Category Archives: Temple football

07.27.16
by

The Washed Masses

sportingnewsowls

The Sporting News has the Owls’ No. 1.

 

One of the benefits of Temple blowing the doors off Penn State and hanging with Notre Dame until the last play is a renewed respect for the program.

While you might have fans on other websites with a superficial knowledge of college football and not an insider’s view of the Owls saying the team “will take a step back,” journalists who do some real research have picked the Owls to finish in first place in the American Athletic Conference.

Call them the “Washed Masses.”

sbnation

SB Nation says title goes through Philly.

This post is to give both The Sporting News and SB Nation props for giving the Owls that kind of respect.

These are just two, although we saw one other preview that had the Owls finishing No. 22 in the country. I’m sure there will be more when the magazines with later deadlines hit the stands.

For now, though, The Sporting News is picking the Owls to win the AAC and SB Nation simply says that the road to the title goes through Philadelphia.

Aside from personnel issues (which we covered in Monday’s post) that seem to indicate that the Owls will be strongest in the areas where some of the best players have left (linebacker, center, wide receiver and cornerback), the schedule falls into place perfectly for the Owls. The toughest conference team on the schedule, South Florida, is home and it doesn’t take an overly sharp memory to recall that the Owls handled South Florida, 37-28, the last time they made it to Philadelphia.

UConn, Memphis and Cincinnati should also be tough, but the Owls beat UConn, 27-3, last year—at a time they were in a freefall—and Memphis has a new coach who probably will have growing pains. Cincinnati comes to Philadelphia and that should also make a big difference.

Now they just have to do it. September cannot come soon enough.

Friday: New Site for The Spring Game?

07.20.16
by

Owls: Recharging The Batteries

recharging

The team that toasts marshmallows together wins championships together. 

One of the fathers of the players mentioned to me a few years ago that being a Division I football player was a 365-day-a-week job.

As someone who took the Fox Chase Regional rail into Center City for many years past the 10th and Diamond complex, I nodded affirmatively. All of those years, mostly Al Golden ones, I marveled how the players worked out in the elements, be it snow in January, driving rain in April or 90-plus degree heat of July. In none of those months did the Temple Owls have a scheduled game.

I believe grind is the word we’re looking for here.

That same grind did not exist with Bobby Wallace, who lived in Gulph Shores, Alabama for two-plus months in his time at Temple coach. Not coincidentally, with Wallace gone and Golden here, the grind turned into winning and it was all worth it.

Even with a tough taskmaster like Golden, though, he understood that the grind needed to be interrupted by recharging the batteries from time to time. Golden did it on site with things like Youtube singing videos and having the team go over to the Student Pavilion for some full-court basketball. Golden had a Masters in Sports Psychology at Penn State, so he was applying what he learned.

Recently, though, Matt Rhule took it to another level when the Owls went upstate for some camping. How does this help the Owls beat, say, Penn State? Simple. The team that bonds together off the field sticks together on it.  From all reports, the Owls bonded nicely on the camping trip and extended the bonding to the numerous Community Service duties they have done since.

The grind is real, but mix in a little bonding with the grind, and that cannot hurt. As always, we will be able to tell for sure by December.

Friday: Temple Wins Internet

07.13.16
by

Don’t Mess With Phil

pjtm

Last year’s team leader and this year’s.

According to the website Songfacts.com, there is not a single song about a guy named Phil.

The closest thing we could find is “Don’t Mess With Bill” by the Marvelettes but, if Phillip Walker wins an AAC title with the Temple football Owls, there could be one about him around the beginning of the new year.

Phillip?

Yes, the four-year starter at quarterback officially changed his name from P.J. Walker to Phillip, at least if his twitter page is any indication.

 

It might be nothing but the whim of a college student, but it might represent the transformation a lot of us expect from the four-year starter at quarterback. During his freshman year, I thought he established himself as a future star with 20 touchdowns against only eight interceptions in a year where he did not start until after the Idaho debacle. In his sophomore year, he was as poorly protected as any Temple quarterback I’ve ever seen—more to coaching schemes than the offensive line—but he still managed to squeeze out a bowl-eligible season.

Phillip will have all of the TU QB records, with the possible exception of rating, by the end of the season.

Phillip will have all of the TU QB records, with the possible exception of rating and Walter Washington’s rushing numbers and TDs, by the end of the season.

Last  year, he became more than a game manager but less than a star thanks, in part, to some help by a coaching staff than limited empty backfields (and opportunities for the bad guys to blitz) and inserted a blocking fullback (Nick Sharga) on a regular basis. Sharga was in there ostensibly to block for lead back Jahad Thomas, but he also picked off more than one blitzing linebacker headed straight to the quarterback.

This year, I think he graduates from that gray area between game manager and star to fully-fledged star. The only way that doesn’t happen is if the Owls go back to four- and five-wides and hopefully they learned that lesson two years ago.

Don’t mess with Phil, coming soon to a record store near you.  It might not be by the Marvelettes, but it will be Marvelous.

Friday: Checking All The Boxes

07.11.16
by

The Easiest Money In All of Sports

First week has the Owls favored by 19. I would stay away from that.

First week has the Owls favored by 19. I would stay away from that, but Indiana covering the 4 at FIU looks tempting, as does Paul Johnson covering the same number at Steve Addazio.

 

For a lot of us, probably me included, it is a good thing we don’t live in Las Vegas.

We would either be living in a poor house or a mansion but probably not in between.

I don’t feel a great urge to gamble much, but when I see certain things involving Temple football—like last year’s ambush of a bowl game in Boca Raton or last year’s opener in South Philadelphia—the urge is strong enough to walk to Las Vegas and place a few sheckles on an event. (I know tons of friends who do bet online and leave their credit card information offshore, but I am not willing to do that.)

back

I would never bet against the Owls, but the administration put the team in an impossible spot with really nothing to win by beating Toledo last year and a few dollars would have eased my pain for that loss I saw coming a mile away.

This year’s “easiest money in all of sports” involves the Owls’ third game of the season, a Sept. 17th date at Penn State. The Owls are 6.5-point underdogs and they shouldn’t be. Looking at this objectively, which I can do (see last year’s pre-Toledo post), I cannot see how this should be anything but a pick-em at worst and a slight Owl lean at best.

That’s why grabbing the 6.5 now is a gift you can thank me for later.

My reasoning is simple. Two relatively easy tuneups, Army and Stony Brook, ease some talented newcomers into the lineup to help the holdovers and bring them up to speed. Penn State has a tough, emotional, game at Pitt the week before and that will take a lot out of Nits. (They don’t think it will be emotional, but Pitt will hit them in the chops and they will respond but the fight could be bloody.)

This year’s version of the Owls’ defense—which returns three starters at linebacker in Stephaun Marshall, Avery Williams and Jarred Alwan—return. Despite the loss of Tyler Matakevich, this should be a better linebacker group. They are faster and better at pass coverage and, in Alwan’s words, their “chemistry is ridiculous.” Ridiculous, as in good. The linemen in front of them—Haason Reddick, Karamo Dioubate, Avery Robinson, Greg Webb and either Praise Martin-Oguike or Sharif Finch—represent the fastest Temple group in the last decade. There is solid depth behind them with guys like Michael Dogbe and Freddy Booth-Lloyd, who can easily fight themselves into the starting lineup.

With a four-year starter at quarterback in Phillip Walker, and an All-AAC running back like Jahad Thomas, the offense should not have too much difficulty moving the ball against Penn State. On the other side of the field, Penn State will have a rookie quarterback facing a four-year starter.

Mix all of that in, and a don’t think a home-field advantage is going to be enough to rattle these Owls. In fact, I think the South Florida game at home later in the season will be much tougher to win.

Wednesday: Don’t Mess With Phil

Friday: Checking Off The Boxes

Monday: The Andres Blanco Of Temple

Wednesday (7/20): Recharging The Batteries

Friday (7/22): Owls Will Internet

Monday (7/25): The Unwashed Masses

06.27.16
by

5 Things We’d Like To See By Opening Night

e

T for Temple U.

The incoming freshmen already have started to come into Temple University, and soon real practice will begin for the Labor Day weekend game against Army. Here are five things we’d like to see by that night:

  1. Anthony Russo Entrenched At No. 2

Let’s face it: Anthony Russo is, to borrow a political phrase, the presumptive nominee as starting quarterback at Notre Dame in the 2017 opener. The transition from P.J. Walker to Russo will go a lot more seamlessly if Russo gets a lot of snaps in 2016 blowout wins and is allowed to air it out this fall.

owland

  1. Karamo Dioubate and Greg Webb Starting At DT

The Owls have an overabundance of playmaking defensive ends and are somewhat light in the middle. If Dioubate and Webb get squared away in the four weeks prior to Army, they will provide lock-down run-stopping skills up the middle flanking nose guard Averee Robinson and just enough push up the middle to collapse the pocket. Otherwise, the Owls will have to lean on converted defensive ends at tackle.

USATSI_8959197_149008644_lowres

  1. Jahad Thomas At Slot

This will accomplish several important objectives. One, to give P.J. Walker a symbiotic partner with whom he can trust to get the deep ball. Two, it will allow future stars Jager Gardner or Ryquell Armstead to emerge as a Thomas-level first-team All-AAC running back. Three, it will add another edge threat that the Owls do not seem to currently have.

stare

  1. Sean Chandler At Free Safety

Chandler has been handcuffed by playing at corner because he has break-on-the-ball instincts. Playing Chandler at the corner is a little like playing Willie Mays in his prime in left field. You want a guy who can close on the ball that quickly in the middle of the field jumping routes. This can only be done if guys like Nate Hairston, Artrel Foster and Kareem Ali Jr. step up and start at the corners. That scenario seems more likely every day.

  1. Killing The Dog Stare

One of the benefits of having a four-year starter at quarterback like Walker should be he has the playbook memorized from front to back, back to front, is able to recognize a defense in his sleep and can call four plays in a row when needed  to get the job done. The Owls cannot afford a scenario like last year’s AAC title game when, down 24-13 to start the fourth quarter, they continually wasted 20-25 seconds staring over at the sidelines for a play. They did not have that time to waste, but waste it they did. That was like watching a slow and painful death. That dog needs to be put to sleep.

Wednesday: Help Is On The Way

Thursday: A 10-Day Summer Hiatus

Monday, July 11: We’re Back

 

06.24.16
by

Taking Army Seriously

Montel Harris

The greatest TU performance ever against Army: 351 yards, 7 TDs by Montel Harris (8), here singing T for Temple U.

One of the themes on social media a year ago when someone looked down the schedule to a more compelling game was to concentrate on the next one.

The players even took that approach with the subtitle season slogan “What’s Next?” and that might have been a large part of the reason Temple tied a school record of 10 wins a year ago. That, and playing two more games than the 1979 team.

Before the UCF game, which was oh for the season, I mentioned to Tyler Matakevich that the great thing about him and his teammates this year was that I had confidence they were taking UCF just as seriously as Notre Dame. “Absolutely,” Tyler said, “that’s all we think about is what’s next and not what’s after that.”

What’s next is Army and hopefully these kids take the same approach that those kids did.

A good indication that they are is that the coaches are because Matt Rhule made a side trip to Air Force Academy last month to pick the braintrust there on how to stop the triple option. USAFA runs a more polished version of Army’s triple option. Temple was embarrassed against Navy’s version two years ago and did not seem to have an effective counter. A Temple defense that finished No. 4 in the country in points allowed gave up 31 to Navy that day and the loss—coupled with a 16-13 loss to Memphis—probably cost the Owls a bowl bid.

Not only is Temple making an investment in research and development, but the Owls also dedicated at least a half-hour to defending the Army triple option in spring practice. The Army game is well-placed from the Owls’ standpoint because they don’t have to cram triple option preparedness into a short work week.

The Owls are anywhere from 16.5 -22-point favorites on opening night, but they are approaching this like it’s a pick-em and that’s the best sign of all.

Monday: 5 Things We’d Like To See By Opening Day

Wednesday: Immediate Help Is On The Way

Friday: Temple Football Forever Goes On One-Week Summer Hiatus

 

06.17.16
by

Camp Rhule

grind

One of the tried and true methods of keeping young people out of trouble is getting to them young. There are all sorts of educational programs directed at young people and some of them really work. Heck, when I was a freshman in high school, we had a heroin addict come in and speak to us in the auditorium. His story was so scary that I never even had as much as a cigarette.

There is positive reinforcement, too, as an incentive for young people. In a football sense, Camp Matt Rhule—officially called the Matt Rhule Football Camp—is one of them.

Temple is lucky to have a guy like Rhule, who rolls up his sleeve and gets to the recruits while they are young and impressionable.

Rhule recently tweeted over 2,200 students and prospective athletes interested in Temple attended camps on campus this year. In between camps, Rhule has made trips to Virginia Tech and the Air Force Academy to pick the brains of the head coaches there.

drills

One of the drills at the MRFC.

Temple fans know Rhule is a workaholic, but the level of offseason commitment to the program should pay off during the regular season. Short term, the trip to AFA should help the Owls prepare for Army’s triple option on the night of Sept. 2. Long term, the camps are giving young people the idea that Temple’s campus, program and facilities are top notch and that should pay off dividends.

The Owls have come a long way from the time where Bobby Wallace would vacation three—some say more—months of the year in Gulf Shores, Alabama, all while collecting a Temple paycheck.

There is a direct correlation between winning in the offseason of winning in the real season, and Owl fans have to feel good about what their head coach is doing this offseason.

Monday: What Temple’s TV schedule means

Wednesday:  Differences Between Al and Daz

Friday: New Approach for Army

06.13.16
by

Early Commits: So Far, So Good

daily

The Owls Daily List so far.

According to OwlsDaily.com, the early commits that Temple’s football team has been able to garner include a quarterback, an offensive lineman, a tight end and a running back.

So far, so good in more ways than one.

It looks like the Owls are following the Al Golden method of recruiting; that is, recruit an entire team every season. One player at all 22 positions, plus a couple of spots for specialists. That way, you both build depth and quality across the board and are not left short at any spot.

The Steve Addazio Method was more scattershot, often over-recruiting one position, say, offensive line, leaving the Owls short in other areas. That caused Matt Rhule to start out recruiting behind the eight ball, scrambling to fill areas of need rather than an equal group across the board. Looks like the Owls will be recruiting two quarterbacks this class. You might question that because they have a solid one for the next three or four years in Anthony Russo, but there are pesky things like injuries that the Owls need to insure themselves against.

As far as individuals, we do not get too much into the players before the signatures are on the dotted line because the nature of the business is that Temple will lose a few commits, but be able to poach a few more. If they are able to poach more P5 guys than lose guys to P5 teams, they will be ahead of the game.

Right now, I will be following the above four—there may be more soon—and hope the quarterback throws 30 or more touchdown passes (he threw nine last year) and the running back goes for more than 2,000 yards.

Then Temple will have something.

Wednesday: The Temple of the South

06.10.16
by

Power 5 Health Care

 

nonpower

There are 64 teams in five FBS conferences who pretty much have it made when it comes to their financial health.

There just a little bit more on the outside of the hospital looking in, with their noses pressed against the window of the emergency room. Some people say Temple has no shot, most say Temple has an outside shot, and then there is this website called the Big 12 Fanatics that raves over the Owls.

He gives Temple high marks for financial health and rates Temple ahead of a number of Power 5 schools as an attractive Big 12 candidate. I don’t know about you, but I hope Dr. Pat Kraft finds this guy and has him make the Power Point presentation for Temple to the Big 12.

The factors he looks for is total revenue, the profit of the athletic department and the total fan base. My guess is that he placed a little too much weight on Temple’s football season average attendance (an AAC-best 44K), but the Owls probably should make their case while the iron is hot. One thing they do have is the largest TV market available to a Power 5 school (fourth, all other top 20 markets have a Power 5 team in the metro area). No one knows if Temple is actively lobbying for a P5 spot, but UConn, Cincinnati, Memphis and UCF are. The AAC can probably survive the loss of UCF, but not of the other schools.

There is a significant portion of the Temple fan base that says the school does not belong in the Big 12 and, while that may be the case, the stronger argument in my mind is that the Big 12 is the only Power 5 conference considering expansion for the next few years. Temple has got to get in the Power 5 while it can or risk never getting into the money-making group. While they have tabled the expansion talk for this season, this is the only conference that will probably expand next season or the year after and Temple better be ready. Yes, the ACC makes more sense, but P5 conferences rarely make sense.

Waiting for a call that might never come from the ACC is just too risky.

Monday: Some Intriguing Early Commits

Wednesday: The Temple of the South

06.08.16
by

Paul Palmer: Waiting Hardest Part

Temple Owls Paul Palmer

Paul Palmer

One of Bernie Sanders’ favorite sayings this campaign year has been: “Enough is Enough.”

It could be Paul Palmer’s as well.

lawhorn

Temple’s D1 national leaders.

In my mind, Temple’s all-time greatest player has waited long enough to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2017.

If he’s not Temple’s best player, to use another Sanders’ analogy, he’s in the top tenth of the top one percent of players who ever wore the Cherry and White. That should be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame.

Another good reason is that this is Palmer’s sixth year on the ballot, joining a group of just 81 players who have been on the ballot that long.

The wait is not over and will not be for a long time. It will be until Jan. 7th before Palmer hears whether he is a member of that class. Nothing has changed since the first time we heard Palmer was a candidate a few years ago when we wrote this story for Rant Sports.com.

He had done enough then, and enough should be enough now.

Friday: Power 5 Health Care