Matt Rhule on being 6-0 … 7-0 would be off the charts (literally).

If there was ever a book to be published about this Temple football season, I am pretty sure the title would be “Leave No Doubt” but, like most books, there has to be a subtitle and that would be “What’s Next?”

This season is so good, so far, that it needs two titles. I must admit, I haven’t seen the “what’s next?” part until recently, but here’s what’s next.

The last time TU tried to get to 7-0 was in 1974, the two previous years are below. Who knows when the next chance will come?

7-0.

The book is a work in progress, but the next task is to write Chapter 7. Temple has never been 7-0. That is something worth balling for, worth squeezing every extra ounce of energy and effort to achieve.

The Owls have been playing this game since 1898—the school has been in existence since 1894—and they have never started the season 7-0. For all of the talk about how important this game is from an AAC standpoint or getting ESPN Gameday here standpoint, doing something that no team has ever done in the history of the school should be the most important thing now.

The Owls’ last chance to go 7-0 was 41 years ago.

You play the game to win championships, but three hours of superb play can cement this team’s legacy into the Temple record books forever. That should mean something. It should mean everything.

Every guy who ever put on the Cherry and White uniform can root for that. It’s been a wall no one could break through and a wall that is there right in front of the team right now.

Forget the AAC. Forget about the implications surrounding a possible NY6 Bowl. Forget whatever bowl game the team might be selected for.  Forget Notre Dame. Those things are really too far down the road to worry about now. Forget even ECU. Two nights from now should be all about Temple.  Seven wins and zero losses is a goal that has never been achieved at Temple. This is a goal right in front of the Owls, three hard hours of football away, and, they should play like rabid Mad Dogs on every play. Capital M and Capital D. Protect the football, play great defense and special teams and make plays on offense.

If they do that, they can at least look in the mirror and say they gave it their best shot and accept whatever the outcome Thursday night.

Tomorrow: Game Plan Wednesday

Just about everyone who filed out of the stadium last night could be overheard saying the same thing, in one syntax or another: “If they play like this on Thursday, they’ll lose.”

The first “They”, meaning the special teams, which had been solid until recently but now appear to be out of sync. The second “they” meaning the team.  The last couple of games, though, the first they have been handling the ball like a hand grenade and that is going to have to be cleaned up.

Actually, with only a couple of exceptions, the Owls played pretty well all night in a 30-16 win over UCF. The exceptions, of course, will kill you—a pick six, a couple of fumbles on returns. Clean those things up, and the Owls have a chance to roll a 6-0 season into a 7-0 season.

Leave No Doubt, though, those things need to be cleaned up and nobody understands that more than head coach Matt Rhule. I now understand “Matt’s” big statement after the first summer scrimmage: “It was a little too sloppy for my taste. At Temple, the most important thing is that we do not beat ourselves.”

That’s true more this year than any other, especially because the Owls have a defense that is not going to be overwhelmed physically by anyone—including Notre Dame. The game that comes up this Thursday, at ECU, is even more important than Notre Dame because it is an a) AAC game; b) AAC East game.

It’s a short week, and a tall order.

Win on Thursday night and the path is clear to the AAC title game being played in Philadelphia. The Owls already hold the tie-breaker over Cincinnati. Win at ECU and that gives them tie-breakers over really the only two teams in the AAC East who can challenge the Owls.

Fixing it is the vexing problem. I’ve never liked the idea of having a team’s best offensive player taking back punts or kickoffs and, even though Jahad Thomas is the team’s best offensive player this season, Robby (then Robbie) Anderson was certainly the team’s best offensive player in the 2013 season. I don’t like giving up that down, either, with a possession receiver because Sean Chandler showed what a dynamic player can do with the ball.

Nate L. Smith was the greatest punt returner in the history of Pennsylvania high school football.

I’d like to see someone who has a history of returning punts and being reliable with the ball and, in Nate L. Smith, the Owls have the top punt returner in the history of Pennsylvania. He might be not as dynamic as Chandler, but he’s a little more reliable with the ball and a little more dynamic than having a possession receiver back there.

Either way, if the Owls clean that little messy part of their game up, they stand a good chance of turning a short week into a nice and tidy front porch.  Got to get that cleaned up in order to be able to invite Gameday for a visit in two weeks.

Postscript: Somewhat surprised to hear an interview with Rhule talking about his on-field halftime speech to the team and referencing that they were “booed and deserved to be booed.” Sitting in the middle of the stands, I respectively disagree. The booing  in the first half was without a doubt and unequivocally directed at the refs. At no time were any people in my relatively large section near the 50 booing the kids or the coaches.

To call what goes on early in the week at the E-O a news conference is really a misnomer, but that should be OK because, when the biggest news coming out of Tuesday’s Matt Rhule presser was that U.S. Senator Corey Booker and Drew Katz spoke to the team, that’s a sign that all is good in the Temple Owls’ football world.

Usually, the “news” coming out of these things is someone is hurt, but that did not happen on Tuesday. News conferences are like football officials. If you do not notice them, it’s good news. Even the “big” Temple news of the day–that Notre Dame is sold out–came long after the press conference was over.

Still, one of the many positive traits of Temple head coach Matt Rhule is that he brings a lot of enthusiasm to these things. Other than the obligatory praise for Central Florida, no small feat for an 0-6 team, here were some highlights:

Noticing The Wave:

Rhule noticed that the crowd did the wave “in the third quarter.” Kind of interesting that he knew what quarter the wave was done. He also gave a shout out to the students, who have done a spectacular job supporting the team.

On Ryquell Armstead’s two touchdowns:

“We got to see the big-play ability of Ryquell,” he said. (I thought that was interesting because it implied that Ryquell has been a consistent big-play guy in practice all along.)

On the defense:

“We’re a top 25 defense in nine categories,” Rhule said. “The defense is playing good football.” In the most important category, scoring defense, the team is ranked No. 13 in the country. Last year, it finished No. 4, but DC Phil Snow took responsibility for allowing 14 fourth-quarter points against Cincinnati by “playing too conservatively” and doesn’t expect the Owls to give up that many points in future games.

On the offense:

Rhule said the offense is (literally) 100 percent improved on third-down conversions. “We’re converting 44 percent on third down; last year we were 22 percent,” he said. (We looked it up. It was 23.8, but why quibble over 1.8 percent?)

On TE Kip Patton:

“Kip always knew he had a lot in terms of dynamic ability. Teaching him football; you know, he’s a basketball player. It was his decision. He made the decision to be a football player. You can just see the beginning of what he’s able to do.”

Tomorrow: A Special Milestone