Category Archives: Temple football

11.01.15
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Turning the Page

That looks like double coverage on Will Fuller. Two things: Why wasn’t the primary corner closer to Fuller and why did the safety help make no attempt to jump to knock the ball down?

So close, yet so far away.

Turning the page on this one is going to be hard, because it’s quite possible that this was the best chapter in the book.

Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Temple players awoke this morning with many pats on the back, but I’m sure what Matt Rhule said last night is going to carry much more weight than anything written here but it needs to be repeated: There is no such thing as a moral victory.

It would have been nice to see Temple run the table, go 13-0, and leave the college football playoff committee to complete the messy task of screwing the Owls out of a Final Four playoff spot. That opportunity will not present itself because one of the best defenses in the country failed to make a play against one of the best offensives in the country in the final three minutes.

Make no mistake, the committee would have screwed Temple because the Power 5 conferences have imposed a set of standards on the Group of 5 that are impossible to achieve. A P5 officiating crew from the ACC was there, not a G5 one.bestever

I will put this Temple loss in the same box with the 10-9 loss to No. 1 Pitt in 1979 and the 10-7 loss to eventual No. 1 Penn State in 1978. Good, but not good enough. After those games, there was the feeling that Temple would come back the next year and make the next step and win one. Next year never came. Who knows when Temple will ever be placed in a position to win one of these games again?

“I thought our kids overcame a lot of things, and I’m proud of them,” Rhule said. That was the politically correct way of saying three of the four pass interference calls on Temple were completely bogus. That looked like double coverage on Will Fuller. Two things: Why wasn’t the primary corner closer to Fuller and why did the safety help make no attempt to jump to knock the ball down?

One possible conclusion is the two were spooked on Halloween by those earlier calls.

Rhule was right about everything he said last night and now it’s time to turn the page. It’s a worthwhile book that deserves a happy ending but the facts are it won’t be The Great American Novel it could have been.

How sweet would it have been to have picked up that ball out of Kizer’s hand and run it in with no time left?

10.31.15
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5 Examples That It Can Be Done

The calm before the storm at Lincoln Financial Field.

The calm before the storm at Lincoln Financial Field.

It’s truly amazing to watch the comments of all of these Notre Dame fans, who think the mere suggestion of Temple winning tonight’s game is not only implausible, but impossible. How soon they have forgotten these five recent games. Arguably, these are five teams with lesser resumes of Temple that proved capable of beating ND. Will Temple join this list? Don’t know, but amnesia can  be a terrible thing.

irishweather

The documented history:

Nov. 15, 2014: Northwestern 43, Notre Dame 40

A Northwestern team that finished 5-7 would walk into Notre Dame and come away with a 43-40 win over the Fighting Irish. The Irish finished last season with an 8-5 record, beating LSU, 31-28, in the Music City Bowl. Temple already has more wins than Northwestern had all of last season, so the Owls winning should not be too much of a shock.

Nov. 9, 2013: Pitt 28, Notre Dame 21

The Panthers broke a four-game Irish winning streak by beating Notre Dame, 28-21. Pitt finished the season with a 7-6 record, while the Irish won two of their last three to finish 9-4.

Sept. 3, 2011: South Florida 23, Notre Dame 20

The Bulls, now a fellow AAC member, would walk into South Bend and come away with a 23-20 win. They finished the season an undistinguished 5-7. Notre Dame finished 8-5.

Nov. 30, 2010: Tulsa 28, Notre Dame 27

The Golden Hurricane, now also of the AAC, took a 28-27 win in South Bend. They would go on to a 10-3 record and Notre Dame would finish 8-5, but folks would be hard-pressed to make an argument that Tulsa of 2010 is better than Temple of 2015.

Nov. 21, 2009: UConn 33, Notre Dame 30

A Randy Edsall-coached Connecticut team that would finish 8-5 walked into South Bend and came away with a 33-30 win. That was the worst of all the ND teams with a 6-6 record.

Updated depth chart

Updated depth chart

10.30.15
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5 Signs That Temple Will Beat Notre Dame

Reason No. 6 Owls will win: They did not make the cover of SI.

Reason No. 6 Owls will win: They did not make the cover of SI.

The first thing Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said to Temple’s Matt Rhule when he greeted him for a post-game handshake in 2013 was: “You have a good football team.” Much of that was coachspeak, but Kelly had the right assessment in the wrong year. Many of the players who played for Temple in that 28-6 loss are back for this year’s nationally televised game and there are five signs that point to this one ending differently.

Getty Images

Getty Images

  1. The Rise of Memphis

Nobody thought fellow AAC member Memphis had a chance against an Ole Miss team that went to Alabama and waxed the Tide on the road, but the Tigers used a home field advantage in the Liberty Bowl and dominated Mississippi, 37-24. Memphis needed a field goal at the gun to beat Temple last year, 16-13. Ole Miss is arguably better than Notre Dame. Temple is arguably better than Memphis now.

Getty Images

Getty Images

  1. The Last Game

Even though the Owls finished the 2013 season 2-10, an Irish team which finished 8-4 was not able to take them to the woodshed. With a first-year coach and many first-year starters, the game was 14-6 until 43 seconds remained in the first half. In the second half, the two teams played fairly evenly and the 28-6 score was respectable. Even though this ND team is better than that one, the Owls are exponentially better.

Getty Images

Getty Images

  1. The GameDay Effect

This will be the first visit by ESPN’s College GameDay to Temple and first-time hosts have a 40-25 record. The first thing Temple athletic director Pat Kraft did when he learned the show was coming was to procure an extra head of Hooter, the team’s mascot, for show host Lee Corso to have under his desk.  On the other hand, the Luck of the Leprechaun has produced four losses in the last four Irish GameDay appearances.

Getty Images

Getty Images

  1. ECU’s Game With Florida

Temple went into Dowdy-Ficken Stadium and came away with a 10-point win over East Carolina, the only home loss of the season for the Pirates. ECU is a good team which lost by a touchdown in the swamp to Florida, 31-24, a similar team in skill set to Notre Dame. If the Owls can handle that kind of foe on the road, they can certainly operate more comfortably in the friendly environment of Lincoln Financial Field.

Getty Images

Getty Images

  1. Analytics Favor Owls

The Owls rank No. 5 in the nation in one of the most important statistics, scoring defense (14.6 ppg), ahead of Ohio State and Clemson, and it is no fluke as they returned all 11 starters from a defense that finished No. 4 a year ago. Notre Dame ranks No. 14 in scoring offense (38.3 ppg).  The Irish should have a tough time scoring against this defense and, if you cannot score, you cannot win.

No opinion, just cold analytical thinking.

No opinion, just cold numbers from a computer not affiliated with either TU or ND.

10.29.15
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Power 5 Talking Heads Take Hating Temple to a New Level

If you don’t know how to move your hands, don’t worry—even Jesus doesn’t. Just sing the song loud and proud. (Video taken by Steve Suranie)

Sometimes hate comes in many forms but, in the case of Mark Packer and Philadelphia college teams, it seems to be hereditary.

“I usually do not say things like this, but Notre Dame is absolutely going to take Temple to the woodshed.”
_ Mark Packer, Sirius Radio
“Temple has zero chance to beat Notre Dame.”
_Danny Kanell, ESPN.
“No chance.”
_Joey Galloway, ESPN

Out of the blue, on his national radio show, Packer said this on Tuesday: “I usually do not say things like this, but Notre Dame is absolutely going to take Temple to the woodshed.” If that sounded familiar to Philadelphia fans, it was something similar to what his more famous father, Billy Packer, said about another magical run unbeaten by a Philadelphia college team over a decade ago when he said St. Joseph’s did not deserve its NCAA No. 1 seed in basketball.

The comment caused Hawks’ coach Phil Martelli to say that the elder Packer can kiss a certain part of the coach’s anatomy. Now that the younger Packer has basically said something similar about Temple’s football team, Temple football coach Matt Rhule has not responded. He is less confrontational than the excitable Martelli, plus he has bigger fish to fry on Saturday in an 8 p.m. showdown with the No. 9 Fighting Irish (ABC).

The old saying is “Haters gonna hate” and, when it comes to Philadelphia and its college teams, the Packers seem to be a special types of haters. Packer never said anything about Notre Dame taking 2-5 Virginia to the woodshed before that game but, for some reason, taking a 7-0 and No. 21Temple team to the woodshed deserved mentioning.

With Temple’s newfound success comes new hate and Packer is not the only media member to spew it so far. ESPN’s Danny Kanell said the Owls have “zero chance” and his partner, Joey Galloway, used the words “no chance” against the Irish.  The Power 5 talking heads must be nervous about this one but they have gone out of their way to dismiss Temple out of hand.

If the Owls somehow pull off the upset, making haters such as Packers eat their words will be an especially sweet byproduct.

10.28.15
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Early Bird Gets Worm; Procrastinators Get Tapeworm

Matt Rhule talks about the terrific job he and his staff and his kids did on a short week.

One of the most amazing things about these past few weeks was reading posts on facebook and twitter from unfamiliar handles saying they were long-time Temple fans and asking if anyone has an extra ticket.

Helloooooooooooo?

One of the many benefits of a Temple education is that the bullbleep antenna is very well-honed. First of all, they made this announcement of a Temple vs. Notre Dame game to be played in Philadelphia in 2011.

Not 2012.

Not 2013.

Not 2014.

Two thousand and eleven.

That was more than four years ago and a lot of thoughts floated around in my mind about this game. None of them were, “Geez, I can wait until there are two weeks before the game to get a ticket.”

A lot of these requests are from Notre Dame interlopers. It doesn’t take more than deductive reasoning to come to that conclusion.

In other words, I knew it was going to be sold out. You knew it was going to be sold out.The only shock to me was that the sellout did not occur in the days after the historic 27-10 win over Penn State, but weeks later. Those who waited that long were lucky to get tickets. Those who waited until oh,  like about now, are SOL. S*it out of luck, if  you do not know what that means.

The tickets on the secondary markets are off the charts but get your tickets for the Memphis game now.

The tickets on the secondary markets are off the charts but get your tickets for the Memphis game now.

Now this is what we do know. Temple vs. Notre Dame is the biggest college football game in the history of the city of Philadelphia, if you do not count the 1943 game that featured No. 2 Army vs. No. 6 Penn State. (I do not because I’m shocked Penn was able to keep so many able-bodied men in the school in the middle of an undecided war. Penn should have been investigated for some sort of recruiting violations.) That game ended in a 13-13 tie.

This game will not end in a tie and everyone who has a ticket in their hands right now should consider themselves incredibly fortunate. The early bird gets the worm. The procrastinator gets the tapeworm.

If you say you are a Temple fan and cannot get a ticket, shame on you. You had a chance to get one a long time ago. The other fans, the ones we see every week, deserve this incredible experience.

10.27.15
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Unchartered Waters: ESPN Gameday

Temple fans are going to have to fill Independence Hall with a crowd this size plus a few hundred clever banners.

Temple fans are going to have to fill Independence Hall with a crowd this size plus a few hundred clever banners.

After stringing along two fan bases for more than 24 hours, the production made by ESPN in making its Halloween Day call for a GameDay site should be nominated for an Academy Award. There was that much drama in the official announcement that game down at 12:41 p.m., Eastern Time, on Monday.

The crew made the correct call in picking Temple, and downtown Philadelphia, as the site and made a whole lot of Washington State fans on the West Coast saltier than someone who accidentally fell into The Great Salt Lake.

In reality, the call was a no-brainer. Temple is 7-0 for the first time in its history, ranked No. 21, and is facing a Top 10 team in visiting and No. 9 Notre Dame. The show will serve to pump the ratings for the prime time game on ABC, which is the parent network of ESPN. Washington State, which barely beat former Temple Big East rival Rutgers, is 5-2 with a loss to FCS member Portland State. Losing to a FCS team should automatically disqualify a so-called Power 5 team from a GameDay visit.

hooterhead

Since there is construction on the main campus of Temple, the production crew felt the best backdrop would be Independence Hall, so that’s where the broadcast will originate from on Saturday morning. The site is rich in history since it is where both the Declaration and Independence and the Constitution were ratified and there is also some college football history connected with the game.

It will probably be the biggest game in modern Philadelphia college football history. Two ranked teams have not played in Philadelphia since No. 6 Penn played No. 2 Army to a 13-13 tie in the 1943 season.

No one knows who will win this modern day ranked matchup just yet, but without a doubt the first winner is College Football GameDay for making the obvious call. Now it’s up to Temple fans to reward that confidence by setting those alarm clocks early for Saturday and being there.

10.24.15
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Five Saturday Games of Interest to Owl Fans

If you have a weak stomach, please fast forward through the first 1:25 of this video. Otherwise, watch for historical perspective.

This is a weekend for Temple football fans to put their feet up on the couch and keep the remote and popcorn at arm’s length. Even though the Owls are not on TV this Saturday, there is plenty of college football to take in today and a lot of them have at least small implications for the Owls. The beauty of watching these games is the knowledge that if Temple takes care of business, none o these games will have significant impact on the possible rewards coming down the road.

Hopefully, the Owls will wear the distinctive Cherry T against ND.

Hopefully, the Owls will wear the distinctive  T  or spelled out TEMPLE against ND. One being the school brand and two being the long-time program brand.

  1. Penn State at Maryland, 3:30, ESPN

As hard as it might be for some Temple fans to digest, a Penn State team that finishes with only two or three losses will  benefit the Owls’ strength of schedule ranking greatly. In a system that is rigged to keep Group of Five teams out of the four-team playoff, a 27-10 Temple win over a 9-2 Big 10 team carries a lot more weight than a 6-6 Big 10 team so root for the Lions here.

  1. SMU at South Florida, 4 p.m., ESPN News

Only interesting in that South Florida is loaded with young players and seems to be playing its best ball of the season now and the Owls have to travel to South Florida later in the season. Both teams have bad losses, with USF being hammered by Maryland, 35-17, and SMU falling to James Madison,  48-45.

  1. Houston at Central Florida, Noon, ESPN News

Even though a strong argument can be made that keeping all three AAC teams unbeaten deep into the season will help Temple’s chances of a playoff later on, the immediate goal for the Owls would be to keep inching up in the Top 20 and a Houston loss, however unlikely, would help. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like UCF has the firepower to pull that off.

I usually do not like watching games online, but this Toledo at UMass game (3 p.m.) is an exemption. Go Minutemen.

I usually do not like watching games online, but this Toledo at UMass game (3 p.m.) is an exception. Go Minutemen.

  1. Tulane at Navy, 1 p.m., CBS Sports Network

This could get ugly real fast, but I would root for Navy here. Love to see the Owls face Navy and not Houston or Memphis in the Dec. 5 title game for obvious reasons. One, they already play Memphis in the regular season. Two, they played Navy so poorly a year ago they probably want to get that bad tast out of their mouth in the title game. Three, Navy has an arguably bigger game (Army) the next week in the same stadium. Plus, Houston has recruited better talent across the board than Navy.

  1. Connecticut at Cincinnati, 4 p.m., CBS Sports Network,

UConn is another interesting opponent down the road. It beat UCF by a wider margin than Temple did, but followed that up by laying an egg (28-20) at home to USF the next week. Plus, the Owls know they have to go out and recruit a quarterback to compete with Cincy redshirt freshman Hayden Moore down the road after P.J. Walker leaves. Hopefully, they already have that kid in the fold with Montel Aaron.

Tomorrow: ECU-TU Photo Essay

Monday: Halloween Tricks

10.23.15
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ESPN: Temple Has No Chance of Beating Notre Dame

Kickout blocks like Nick Sharga’s on Jahad Thomas’ first TD are something we’ve been talking about for two years on this site. Great to see the Owls adopt those principles on a regular basis this season.

standings

Somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind, I have heard the names Danny Kanell and Joey Galloway before but they were always no more than background noise until last night.

Then they had to open their mouths after what might not have been the biggest win in Temple football history but the biggest one for a lot of us who have followed the program for the last 30 plus years. Temple 24, East Carolina 14.

One of the ESPN hosts asked Kanell what chance Temple had of beating Notre Dame next week.

“Zero chance,” Kanell said.

“Yeah, no chance,” Galloway said.

Another slow start, but a wonderful finish for the Owls and Jahad Thomas.

Another slow start, but a wonderful finish for the Owls and Jahad Thomas.

Then more background noise, blah, blah, blah.

Galloway and Kanell are just two people, but they were the immediate face of ESPN after the first time Temple went 7-0, so you can pretty much say ESPN says the Owls have no chance.

Temple has a chance to beat Notre Dame. I cannot put a number on it, but it’s certainly not zero and it is certainly not “no chance.”  Let’s put it this way: If Memphis has a chance at beating Ole Miss, Temple has a chance of beating Notre Dame. Ole Miss is every bit as good as Notre Dame, maybe better. Temple is every bit as good as Memphis, maybe better. Oh what? Memphis did beat Ole Miss?

As Emily Latilla might say, “Never mind.”

The Owls were pretty much who we thought they were last night—an incredibly resilient team that fights hard through slow starts and answers the bell at crunch time. They have a lot of interesting weapons and two players on offense, Robby Anderson and Jahad Thomas, who are as good at their positions as anyone in the country and that includes Notre Dame. P.J. Walker can be my quarterback any day of the week and most nights. They have a defense that will shut people down, and often out, for long stretches of any game.

They are now 7-0 for the first time in their history and the first thing ESPN did was not praise them, but bury them.

Temple will show up in eight days to play Notre Dame and to say the atmosphere will be electric is really understating the energy factor. It’ll be more nuclear than electric. Let what happens on the field determine who has a chance to do what, not a couple of clowns in a studio.