Matt Rhule noted that one of those guys within that drive, Marshall Ellick, from Richmond, Va., came out of nowhere to be a candidate for a starting wide receiver job.

Marshall Ellick?

There are not very many things that surprise me about Temple football, but I have to admit Marshall Ellick’s name being a candidate to start at wide receiver is one of the biggest camp surprises in recent years. According to the participation charts, Ellick, who wears No. 84 now (and wore No. 14 in last year’s spring game and No. 24 last fall), was in a few games on special teams and caught no passes.

This was surprising not just because of Ellick’s lack of recent playing time, but because there are so many other guys who apparently have a head start on him. Guys like Ventell Bryant, Romond Deloatch and Cortrelle Simpson.

He is 6-2, 205, ran a 4.5-40 in high school (maybe he’s faster now) and is a walk-on who has a chance, some say very good, to start. As far as stories go this spring, it’s hard to beat that and just a reminder to print out a program before you leave the house on April 16.

Monday: First Game Week of 2016

Wednesday: Practice Concerns

Friday: Good Guys vs. Good Guys

Sunday (4/17): Post C and W Thoughts

Tuesday: Only a Play Away

03.19.13
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Five position changes that helped Temple

Schedule is subject to change.

Looking at the spring football roster makes me remember my playing days when I took a tumble on the slanted concrete courts outside my grade school in the Far Northeast.
I’d check to see if all five fingers and 10 toes were still there.
Right about now every year I check the roster to see if all the “good” guys are still there.
Looking over the roster this spring, I must admit I’m rather bummed that POTENTIAL breakaway running back Montrell Dobbs is not listed.
I have to assume he’s gone.
I guess the assembled media will find out why on Friday, the opening day of spring practice.
Oh well.
Time to concentrate on the guys who ARE here, not the ones who aren’t.
Right now, the starting tailback is Jamie Gilmore and the backup is Kenny Harper and everyone else is crossing fingers on the incoming freshmen reporting for duty in July. Gilmore was the No. 7-rated all-purpose back in the nation coming out of North Marion (Fla.) High two years ago. Harper is another Floridian, who was better known for his defensive play at Gainesville Buchholz. The RB depth chart drops off significantly after that. Like Grand Canyon dropoff.
A position change I suggested a few weeks ago is to give Khalif Herbin a long look at running back this spring. He’s bigger and faster than Matty Brown and just as elusive, if not moreso.
If Herbin goes from slot receiver to RB, he’ll be doing exactly what Brown did four years ago.
Position changes that have benefited Temple in the past:

BRIAN BROOMELL _ As a true freshman out of Sterling (N.J.) High, Broomell started as a strong safety on defense for the Owls. He was a helluva hitter and player on defense. By the time he was a senior,   though, he switched over to quarterback and led the nation in passing efficiency. The Owls won a school-record 10 games. Called the greatest and least stealth audible in Temple football history when he lined up to take the snap in a 42-10 win at Villanova, pointed to wide receiver Gerald “Sweet Feet” Lucear, pointed to the end zone and threw a touchdown pass right where he pointed. Very Babe Ruth-esque. Was the Edmonton quarterback in the Canadian Football League in 1980 and 1981.

MATTY BROWN _  Kid made play after play in the summer, but coach Al Golden said he had to switch Brown to running back because they couldn’t get him the ball in the slot enough as a 5-5 receiver. Brown then went on to make four years of great plays for Temple. Probably the toughest running back, pound for pound, in Temple football history. Had he remained as a slot receiver, that would have been the greatest waste of talent ever.

KEE-AYRE GRIFFIN _ Went from running back in the 2008 season to cornerback. In the 2011 game against Penn State, KAG made a spectacular interception of Matt McGloin that nearly sealed the win for the Owls. Griffin was mostly a lock-down corner the rest of his career at Temple and had a pick to the house that kick-started a rout of Kent State. Fumbled in a 2008 overtime loss at Navy and   coach Al Golden had to rescue KAG from under the  bus to make the move to DB. (I still think AG should have punted and made Navy go 80 yards in 17 seconds with no time outs left.)

AHKEEM SMITH _ Went from running back to linebacker and was a solid, if unspectacular, player for Temple. Channeled his inner RB as the short man on a fake punt in a 34-0 win over Buffalo on 2011. He went straight up the gut on a short snap and took it 44 yards to the house. Smith, an All-State running back out of Bethlehem Liberty, was blocked in a running back career due to the presence of  Brown and Bernard “The Franchise” Pierce. The Owls had a need at linebacker and he filled it. Another Liberty product, Levi Brown, now starts for the Owls.

JOHN RIENSTRA _ An All-American offensive guard for Temple, Rienstra begged coach Bruce Arians in to play nose guard on a key series against defending national champion BYU in a game at Veterans Stadium. Rienstra forced a field goal with a sack and a tackle for a loss. “That shows you what a great athlete John is,”  said head coach Bruce Arians.  “He’s just a tremendous competitor.” Highlight of Rienstra’s Temple career might have been appearing on Bob Hope’s All-American Show with the greatest college football helmet in history (simply, TEMPLE) shown proudly to the national TV audience. Rienstra was an under-recruited 5-foot-10, 170-pound lineman out of Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn. By the time he left Temple, he was 6-3, 265.