Category Archives: Tulane football

11.20.25
by

Temple wins if it pulls out all of the stops

Gary Segars says K.C. Keeler is always a good bet as an underdog. He’s usually right.

The phrase “pulling out all of the stops” means to use all available resources to achieve a desired outcome.

At least that’s what both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford English dictionaries say.

The good news is that Temple head coach K.C. Keeler is starting to get that term in the sense that he admitted that the two close losses to the service academies caused him some introspective in analyzing what one or two things he could have done to get him over those 1-point humps in losses.

If Kajiya Hollawayne throws a TD pass, you’ve got the Temple Football Forever guarantee of a win.

He was kind of referring to next year.

Here’s a thought: Do it now.

As an outside observer, we’re going to offer a couple of theories how that desired result could be achieved for Saturday’s Senior Day home game against 24th-ranked Tulane (3:45 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field).

One, keep doing what you are doing 97 percent of the time.

That means offensive coordinator’s Tyler Walker’s innovative motion offense, which involves a lot of moving parts causing defensive confusion. It also means Brian L. Smith’s core belief of pressure on the quarterback, ostensibly with the front five, but also including blitzes if needed. Make Jake Retzlaff as uncomfortable for the entire game as you did to UTSA’s Owen McCown in the second half a few weeks ago.

Speaking of McCown, take a page out of the book he used to beat Tulane, 48-26. Go 31-for-33 with 370 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions against that secondary.

To do that, you’ve got to give Evan Simon a chance to throw the ball at least 33 times against a banged-up cornerback room even more depleted than the one McCown faced three weeks ago.

That leaves the other three percent of the time, which will probably determine the outcome of this most important Temple game in a decade.

Temple, especially on the offensive side of the ball, has done very little to “fool” the opposition in terms of “using all available resources to achieve a desired outcome.”

The last few games showed that Keeler and Company are starting to get it in terms that they used a third-string quarterback on a number of surprise packages that called for a QB run or a QB pass.

When the Army defense recognizes No. 14 is a backup QB and calls the reverse pass before it happens, that’s probably not the kind of play you want to use.

Ditch that. Ditch the entire Tyler Douglas package.

“Great throw Kajiya. I was saving this play for Senior Day.”

You will know Temple is going to win this game maybe early as the first offensive play from scrimmage. That’s been almost always a boring straight handoff to Jay Ducker. Let this one be a Jet Sweep to Kajiya Hollawayne. I don’t care if he gains 3 yards, 12 yards or goes to the house, it will be a successful play for Temple.

I know Hollawayne is a 4*star quarterback recruit from UCLA. You might know he is a 4* QB recruit from UCLA and both Keeler and Walker might know that, but it’s highly doubtful Tulane does. That Jet Sweep sets up another Jet Sweep down the road where the Tulane corners come up on run coverage and allow Hollawayne to use that 4* arm to hit JoJo Bermudez in stride for six points.

This is how open Bermudez would be on that kind of pass:

Especially since Temple hasn’t used that play all year.

To date.

That’s one of our 3 percent suggestions.

Here’s another: Temple hasn’t used the “tush push” or “Brotherly Shove” so far.

Doug Pederson said he got “The Philly Special” from watching this Temple play against Penn State in 2015. Nothing more Philly than Temple. The Owls have a long history of winning big games on trick plays.

Do it with 6-6, 265-pound tight end Peter Clarke doing the pushing for one or two 4th-and-1s.

You know what that sets up?

Certainly not a pass, but a “fake tush push” to “Temple’s Saquon Barkley” a pitch the speedy Keveun Mason, for maybe another six points.

Those dozen points might make a difference for the seniors who deserve one after three long years with this program.

Pulling out all the stops hasn’t been tried once this season, especially in the two 1-point losses.

Now that approach deserves the kind of chance it hasn’t been given for the first 10 games.

Very, Very Late Saturday Night (since I will be at the stadium until 9): Game Analysis

11.19.19
by

Fizzy Closes the Book on Tulane

Screenshot 2019-11-17 at 1.14.09 PM

This is the Temple coverage page that was supposed to make it into the print editions but did not due to a “production glitz.”

By Dave (Fizzy) Weinraub

[Before we review, be advised that those who get the Inquirer found absolutely no coverage of the game. If you’d like to write a nasty letter, go to inquirer.letters@phillynews.com. My letter is already there.]

Before the season started, I was asked to predict our record for 2019. Looking over a tough schedule coupled with a new coaching staff, I thought 6-6 would be the final result. I’m so pleased to be wrong. We’re now 7-3 with the possibility of more wins.

However, does that mean we should do the mummer’s strut down Broad Street? Not yet!  There’s lots of room for improvement. And as the newspapers usually give an excellent account of what happened and who starred in the game, I like to take an in-depth look at the coaching decisions.

Obviously, our defense was terrific. The “Wild Boys,” as they call themselves, were the main reason we held on to the victory. Lead by Quincy Roche, they terrorized the very talented Tulane QB, who became quite nervous as the game continued. He was not only nervous but also quite agitated at the two or three times Temple should have been called for late hits, after he threw the ball. And that’s my first comment. If those penalties had been called, they might have affected the outcome of the game. Add to those uncalled penalties, were the three after the whistle unsportsmanlike calls for 15 yards apiece. One of our guys even reached over the shoulder of a ref to push his adversary. I don’t have any stats, but I’m sure we are among the most penalized teams in the league. The coaching staff has to find a way to tame the guys. This was the 10th game and the penalties haven’t stopped. Maybe our tough guys need some sensitivity training.

I try to stay away from criticizing the official’s calls, as they usually even out. They did on Saturday, as the referees who didn’t make the roughing the passer calls on Temple, also didn’t call the numerous ‘holding’ infractions by the Tulane offensive line. So there!

Screenshot 2019-11-17 at 6.17.26 PM

I’ve previously been remiss in not mentioning our end-of the-half play calling. Yesterday was at least the second time, and possibly the third, we’ve had the ball in reasonably good field position with over two minutes left on the clock, and a small lead. And what did we do with these opportunities? Well, we basically got really conservative and ran out the clock. Yesterday, Tulane had enough time to get downfield and almost score. What is our offensive coordinator thinking? We had the wind. Throw the ball downfield and put the game away.

Similarly, we did the same chicken-shit play calling in our last possession and it almost led to a possible tying score by Tulane.

Now, back again to the first-and-goal calls. We had to kick three field goals because we couldn’t score. Two times we had first-and-goal. I would like to point out that first down in this situation is the only time you can truly fool the defense. That’s because the following calls are based on what happened on first down. So if you’re going to fool the defense, the first down play is most important. In the past, we’ve always run-up-the gut on one and sometimes two plays. Yesterday, we ran up-the-gut on the first occasion, but not on the second. However, all the passes on both series of downs were direct throws with no play fakes. That’s dumb. I could offer any number of terrific plays that make great use of faking to a running back in that situation, and they should happen on first down.

I still don’t understand why Russo doesn’t run more. He mentioned before the season started that he was thrilled with the offense because there were so many RPO’s attached to the plays. So why doesn’t he keep the ball? There were so many times he could have had considerable yardage.

I can’t stop without a defensive comment. Tulane walked in for a score based on two successive running plays. The first running play had a hole so big Santa Clause could have scored. So what did we do on the next play when they had first and goal? We lined up in the same defense – so they ran the same play and strolled into the end zone. How could we not go into a gap defense on the goal line?

This past week a local sports-writer called me grumpy. Okay, so here’s a story.

I was not paying attention while I was driving, and tapped a guy’s bumper at a red light. When he came out, I was embarrassed because he was a dwarf. When he saw a small dent, he said, “I’m not happy!” To which I replied, “Well which one are you?”

Thursday: Hazard Warning

11.17.19
by

Temple-Tulane: Stayin’ Alive

The classic 70s music booming from the boombox of one the best post-game tailgates (of many good ones) was from the Bee Gees yesterday.

“Stayin’ Alive.”

Not “staying” alive. Stayin’ alive.


“You know what?
I’ve never lost
to Cincinnati.”
_ James McHale,
a starting tackle
with the Owls the
past four seasons

Can’t go wrong with 1970s or 1980s music at any tailgate, pre- or post-game.

Kudos to that boomer for his boombox because no song was more appropriate for the set of circumstances facing the Temple football Owls now.

The situation has narrowed down to this: Temple stayed alive for what would probably be the most improbable conference title ever with a 29-21 win over a very good Tulane team.

Screenshot 2019-08-02 at 11.21.00 PM

A win over Cincy on Saturday night makes this beautiful moment a realistic possibility once again.

 

Improbable because has a conference champion ever lost 63-21 to another team from the same conference in the regular season? As Donovan McNabb might utter: “I would say no.”

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. The point is it’s not THAT far ahead of ourselves. Just less than a week now.

Goodbye to the few Tulane fans who made a lot of noise from their super box. They weren’t very original as “Get that ball back” seemed to be the only rhythmic cheer they could muster.

The Temple fans in the cheap seats below turned around and waved goodbye (Shaun Bradley style, Cincy, 2018) to them a few times and, to their credit, the Tulane fans in the not-so-cheap seats goodnaturedly waved back when it was apparent they lost.

Goodbye, and good luck.

Really, because if those fans make enough noise and come up with more original cheers in New Orleans next week, the Green Wave can do Temple a huge favor by knocking off UCF. (We suggest DEE-FENSE, DEE-FENSE and Let’s GO TU-LANE for starters.)

Tulane is a very good team so that’s not impossible.

Maybe not even improbable.

Screenshot 2019-11-16 at 9.10.20 PM

In order to beat Cincy, got to bring those rushing attempts and rushing yards up to 54 or so and 200 yards. Temple isn’t even trying to run the ball this year and it’s puzziling.

Should Temple travel to Cincy on that same day and beat the Bearcats for the fifth-straight season, all the Owls would have to do is hold serve against UConn to earn a trip to Memphis for the whole ball of wax. “You know what?” former Temple offensive tackle James McHale told me on the subway on the way home. “I’ve never lost to Cincinnati.”

McHale made a very good point about pride and tradition. Current Temple players: Do not let yourselves be the first class in five years who do because winning is imperative if the Owls are to have a chance at grabbing their second chip in four years. They are standing in the way and you are the way. Does anyone believe the Owls DON’T have a chance to win in Cincy? No. Does anyone believe Cincy is going to win in Memphis? I guess Cincy fans do, but I don’t. Temple must take care of its business first and the reward could be substantial.

After losing by consecutive blowouts in the middle of the season, that would be something.

Cue the Patsy Cline song “Crazy” for the post-game UConn tailgate should that happen but that’s from way back in 1961 so we might need another boomer box. A little Electric Slide action (Marcia Griffith, 1990) would also be nice for the playlist.

It’s up to the Owls getting by with only a little help from their friends (1968, Joe Cocker) to make it happen.

Tuesday: Fizzy’s Corner

11.16.19
by

Game Day: Swan Song or Fight Song?

There are not a whole lot of believers in the Temple Owls today, as evidenced by our friend Andy Gresh (above) from the league office all but picking Tulane.

He’s not the only one.

footballs

Despite a forecast with wind chills in the 20s and a team from the South coming up North, Vegas had the Green Wave starting as a 3.5-point favorite and that went up to 4 the next and as high as 6 before settling on the 5.5 as we write this post.

That’s a lot of public money moving to the Tulane side.

If the public is right, then today represents a swan song of sorts for the Owls football season. They now have a realistic path to win the AAC East. With a loss, they will not and have to be forced to settle for the same kind of meaningless bowl game they have been in for the last five seasons.

If the public is wrong, though, they can be–to borrow a phrase from Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront–“A contender.”

This game could rest on a couple of observations we’ve been making pretty much the whole season. 1) Does this staff even believe in the concept of establishing a run game? 2) Why does this staff insist on running an RPO that minimizes the strength of their best quarterback?

Nobody is going to buy Anthony Russo as a running threat, so why even run those plays for him? He’s a much more effective guy after the run game is established and with the linebackers and the safeties cheating up to stop the run and him passing over it.

You would think by the 10th game internal film study would have convinced this largely proven championship staff that the personnel here is not the same as the personnel at Northern Illinois nor should the scheme be the same.

So far, not all of the light switches have been turned on in the coaching office on that issue–at least not to our satisfaction.

On a cold day where the Owls need to monopolize the clock and the ball on offense and get about three turnovers defense, we shall soon find out if the experts in the league office or the public is right or Temple TUFF merges with Temple SMART for a satisfying version of ‘][‘ For Temple U about 3:10 p.m. or so.

Sunday: Game Analysis

11.14.19
by

Stopping the Tulane zone bluff option

Here is an example of Fritz’s double-option with a lead blocker at Ga. Southern

Among the many who still remember Wayne Hardin around here, the phrase used most about him was that he was many years ahead of his time.

How many?

Screenshot 2019-11-13 at 11.35.12 PM

A multiple-layer, two gloves and hood kind of tailgate

The two games this weekend at Lincoln Financial Field will provide a very real time frame.

Tulane’s offense will show a lot of the same principles Hardin had with his veer this Saturday (noon, Lincoln Financial Field) against Temple.

Hardin liked to call his offense the “smorgasbord offense” and described it this way: “It’s like one of those food spreads, a little of this, a little of that.”  Whatever Hardin liked from a number of offenses, including a lot of the veer and the triple option and the pro set, he would ‘borrow” and utilize all of those looks to fool defenses. In addition, he invented a whole lot of stuff that Bill Belichick uses in New England today.

Here is Fritz motioning the WR to the RB spot in a goal-line offense.

Temple ran all of those offenses so well other coaches thought the Owls were breaking the rules by practicing 24 hours a day. It drove defenses crazy. The Owls would line up in a Houston (Cougar, not Texan) Veer one series and a Dallas Cowboys’ pro set the next and, on a rare occasion, would use a Texas triple option.

Now that the NCAA limits practices to just 15 hours a week, coaches have utilize their time a lot better and no one does that more than Tulane head coach Willie Fritz.


To me, Fritz has to be
the coach of the year
in the AAC. Memphis, UCF,
Cincinnati and Temple have
been the established powers
in the league over the last
five years. Tulane breaking
into that group despite also
having Ivy League-type admission
standards is a tribute to Fritz’s
ability as a football coach

To me, Fritz has to be the coach of the year in the AAC. Memphis, UCF, Cincinnati and Temple have been the established powers in the league over the last five years. Tulane breaking into that group despite also having Ivy League-level admission standards is a tribute to Fritz’s ability as a football coach and recruiter. Put it this way: If Northwestern is the Harvard of the Big 10, Vandy the Harvard of the SEC, Stanford the Harvard of the PAC-12, Duke is the Harvard of the ACC then Tulane has to be the Harvard of the AAC.  (Err, Harvard is the Harvard of the Ivy League.) So it’s hard to get kids admitted to that school. Since two Big 12 schools (Texas and Baylor) are tied for 79th academically, that conference has no elite school. Plus, Temple coach Rod Carey has paid tribute to Fritz for doing it “the right way.” That could be interpreted as a shot at people like Sonny “15 portal transfers” Dykes for doing it the “wrong way.”

Tulane is the clear-cut “Ivy League” type AAC school, though, and, as such, poses some admission problems that don’t exist elsewhere. All of that dictates Fritz adopts and perfects a unique offensive scheme and he has, just like Navy.  Unlike at Navy, though, sophisticated passing concepts are built into the offense.  Call it a “zone bluff” option.

Fritz says his quarterback’s mid-play read to the dive up the gut to the pitchman on the outside. However, Tulane’s quarterback is in the shotgun, receivers are scattered across the field and there are men in motion at the snap.

No one has stopped Tulane’s offense so far except Memphis and Auburn, which beat them, 47-17, and 24-6, respectively. The way the Tigers did it was not with defense per se, but with the offense. In that game, Kenny Gainwell had 18 carries for 104 yards and added nine receptions for 203 yards. Because of Gainwell, Memphis had the ball for 34 minutes and 10 seconds, while Tulane had it for 25:50. Three of those possessions resulted in interceptions so the damage the Green Wave could do was limited.

Does Temple has an offensive talent equal to Gainwell? No, but the Owls can dominate the time with a running game that features Jager Gardner and Ra’Mahn Davis and receivers like Jadan Blue, Branden Mack, and Kenny Yeboah. It would be nice if Isaiah Wright would join the party but returning punts instead of fair-catching them but that’s up to him. He certainly has the talent to flip the field a few times but so far his will hasn’t matched his talent. Maybe the switch will go on Saturday.

The point here is that you don’t stop an offense like Tulane with defense alone. It takes a whole lot of help from your own offense in addition to your defense winning at the point of attack.

If that’s going to look familiar to Temple, it should. The Owls faced a very similar “passing read” offense in UCF and the Knights scored 63 points on the Owls. That offense utilizes one back, though. Tulane runs two out there.

Unless the Owls take a more holistic approach than to stopping it than they did on that disastrous night, the results will not be a helluva lot different. Hopefully, one takeaway the Owls had from that night was the best way to stop a good offense is using your own to keep it off the field. Another takeaway is to get more than one takeaway like Memphis did against the Green Wave.

If Hardin was here, he’d tell you that but, since he’s not, we will do it for him.

Predictions: Last week was a perfect example of why logic doesn’t work sometimes. Logically, Florida State was in disarray after firing Willie Taggart and Boston College looking good after scoring 57 points at Syracuse. So I picked BC as a one-point favorite and lost, 38-31, bringing my record for the season to 28-23 against the spread and 32-21 straight up. (Steve Addazio’s head coaching career may be coming to an end.) More than one line strikes me as a “wrong” one as I like all underdogs this week: LOUISIANA TECH getting 2.5 at Marshall, GEORGIA TECH getting 5.5 to visiting Virginia Tech, USF getting 14 against visiting Cincy (it would really help Temple if USF won that game outright), and my pick of the week, NAVY getting 9.5 at Notre Dame to cover but not to win.

Saturday: A Song For Game Day

11.12.19
by

Championship Not A Crazy Thought Now

One of the reasons I declined initial overtures to be invited back at the beginning of the season into the most popular Temple football facebook group after a hiatus was some of the attitudes of the posters.


It’s not like Temple
is asking UConn or
ECU to win a game.
It’s asking good teams
to beat other good teams

For just one example (of many), the way any discussion of a game past the next one was rebuffed by some (err, most) with this inane response: “Let’s beat (XXXXX) first before we can discuss (YYYYY).”

Like a group of fans on a facebook page talking about future games had any impact on what happened on the field in the next one. Now that’s a crazy thought, even crazier than what we’re about to discuss in this post. You can only beat your head against a wall so much before walking away from the wall.

That is there. This is here.

Screenshot 2019-11-10 at 9.06.45 PM

Hell, beating Tulane is the most important thing but we can dream about sitting next to the trophy again on the team bus in December and let the players chew Green Wave gum for a game scheduled on 11/16 at the same time.

Taking one game at a time is the job of the kids and the coaches.

Fans? Not so much.

Thanks in part to a miracle provided by a winless (in the league) Tulsa team over a team that scored 63 points on the Owls (UCF), an American Athletic Conference championship isn’t all that crazy to think about anymore.

At least for Temple. For purposes of this post, we won’t talk about the injuries or any problems the team has on offense or defense but just about beating the three teams left on the schedule.

Cincinnati–a team Temple has beaten four-straight times–still holds all the cards but that doesn’t mean it is going to collect the chips.

Or, as the kids say, the chip.

It basically comes down to this:

  • Temple wins out;
  • UCF loses at Tulane;
  • Cincinnati loses to Memphis

Then, the Owls could play a title game in Memphis. Tough, yes. Crazy? No. It’s not like Temple is asking UConn or ECU to win a game. It’s asking good teams to beat other good teams and, if it is a good team, it can win three-straight games, two at home.

Based on the above-bulleted scenario, Temple would hold the tie-breaker against Cincy based on head-to-head competition. UCF would drop out with its third league loss.

americansked

Tulane has an offense similar to the one UCF brought to Philadelphia so that must’ve factored into the Green Wave entering the week as a four-point favorite and quickly dropped to 3.5 and now 3 at the time of this post. Still, with the brutal weather forecast, that might be a mitigating factor in the Owls’ favor. Temple went down to ECU and beat the Pirates more comfortably than Cincinnati did and the Cincy offense isn’t that crazy wide-open type that seemingly gives the Owls fits and Temple seems to match up favorably with the Bearcats.

Screenshot 2019-11-11 at 10.05.48 PM

Tulane is a far better team than Tulsa and, without a championship on the line, UCF could pack it in there. With SMU nipping at Memphis’ heels, the Tigers know they have to beat Cincinnati at home to host an AAC title game and would be extremely motivated to do so. Memphis holds first tie-breakers over SMU and Navy.

The beneficiary in all of this could be Temple if the Owls can play the way they did against Memphis or even Georgia Tech.

Temple can only control what it can control and, if the Owls and their fans bring the noise on Saturday, they get one step closer to the most improbable championship ever.

Yeah, I know let’s worry about Tulane first. Me musing about a championship has no impact of what the kids do on the field this Saturday.

It’s called multitasking.

Thursday: Stopping The Spread Option

11.21.16
by

… and now for a word from Fizz …

streaking

... Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub’s views here could be considered contrary or constructive criticism … I will let you decide in the comments below ...

By: Dave (Fizzy) Weinraub

Two shutouts in a row, a five game winning streak, more talent than almost everyone we play, bowl game and conference championship possibilities, that’s not too shabby, right?  The program is in great shape, so what’s to bitch about?

I’ll tell you what; it’s the play-calling in the first half.

Most every week before the game, Coach Rhule announces our game plan to the world.  The plan is usually the same, we’re going to run the football and keep the other team’s offense off the field.  (Even if we are going to do that, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell everyone else.)  Of course, the opposing coaches then design their first and second down defenses to stop the run.  Tulane certainly did that.  Led by number 77 (Smart), Tulane gapped and run-blitzed the stuffing out of the Owls, and rendered our run game mostly ineffective in the first half.  It ended at 10 – 0, and woulda, coulda, shoulda, been at least 24 – 0.

greatness

Until nearly the end of the first half we ran the ball on practically every first down, and usually on second down too.  This puts tremendous pressure on Phillip Walker and our receivers, as they always seemed to be facing third and long.  Of course, the defense then dials up some blitzes to put the heat on.

Walker and the receivers, especially Ventell Bryant, were phenomenal.  Walker’s passes were mostly crisp and accurate, and our receivers seem to be gaining more confidence in each game.  With Tulane playing man-to-man, it was obvious from the get-go, they couldn’t cover our guys.

Well, what was obvious to me, wasn’t obvious to Glenn Thomas and Matt Rhule.  Sure, it ended up as a romp, but we didn’t know that in the first half.  Twice, on first and twenty, we ran the ball on both first and second downs.  At first and goal, three times, we ran the ball on first and second downs.  When we lined up in I formation, I thought for sure they were going to run the play-action to our outstanding Nick Sharga in the flat. No dice!  Speaking of play-action against a man-to-man pass coverage, OMG, how successful would that have been on first down?

All of the above may not seem important after a blow-out, but it is.  In the three losses this year, all woulda, coulda, shouldas, it seems our coaches stubbornly stuck to the game plan until it was too late.  More imaginative and flexible play calls, might have staved off those losses.  But now, if we’re to win a championship and a bowl game against very good teams, we’re not going to have the luxury of out-manning our opponents in the second half.  We have to be nimble and strike quickly.  If we waste opportunities against good teams, we will lose.

In closing, I’d like to congratulate Phil Snow on putting together an exceptional defense.  However, a word of caution.  We couldn’t  stop Army’s triple-option, and Navy runs it better.  If we get to play Navy, I’d like to suggest he get together with Wayne Hardin.  At our tailgate after a loss to Navy years ago, Coach Hardin, drew up his plan on how to stop it.  If we can’t, we’d better score a lot of points.

Tomorrow: The Seniors

10.06.15
by

Tulane is Who We Thought They Are

It takes a village. HC is usually the day all of the regular tailgaters get replaced for the Prodigal Son fans.

It takes a village. HC is usually the day all of the regular tailgaters get relocated for the Prodigal Son fans.

Casual college football fans checking the Tulane vs. Central Florida score on Saturday afternoon probably had an initial reflex reaction that the host Green Wave, who visit Temple for Homecoming at high noon on Saturday, must be vastly improved this season.

Only those who followed the sport closely knew better, that Tulane’s 45-31 AAC win only served to illustrate how far things have fallen in Orlando for head coach George O’Leary, who is only two years from routing Power-5 representative Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl. The Knights are 0-5 and now are staring at a 0-12 season. As it stands now, they are a three-point favorite  over UConn at home on Saturday and, frankly, UConn has played better.  UCF has suffered embarrassing home losses to FIU and Furman, the latter being an FCS team.

Watch out for those tapers.

Watch out for those tapers.

That’s a penthouse-to-outhouse fall unrivaled in college football and probably means the end is near for O’Leary, 69, who has had an accomplished career but age has caught up to him. In addition, he’s had some bad luck. The Knights have played most of their first four games without their starting quarterback, center, best receiver and two best running backs. In all, eight potential offensive starters didn’t play in Saturday’s game against Tulane or the week prior against South Carolina.

UCF’s problems not only stem from injuries, but from O’Leary’s job situation. O’Leary was named UCF’s interim athletic director in June and there are rumors — but no announcement yet — that he will retire from coaching to become the full-time AD after the season. So the appearance is that O’Leary is mailing in the coaching part of his job. Even worse for UCF is that the coach has no experience as an athletic administrator and his possible future involvement as an AD probably will not help his presumably handpicked successor get off on the right foot.

When UCF beat Baylor, plenty of people were talking about the Knights as a possible selection for a Power 5 conference. Now nobody is, and the blame has to go to an aging coach who apparently has lost any enthusiasm for the coaching part of his job.

Tomorrow: Press Conference Highlights

Throwback Thursday: Huey Long’s Connection to Temple Football

Friday: Homecoming Attendance

Saturday: Game Day Preview, Updated Depth Charts