Category Archives: Temple football

02.07.15
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Solving the Jet Pack Mystery

"Yeah, but what about the Jet Pack quote?"

“Yeah, but what about the Jet Pack quote?”

Groundhog Day was on Monday, but it has been the last four days for me.

Wednesday wake up, turn on Comcast Sports Net, watch Neil Hartman report live from the Penn State signing day. Thursday, wake up, turn on CSN Philly and watch Neil Hartman report a recap of Penn State signing day. Friday, wake up and watch Neil Hartman interview the Penn State fax guy from Penn State signing day. Saturday, wake up and watch Neil Hartman report about James Franklin recruiting 2016 guys.

decommit

Tomorrow, I fully expect another Neil Hartman report on how Penn State fans reacted to the recruiting day. Overkill, thy name is covering Penn State football  in a town 250 miles away that already has a FBS college football team. Temple really needs to take them down.

Meanwhile, there is no coverage at all of the burning mystery of the day: What the heck was Matt Rhule referring to in his “jet pack” tweet? If it was about a recruit—as was widely rumored—it could not have been about T.J. Simmons because the time lines do not match up. Here was the original tweet, followed by Adam DiMichele’s “game-changer” tweet:

It could not have been about Simmons because three days later he was still committed to UCLA:

Also in the same day:

https://twitter.com/tjsimmons4/status/558095179308351488

Simmons did not change his mind until the NEXT day:

Unless Speedy told Rhule something on Jan. 18 he didn’t tell UCLA fans until four days later, the Jetpack tweet makes no sense. If it was supposed to be about a recruit, other than Speedy, no jetpack-worthy recruits were signed between Jan. 18 and now.

So, until Neil Hartman has a four-day story on the anatomy of Matt Rhule’s jetpack tweet, we can only assume Rhule knows something about a stadium none of us do.

02.05.15
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Finally, a Temple Fan Playing for the Owls

Every once in a while, someone says something that makes you feel like they understand exactly what another person feels and that someone yesterday was Kareem Ali Jr.

Ali said something so profound that I had to stare at the words while holding my Philadelphia Daily News: “I’m tired of seeing Temple lose. I’ve been to almost every home game since my eighth grade or seventh grade year. I know their pain. I’m tired of seeing that.”

So, for every Temple fan who wanted to go down on the field and break up that Hail Mary against Fordham or Buffalo and run a more direct route to sacking Blake Bortles, Kareem Ali Jr. is playing for us. I hope his play will be contagious and the rest of the Owls who are not from here are tired of losing, too. Many of us have the want-to for doing all of those things, Ali has the how-to.

Already, he has become my favorite Temple Owl, following in the footsteps of guys like Kenny Harper, Donny Klein, Paul Palmer and Bernard Pierce.

Temple Recruiting Last Three Years 

Year National Rank Rivals National Rank Scout Conference Rank Scout
2015 75 93 7
2014 59 74 4
2013 85 87 8

Klein might be an odd name for some, but not for me. The Temple center immediately became my favorite player when Temple played at Rutgers after getting kicked out of the Big East. The Owls trailed, 14-3, at halftime and Klein went on a profanity-filled rant: “I’ve never lost to f-ing Rutgers and I’m not about to lose to f-ing Rutgers now” pounding his helmet on the floor. Those were not empty words as Klein’s borderline fanatical blocking opened up huge holes for Tanardo Sharps in the rain and mud and Sharps gained 215 yards on 43 carries as the Owls won, 20-17. That’s the kind of fire, emotion, intensity and desire I’d like the see the Owls play with all of the time.

Those are the kinds of players Temple cannot get enough of and I have the feeling they got at least one more of those kinds of leaders yesterday.

Here are the rest:

Ryquell Armstead RB, Fr. 5-11, 205, Millville, N.J.

Jeremiah Atoki DB, Fr. 6-2, 190, Vineland, N.J.

Josiah Bronson DL, Fr. 6-5, 265, Covington, Wash.

Chapelle Cook LB, Fr. 6-1,214, Lakewood, N.J.

Jovahn Fair OL, Fr. 6-3, 283, Akron, Oh.

Jager Gardner RB, Fr. 6-2, 205, Black Mountain, N.C.

Daishaun Grimes LB, Fr. 6-2, 190, St. Cloud, Fla.

Benson Israel OL, Fr. 6-1, 316, Spring Valley, N.Y.

DeAndre Kelly DL, Fr. 6-3, 238, Hyattsville, Md.

Dana Levine DL, Fr. 6-4, 213, Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Roy Pugh TE, Fr. 6-4,196, South Orange, N.J. .

Jake Robinson TE, Fr. 6-3, 208, Haddonfield, N.J.

T.J. Simmons RB, Fr. 6-1, 195, Lakeland, Fla.

Cortrelle Simpson WR, Fr. 5-10, 175 Indian Head, Md.

Greg Webb DL, R-So. 6-1, 312, Sicklerville, N.J.

Taiyir Wilson LB, Fr. 6-2, 210, Collegeville, Pa.

Dawayne Young DL, Fr. 6-3, 280, Philadelphia, Pa.

MID YEAR TRANSFERS

Kareem Ali, Jr. DB, Fr. 5-11, 175, Sicklerville, N.J.

Logan Marchi QB, Fr. 6-1, 170, Bristol, Conn.

William Updegrove LB, Fr. 6-2, 230, Berwick, Pa

01.31.15
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Temple Finally Joins the Big Time

It’s never too late for Young Jeezy to put in a good word for Temple.

Usually, the only thing on TV in the middle of the afternoon on a mid-week day is a soap opera.

That and work is why I do not watch television on a week day afternoon. One soap opera on Wednesday, though, is must-see TV and that’s when Temple football finally hits the big-time on ESPNU. Every year, ESPNU reserves about a dozen spots for players who wait until signing day to make their announcements on live television. ESPNU’s only requirement is that the player must not have made his intentions known prior to the live announcement and he must be at least a four-star recruit as named by one of the two major recruiting websites, Rivals or Scout.

Usually, it is involves a guy who is about to pick between, say, a Florida or an Auburn. He looks at one hat, lifts it up, puts it down, and then finally puts the hat on of the school he where he chooses to spend the next four years playing football and getting an education. Since ESPNU started this charade a few years ago, I wanted Temple to be part of the show.

Now I have my wish.  That’s where Temple, Marshall and T.J. Simmons come into play.

Julu Smith’s signing day last year.

This will perhaps be the last time either school will have this opportunity because I believe the Power 5 schools will be paying players by the next show and, unless Temple can  find a route to the Power 5 capital, we won’t see this kind of drama again.

I hope I’m wrong, but I do not see this ending well for Temple because Simmons’ primary Marshall recruiter is Sean Cronin and Cronin is not the biggest Matt Rhule fan. I can see a lot of “negative recruiting” involved with Cronin’s knowledge of Temple and Rhule and, if negativity did  not work in getting someone’s vote, we would never see a negative political campaign ad (and that’s all we see).

Either way, tune in between 3:30 and 4 on ESPNU. For the first–and maybe last–time, it’s must-see afternoon TV.

Related:

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x984739541/Simmons-visiting-MU-this-weekend

01.09.15
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Matakevich Winning Butkus Award Would Be Big Boost for Temple Football

Football fans of Temple can give their fingernails a rest. From standout linebacker Tyler Matakevich‘s twitter feed in December, it looked  like he would return for his senior season with the Owls in 2015.

Now that the deadline for declaring is about to pass, it’s all but official.

That’s no small commitment because, according to most mock drafts, Matakevich would be one of the top 10 linebackers selected in the NFL Draft if he decided to come out. Now that Matakevich has decided to do something for the Owls, Temple must decide to do something for him in promoting him for the Bednarik Award that goes to the nation’s best defender and Butkus Award that goes to the nation’s best linebacker.

I think he has a decent chance of winning the Butkus Award and that would be a big feather in the cap of Temple football. He doesn’t need to do anything superhuman to win it, either. Just keep doing what he’s been doing and help the Owls win two or more additional games in 2015 than they did in 2014. With Notre Dame and Penn State on the schedule and both figure to be highly rated TV games, his name is fast-tracked to the head of the LB class.

Temple did the same in 1986 for running back Paul Palmer, when the school came up with a clever comic book idea that promoted him for the Heisman Trophy. He did not win it, coming as close as possible — losing to Miami’s Vinny Testaverde and ahead of such luminaries as Oklahoma’s Brian Bosworth and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh.

Matakevich is driven by a desire to get Temple to a bowl and sitting and watching others play seems to fuel the flames for next season.

Matakevich is one of the few players to earn all-conference honors in two conferences, the now-defunct Big East and current successor AAC. He also currently is the NCAA’s leading active leaders in tackles among all five divisions (FBS, FCS, and Divisions I through III). For his entire time at Temple, he has given the Owls his best.

Promoting him heavily for the Bednarik and Butkus is the least the Owls can do for him now.