Christmas came early for Clint Sovie, who got a ball from Al Golden.

By Mike Gibson
There is a reason all 30 NFL coaches have been taking a knee for the last 30 years.
Herman Edwards.
Joe Pisarcik.
The Miracle of the Meadowlands.
It’s not questioned.
It just is.
It’s coaching 101 and not the advanced math stuff guys like Bruce Arians and Wayne Hardin know in their sleep.
It’s simple stuff even pee-wee coaches know.

Temple had the ball with 37 seconds left in its 33-27 overtime loss to Navy today, up 27-20.
Thirty-seven seconds.
Or, as Chase Utley might say, thirty-seven fucking seconds.
Both of the announcers in the game knew what the strategy would be.
Heck, the Navy coaching staff probably knew would the strategy would be.
The five guys I was watching the game with pretty much agreed that Adam DiMichele should take a knee and no more than one second later the guys announcing the game agreed with us.The announcers were advising Temple to take a knee and kick the ball out and punted the ball back to Navy, a triple-option team, with no timeouts and 17 seconds left and 80 yards to go.
Those are difficult waters to navigate, even for a team named Navy.
Temple’s Jeff Wathne has been one of the best punters in the nation all year and undoubtedly would have booted the darn thing into the end zone.
“This is easy,” CBS-TV analyst Trev Alberts said.
Easy for anyone but Al Golden.
Inexplicably, unbelievably, he chose to handoff to the running back.
Just like Pisarcik chose to handoff to Larry Csonka on Nov. 19th, 1978.
Fumble.

Herman Edwards picks up the ball on one bounce and takes it in for a score.
Kee-Ayre Griffin, fighting for extra yardage he didn’t really need, was stripped of the ball by Navy linebacker Ross Pospisil and teammate Clint Sovie played the role of Herman Edwards.
Game, set and match.
I like Al Golden and believe he’s one of only two guys who can make this team a perennial MAC champ (Bruce Arians is the only other one I can think of). But he’s not immune from criticism nor should he be.

After the fumble, my head was buried in my hands, feeling much like what those Giants’ fans must have felt in 1978.
“Why, Al?” I kept yelling at the screen. “Why? Why?”
“I was surprised they ran,” Pospisil said. “I thank God they did.”
Is just me or have I missed the first time Al has ever accepted the blame for a bad decision? So far, my count stands as never.
Your call, but it seems to me it’s always someone else’s fault, not his.
“Certainly we could have kneeled down, but you give it to the running back, tell him to put two hands on it. That’s what running backs do,” Golden said.
Since when?
Maybe before 1978, but not since.
At least not with the lead and 37 bleeping seconds left.
Ask anybody who has coached in the NFL or pretty much anywhere else for the past 30 years.
When the bad guys need a miracle to beat you, don’t go to Lourdes, fly back and hand them a gallon of Holy Water.

By Mike Gibson
Not much to do this weekend between the downpour about to start Saturday morning at 4 and end just about World Series gametime but watch the scoreboard.
For the first time in years, there are meaningful Temple football games NOT involving Temple this weekend.
Huh?
The Owls currently rest at 1/2 game behind the leader in the Mid-American Conference Eastern Division standings.
So who to root for this weekend?
Well, the Kent State at Miami (Ohio) game has a slight importance, so you’d root for the Kent Staters there to get their first league W.
Slight, because Temple holds the all-important tie-breaker against Miami so it’s no sweat if the Redhawks win this one.
The more important game is Bowling Green at Northern Illinois.
You’ve got to root like hell for the Huskies.
And, if you are inclined to bet, I like these games (my pick in caps):
REGULAR PICKS
NORTHWESTERN (giving 8) at Indiana _ Hoosiers got hammered by Ball State and Northwestern is very good and a good value as less than a double-digit favorite. Northwestern, 21-7.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (giviing 7 1/2) against visiting Bowling Green _ Hey, if you are going to root for these guys anyway, root for them to cover. Huskies defense gave up only 13 at Tennessee. I’m thinking less to visiting BGSU. Huskies, 24-10.
PENN STATE (giving 2 1/2) at Ohio State _ My guess is that Tom Bradley has a defense designed to confound freshman quarterback Terrell Pryor. PSU, 31-21.
STONE COLD LOCK OF THE WEEK:
SOUTH FLORIDA (giving 4) at Louisville _ This is a gift for you by the bookies. Take it. South Florida, 25-17.
My record against the spread this season:
Regular picks: 6-1
Stone cold locks: 2-2

John Haley, Alex Joseph bring violence to the football.
Daily News photo

By Mike Gibson
Often you, get a better perspective on Temple games by reading the out-of-town papers.
Here’s one take, out of The Post.
My take on the game:
Just an incredibly courageous performance by quarterback Adam DiMichele, who Eagles’ announcer Merrill Reese called the best quarterback in college football.

Adam wasn’t his best, but my question is:
Would you be your best coming off what is basically a separated shoulder?
The bottom line is he won the game for Temple at crunch time. Survive and advance. That’s what it’s all about at this point.
Also, memo to offensive coordinator Matt Rhule and head coach Al Golden:
Get Bruce Francis the ball, please. If you don’t know who he is, he’s No. 82 and he’s being single-covered by these MAC corners. He’s wide open. A simple pitch and catch and he shakes the guy and is gone.
Nobody can cover him.
Nobody.
The guy yelling to get Bruce Francis the ball during the entire game was me.
Do me a favor. Watch the film. One guy on him, playing 15 yards off the ball 90 percent of the time.
If Navy does it, a simple pitch and catch to a guy who will be playing in the NFL next year would be the best play in the arsenal and open so much else up.

Owl Nation

By Mike Gibson
Owl Nation.
I never heard that phrase until Al Golden arrived on campus in 2005.
Al has dropped it a few times since, but the phrase is based in this reality.
The Temple community is as large as some small nations and it’s time to rally around the trademark T.
No time is better than Tuesday night and no place is better than Lincoln Financial Field.
No one said it better than Scotty “Dub” in a recent post online:

“As I’ve said before, it all starts with Temple, gang. If the 125,000+ alums across the tri-state area, the 9,000 employees and the 34,000+ Temple students don’t want to support their University at a game – let alone a national TV game (which is practically a free 3 hour commercial for YOUR university), how can we expect Joe Schmo public and his family of four kids to give a you-know-what about our team.
Thanks for your time. Go Owls and see you at the game.“

If you are in any way affiliated with the university, you are needed not only to support a football team that has a realistic chance of winning the MAC East but for the even greater cause of curing cancer. Proceeds from the game benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Plus, a big, enthusiastic Temple crowd for three hours on ESPN2 is the best advertising for the university. Better than six years of newspaper ads. Better than 10 years of one-minute television spots.
Think about it. Wouldn’t it be great if just half of the 34K students, just half of the 9K employees and just half of the 125K alumni show up for the game? That would put about 100K in the stands, but you get the drift.
Just one time. Just once.
Even if you don’t care about football, there are many reasons to make this walk-up crowd the best one in Temple history.
So get in your car Tuesday night after work and head to Lincoln Financial Field and walk up to the gate and purchase a ticket.
Wear pink while you are at it.
And cheer for the Owls and returning quarterback Adam DiMichele, who Eagles’ announcer Merrill Reese called “pound-for-pound there is no better quarterback in college football.”
For one night, make “Owl Nation” a reality.

Wear pink to the Linc for the Tuesday home game against Ohio.

By Mike Gibson
The reality is a brutal 2-5, not what any of us expected at this point.
It’s disappointing and unacceptable to me and probably even moreso to Al Golden and his players. The sad truth is that the difference between 2-5 and 5-2 is probably 15-20,000 less fannies in the seats for Tuesday’s Susan G. Komen Cure Owls for the Cure game against visiting Ohio University.
Disheartening is probably the best word for it from my perspective.
The perception of Temple football suffers locally seen through the prism of 2-5.
Yet the perception of Temple football is slightly better nationally, thanks to some significant covers.
It’s amazing what people think of you when you put money in their pockets on a regular basis and that’s just what this Temple team has done to the “Joe Plumbers” of the betting world.
Temple is 5-2 against the spread (or 4-2-1 in some books, counting the Friday 4-point spread that favored Western Michigan). On the Saturday of the game, the spread went to 4 1/2 and that’s the line I’m counting, so Temple is 5-2.
In a stock market that has shown short-term losses of 20 percent just in the time Temple has played those seven games, the “Temple stock” has shown stark gains.
Not bad in a recession.

For instance, if you bet $100 on the Owls in all seven games, you would have won $700 and lost only $110 (losses in Vegas and with the neighborhood bookie are $55 for every $50 won).
It doesn’t mean anything to me because I don’t bet Temple games. I will dabble in other college football games because I consider myself a little more of an “expert” on mid-majors than the Vegas bookies. My philosophy, though, with the Owls is that I don’t care if they cover but I do care very deeply _ even to the point of being psychotic about it, almost _ that they win the damn game against whoever they play, even Penn State.
That said, after I lost my first “stone-cold-mortal-lock” of the season when Eastern Michigan beat Bowling Green two weeks ago, I took a break from the betting world last week to reaccess by financial portfolio.
I’m back this week.
I only bet games that I can be reasonably certain of winning, so my record is 3-1 on overall picks and 2-1 on stone-cold-mortal locks (thanks, Bowling Green).
THIS WEEK’S REGULAR PICKS:
CONNECTICUT (pick) at Rutgers _ RU is going to have a tough time stopping Donald Brown. UConn, 21-14.
GEORGIA TECH (2 1/2-favorite) at Clemson _ Line is only this close because it’s in South Carolina. Paul Johnson might be the best coach in America. Georgia Tech, 23-7.
SOUTH FLORIDA (24-point favorite) over Syracuse _ When is the Big East going to kick Syracuse out for being non-competitive? South Florida, 43-10.
PITTSBURGH (3-point favorite) at Navy _ Pitt stumbled out the gate, but appears to have regained its stride since. Pitt, 24-14.
ARMY (getting 10) at Buffalo _ It took awhile, but Stan Brock’s option is controlling clock and giving his defense a chance. ARMY, 17-14, in an upset.
THIS WEEK’S STONE COLD MORTAL LOCK:
WESTERN MICHIGAN (getting 2 1/2 points) at Central Michigan _ Dan LeFevour may be back, but the Broncos are the better overall team and quarterback Tim Hiller has a knack for making the big play at the right time. WMU, 27-24.

By Mike Gibson
You can say Saturday’s 24-14 loss to Central Michigan was another blown opportunity for the Owls.
You could say that, but you could make a better argument the Owls blew two rather enormous opportunities.
That’s because the team just ahead of Temple in the MAC East standings, Buffalo, blew a 22-6 lead and lost a 34-28 game at overtime to Western Michigan.
Think about it.
Had Temple beaten CMU, the Owls would have been in first place in the MAC East.
Come to think of it, had the Owls scored as few as eight points against Western Michigan and capitalized on knocking out the Mid-American Conference’s best quarterback, Dan LeFevour, they would have been sitting pretty.
The disturbing and over-riding thought here is that they have run out of opportunities for this season. To get to seven wins, they would have to win out and beat a Navy team that beat No. 21 Wake Forest.
Their opportunities for being the kind of team many of us thought they could be appear to be in the rearview window.
Western Michigan, Miami, Central Michigan … those are the games they could have … should have … won, even without Adam DiMichele.
One and two in those games just didn’t cut it.
Would they have won three straight games by burning quarterback Vaughn Charlton’s redshirt?
I think so, but I’m not getting paid $575,000 to make those decisions so I defer to Al Golden on that one.
I think the salient point here is that it was much more important to win this year than to count on something Charlton MIGHT have been able to do the next two seasons.
You win as many games as you can now.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.
Ugh.
I predicted before the game that I was wary of the Central Michigan game because I knew there would be a big and questionable penalty at a bad time that would cost the Owls the game.
I was right. The following quote is from my post of two days ago. I didn’t need to be a Nostradamus to make this pre-game observation. Every other Temple fan with two good eyes sees the game thing week after week:

“It’s gotten so ridiculous at times this year that every time Temple makes a big
play or scores a touchdown, I expect to see a flag.”

So it was with no surprise that penalties and mistakes hurt the Owls. A 40-yard run by Kee-Ayre Griffin was called back on a holding penalty. Bruce Francis also appeared to have a 38-yard touchdown catch on 4th and 11, but Francis was hit by teammate Dy’Onne Crudup in the end zone to break up the touchdown catch.
It was reminiscent of the time Derek Dennis tackled his own Owl teammate in the open field last year at Army.
Freak plays seem to only happen TO Temple and not for Temple.
It’s both frustrating and disgusting.

If the penalties are the officials’ fault, it’s criminal. If they are the Owls’ fault, you have to wonder what they are doing in the 15 hours of practice allotted for each week.
The guess here is that the truth lies somewhere in between.
“Penalties and mistakes killed us,” Golden said. “The penalties are just coming at really bad times in the game.”
Golden was seen yelling at the officials several times in the waning moments of the game. Yet he made no mention of his disaproval with the officials during the post-game session.

Let’s hope he makes his feelings known to the MAC Supervisor of Officials.
The squeaky wheel gets the oil and unless Golden becomes a pest to the officials and they know they are going to hear about it in review sessions, the Owls will not be the beneficiary of any calls down the line.
Just what help that gets Temple now is debatable.

Complete video atESPN360.com

Whoops quote of the day:

“We’re gonna go win eight in a row and go to Detroit where we deserve to be, and we work hard every day for it.” _ Miami quarterback Dan Raudabaugh, one day before losing to Temple, 28-10


Err, Whoops …

Bruce Francis is a God and other cogent thoughts ….
By Mike Gibson
Spent much of the week going online and reading the thoughts of Temple’s football fans.
They pretty much split into two spheres:
One, the sizeable group who said, “Blah, blah, blah … maybe we expected too much” and “it takes five years to build a winner” and “maybe four or five wins is progress this year. ” …. blah, blah, blah.
Phooey.
Then there is the group who I counted myself firmly with and maybe even its CEO.
“The time for talk is over” … “it’s time to win now” … “four or five wins is NOT progress; not when you really won five the year before and not when everybody is back.. ” and … “no excuses, just win, baby.”
Count Saturday’s 28-10 win at Miami as a victory for the latter group.
I don’t have time or patience to wait five years.
There is NO REASON Temple can’t win right now in this league and this year.
There is NO REASON Temple can’t run off four or five straight wins.
Or six.
There are no more Penn States on the schedule and Temple has already proven to be more than the equal of anyone else on it.
Temple running backs and receivers have the kind of speed I haven’t seen any of the other MAC teams have.
I have not seen a better wide receiver in the MAC than Bruce Francis who, in my mind, is as good a wide receiver as we have seen at Temple since Leslie Sheppard and Bruce is better than Sheppard, who was pretty good with the Washington Redskins.
I told Bruce Francis’ dad at the UConn tailgate that Bruce is a pro.
The last dad I told that to was Raheem Brock’s and the kid has a Super Bowl ring.
On the other side of the ball, Temple’s defense was arguably the best in the league last year.
This year, there can be no argument.
Temple has a dominating, intimidating, defense that is just hitting its stride.
“They have high-caliber athletes,” was the way Western Michigan offensive guard Phil Swanson put it.
“I haven’t seen us dominated at the line of scrimmage this year like we were against Temple,” Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubitt said. “That’s a concern.”
It should be to the rest of the MAC, too.
Consider this.
Before Temple beat Army, 35-7, the MAC message boards were full of “good luck, Owls” and “win one for the conference” and other similar wishes.
Nowhere did anyone post how bad Army was.
Yet AFTER Temple beat Army, 35-7, the only posts you saw on the MAC boards were, “Congratulations on the win but that’s really the worst Army team we’ve seen in years.”
Notice the juxtaposition?
It’s insidious anti-Temple stuff couched in pro-Temple remarks.
Let’s face it.
The leader of this group is Huron Dave, a guy who has a blog on Phillyburbs.com who would like nothing more than to see Temple meet the MAC media expectations of fifth in the East.
Not gonna happen, even with a slow start.
Chester Stewart had a confidence-building fourth quarter, thanks to two spectacular catches by Bruce Francis.
With this defense, and the great Adam DiMichele returning on Oct. 21, that should be enough.
Ahh yes.
Yesterday, in addition to Temple’s 28-10 thumping of the MAC East defending champions on their home turf, Army won at Tulane.
44-13.
The same Army team that lost to Temple, 35-7.
The same Tulane team that hung with Alabama (20-6) and East Carolina (28-24).
Next week, it’s league champion Central Michigan.
If Central Michigan can fall to Georgia, 56-17, it certainly can lose to Temple, 56-17.
Or 18-17.
Either one, I’ll take it.
From now on at Temple, winning is the only thing.
We, the fans, players and coaches should expect no less.

… “They out-physicaled us up front. It’s really the first time we’ve come out of a game feeling like we didn’t control the line of scrimmage. Even Nebraska, we kind of thought was a wash.” _ Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit talking about Temple…

… “I was told by a lot of people before the game that Temple is really good but, man, this team has all kinds of weapons.” _ Ohio News Network sports director Andy Raskin during the telecast of Temple vs. Miami on ESPN360.com…

…”What my Owls have done this year–and I will call them ‘my Owls’ because I’ve been on this team since the beginning–is sensational considering they lost their starting quarterback. … Maybe people are starting to realize that this is one of the top defenses in the country.” _ Vegas handicapper Robert Ferringo…

…”They have high-caliber athletes all over the place. That’s the hardest-hitting team we’ve played all year. I’ve never been this beat up after a game.” _ Western Michigan offensive guard Phil Swanson…

…”It was just two great teams. Both Temple and us have made great strides and I don’t think there are two better teams in our league than us and them.” _ Buffalo tight end Jesse Rack, after a Hail Mary pass beat Temple, 30-28, at the buzzer…