08.19.16
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5 Stats For Winners

Temple Tuff goes way back to this brawl at the end of the game (and the video). Thanks to David Nelson for it, all filmed at Temple Stadium.

 

A quick google (or was it dogpile?) search found the first reference to “statistics are for losers” with a time stamp on it came in 1962, when Associated Press reported: “The Cardinals outgained the 49ers, 314-215, [in a 24-17 defeat] but ‘statistics are for losers,’ [coach Wally] Lemm said.”

That was originally attributed to former Tennessee head coach Bob Neyland, but there was no date on the statement so we know it goes back sometime before 1962. Neyland coached at Tennessee between 1926 and 1952, so it could be way, way back.

Statistics are for losers but, in effect, are they really?

Here are five statistics we’d like to see that would guarantee Temple our minimum goal of breaking a more meaningful stat, the school record for wins (10, tied by two). The Owls only need to do one of these five to get to 11; anything above that would be gravy and probably add to thet win total:

AAC Championship - Temple v Houston

Phillip Walker.

30 touchdown passes

When he was P.J., Phillip Walker threw for 20 touchdowns after grabbing the job for good midway through his freshman season. With no pocket protection his sophomore year, he fell into a sophomore slump that had little to do with his own play but more to do with an offensive scheme that allowed defense a free run (blitzes) on Walker just about every third down. Now that the coaching staff has provided him with the pocket protection of a back and even very good blocker in Nick Sharga, Walker has a much better view of the field.  If Walker throws 10 more touchdown passes this season (one more per game), the Owls should get to 11 wins. (Twice, he kept the interceptions for a season down to eight and that has to be a goal, too.)

P.J. Walker, Jager Gardner, Temple football,

Jager Gardner

2,000 yards rushing

Between Jahad Thomas (1,278 yards, 17 touchdowns) a year ago and Jager Gardner, Ryquell Armstead and David Hood, this is challenging, but doable.

40 sacks

Before the Penn State opener, Temple head coach Matt Rhule set a goal of 40 sacks for his defense. When the Owls recorded 10 sacks against the Nittany Lions, fans assumed that goal might be achieved midway through the season. Instead, the Owls needed 14 games to get 32 sacks. They don’t need to get 10 sacks a game, but a more consistent 5-7 sacks per game should get them to a figure they should have had last season.  The overall speed of the defense—with possible kickoff returner Haason Reddick as one of the defensive ends—should make this happen. Reddick is without a doubt the fastest defensive end I have ever seen at Temple.

USATSI_9013187_149008644_lowres

Romond Deloatch

Someone making 15 Touchdown Catches

Bruce Francis did this in in the 2007 season and, if a guy like Jahad Thomas is split out into the slot (this would be made possible only if either Jager Garner or Ryquell Armstead prove they can provide his RB production), he’s got the breakaway skills to match that. Thomas’ position in the pros will be as a slot receiver, not a running back, so the Owls will be doing him a big favor by splitting him out for his senior year.  If not, either Marshall Ellick, Romond Deloatch, Ventell Bryant or Adonis Jennings have the talent to make it happen. Francis, though, had the talent and the drive and one of those three needs to find a stick shift to get to the next level.

Twenty-six interceptions

With Sam Shaffer getting nine of them all by himself, the Temple Owls led the nation in interceptions with 26 in 1981. The coach of the defensive backs at the time was city legend Dick Bedesem, who also had stints as head coach at Villanova and Delaware Valley College. Temple has a “Willie Mays” type centerfielder at free safety in Sean Chandler, and his vision and break-on-the-ball skills should make him a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks. Any time the ball is thrown into the center of the field, it has a chance of coming back the other way. Chandler led the nation with two interception returns for touchdowns a year ago.

Monday: Temple’s Next NFL Back

 

08.16.16
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Chandler Could Break Special Record

Phillip Walker will be happy when he doesn’t have to throw over Sean Chandler.

Thirty-five years ago, a kid came out of nowhere to set a Temple record and, in the process, lead the nation in interceptions.

Sam Shaffer, a safety who could play the middle of the field like a baseball centerfielder, had nine interceptions for the 1981 Owls.

Since then, we haven’t seen a guy with Shaffer’s vision in the middle of the field and his break on the ball skills until now. Appropriately enough, his nickname is Champ. For now, Shaffer is the champion of Temple interceptors and Champ is the, err, challenger. In a few months, those roles could be flip-flopped.

0608160115-00

Shaffer was 1981, not 1971, when he joined the list of these TU national stat leaders.

We cannot say for sure that Sean Chandler will lead the nation in interceptions, like Sam Shaffer did, but by putting Chandler at safety, he will definitely challenge Shaffer’s all-time single season mark with the Owls. Since it is August 17, we will go on record as saying Chandler will tie the regular-season mark with nine and add at least one in the postseason.

Temple head coach Matt Rhule kicked the offense off the field in practice on Tuesday and there are a couple of conclusions that could be made. The offense could be that bad or the defense could be that good and, for the sake of our own sanity, we will go with the latter. Chandler is just one piece of what has been a dominating defense in the summer and he should benefit from an improved pass rush and the overall speed of the defense.

Shaffer, though, should be remembered.

He twice victimized Todd Blackledge in a 30-0 loss to second-ranked Penn State on Oct. 3, increasing his total to five and took over the national lead in interceptions. Number six cam in a 24-13 win over Cincinnati and equaled the Temple record of seven — set in 1952 by Larry Cardonick — with a pick against Oliver Luck in the Owls’ 24-19 loss to West Virginia.

In the season finale against top-ranked Pitt,  Shaffer intercepted two Marino passes to eclipse Cardonick’s long-standing mark. His eighth and ninth interceptions came against a pretty good quarterback named Dan Marino.

We haven’t seen a Sam Shaffer play for Temple until now and, while he’s a challenger for a special record, he should be a Champ before long.

Friday: 5 Stats for Winners

08.15.16
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The Next Big Red One

carry

Brendan McGowan has done everything at Temple except carry the ball; check that, he’s done that, too (above against Navy).

If at first you do not succeed, try, try again.

So it is with Temple’s most famous redhead this season, Brendan McGowan, taking the mantle from last year’s decorated redhead, Tyler Matakevich.

Call him The Big Red One, which is the nickname of the United States’ Army’s First Division. Clearing the way for all of the weapons on the Temple offense will be McGowan’s job, who is the first member of the offense to touch the ball at the center position.

toughguys

Phil Walker (left) and Haason Reddick.

The try, try, again reference is because Kyle Friend was on the Rimington Watch List but fell short of receiving the award that goes to the best center in the nation. Maybe McGowan will have better luck this season. McGowan is a somewhat surprising candidate, but not to Temple fans, who saw the Owls not drop off much, if at all, in the four games he started last year for the injured Friend. Surprising because the coaches on the Rimington committee figured that out, too as the current grad student at Temple, has been named to the Rimington Trophy Committee’s 2016 Spring Watch List, which includes the 50 best centers in the FBS.

McGowan is one of those guys who is a returning starter at not one but two positions and is a reason Owl fans can put the center position on auto pilot and be confident they are in good shape there. In addition to the four games he started at center for the injured Friend last season, he has started an additional 11 games as at right guard.

He’s bigger than Friend (6-3, 298 vs. 6-1, 280), who is now with the New York Jets.

In other news over the weekend, two more Owls received single digits and those are quarterback Phillip Walker (going from 11 to 8) and defensive end Haason Reddick, who is going from No. 58 to No. 7. Walker’s toughness is well-documented, playing most of last season with a separated shoulder after getting a cheap shot in the end zone in the opening game against Penn State. Reddick, a former outside linebacker, might be the fastest defensive end ever to play for Temple and proved his toughness in the weight room in the offseason, consistently posting best numbers in the tough guy competition.

Wednesday: Why Sam Shaffer Should Worry

08.12.16
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Beyond Unfinished Business

The linebacker corps is in good hands with 3 returning starters.

The bad news for all but one of the 127 teams is that nobody is going to win the national football championship like our neighbors, who shall remain nameless, won the national basketball title.

All but that one team, of course, and, at this point, it doesn’t look like it will be Temple. (However, if you want a nice $10,000 return on a measly $10 investment and believe in the Owls, sportsbook is taking bets.)

When the Owls made “Unfinished Business” their team slogan this year, they probably did not mean winning the national championship but the good news today is there is a whole list of ancillary goals that would finish the business.

tieins

AAC bowl tie-ins this season.

It starts with the American Athletic Conference championship, which is well within reach. All the Owls have to do to secure home field, presumably against Houston, is to run the table in their seven home games and not be upset on the road. They will probably be favored at Memphis and at UConn, two of their tougher road games. They can even afford a loss at Penn State and still achieve that goal. Home field should beget a win over USF (hey, it did in 2012) and a crowd of 40,000-plus rabid Temple fans in the AAC championship game could be the difference.

What about Beyond Unfinished Business?

Even if the Owls do not reach their No. 1 goal, there are a number of ways the business conducted this season could be better than the work done last year. Winning a school-record 11 games is within reach and that’s some nice work. Beyond that, though, the AAC has seven bowl tie-ins and the team’s (and especially the administration’s) goal has to be to get the Owls in a bowl game against a Power 5 team. Last year, Owls Daily editor Shawn Pastor reported that the administration was offered the Birmingham Bowl against Auburn and a bowl in Louisiana against Virginia Tech, but turned down both offers to play near a large alumni fan base in Florida.

Big mistake.

This year, “Unfinished Business” also means taking care of business once those offers are on the table. That means no “turning down” any of these three bowls should the Owls be offered one:

Birmingham Bowl Dec. 29, 2016

Birmingham, Ala. – vs. SEC

St. Petersburg Bowl Dec. 26, 2016

St. Petersburg, Fla. – vs. ACC

Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman Dec. 29, 2016

Annapolis, Md. – vs. ACC

The other bowl tie-ins are the Miami Beach Bowl and Bahamas Bowl (both versus MAC foes),  and the Boca Raton Bowl vs. Conference USA. Thanks, but no thanks. Been there, done that.

While winning the national championship would be nice, and winning the AAC the real deal, getting those 11 wins and beating a Power 5 team in a bowl would also qualify for Unfinished Business and be more than acceptable consolation prizes.

It all begins in a little over two weeks against Army and the focus then and every week hence is going to have to be laser-sharp, but  this is a business deal that should be profitable.

Monday: The Next Big Red One

08.10.16
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We’re Talkin’ Practice

Houston’s Tom Herman says the two toughest lines he will face will be Oklahoma and Temple, not necessarily in that order. Morgyn Seigfried interviews the Wildboyz here. 

When it comes to practice, I have the same thought process as Allen Iverson. It’s a necessary evil, but both he and I are not particularly interested in it.

A good story requires an antagonist and a protagonist and, for the next couple of weeks, this one will be without the antagonist. The only big story that comes out of camp the next couple of weeks will be injury-related, so no news is good news. Any great catch or great play is minimized because, as Iverson says, it’s not a game. The antagonist arrives on Sept. 2 in the form of Army and we will have that good guy/bad guy story and away we go.

Still, the way the Owls practice probably is a good indicator of how they will do in the games because attention to detail matters in both settings.

Oguike

Washington Post’s Neil Greenberg had Praise Martin-Oguike drafted LAST year.

That’s probably why head coach Matt Rhule was good to set the tone on Saturday by demanding more. In his post-practice comments, he mentioned that “last year didn’t exist” and, in reality, it doesn’t. One of the great things about college football is that with a new year comes new expectations and some years those expectations are higher and some are lower. To me, last year wasn’t all that great past the ND game and this year’s team should play with a chip on their shoulders because of it.

Outside of Temple, the expectations for Temple are lower this season than last. They do not see what we see. They see Temple with key losses (Matt Ioannidis, Tyler Matakevich, Robby Anderson, Tavon Young, Kyle Friend) and think Temple will take a step back. We see players more than ready to step up (Greg Webb, Avery Williams, Marshall Ellick and Nate Hairston) in those same positions and think Temple will take a step forward. They don’t see that Temple has one of the best defensive lines in college football (Houston’s Tom Herman’s words, not ours) and the Wildboyz should be making more plays than ever. (One of them, Praise Martin-Oguike was so good a Washington Post mock draft had him going in last year’s sixth round of the NFL draft. They didn’t even realize he was coming back to Temple.)

I will say one thing now. The step backward year will be next year, not this one. This is the step forward year, even if it is only one step from 10 wins to 11. It could be two or three steps, but I’m confident this is the step forward year.

Only time will tell.

In the meanwhile, between that time and the real games is practice and now is the time to get those players in the best positions to make those steps forward.

Friday: Beyond Unfinished Business

08.08.16
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Roster Testament To The Process

Since Temple rosters are best read like newspapers, holding them in your hand and not viewing them on a laptop, I hit print and eagerly awaited to put thumb to paper looking for new names and hoping no old ones were missing.

Much to my surprise and delight, for the first time I can recall, there were no subtractions.

Even someone who I thought might not be on the roster, true freshman Tyliek Raynor, is right there. (Really cannot count Kip Patton in this because his departure was known before the fall roster was updated.)

tickets

Hopefully, this ticket will be for the AAC title game in Philly this year.

This is a testament to head coach Matt Rhule’s process.

The bottom line is that this might be the deepest team in Temple history, deep at every position except the most important one—quarterback. The Owls can afford a season-ending injury (and let’s hope they have none) at every position but, if they lose P.J., err, Phillip Walker, it’s hard to see them winning 11 or 12. So light some candles for Phillip.

Fortunately, my early-summer candle lighting worked for other players, notably defensive tackle Greg Webb. The two-time Hutchinson (Kansas) Junior College first-team All-American was not on the roster until this week, which leads me to believe he did well academically in Temple summer sessions. That’s important because he will have to be a contributor along the interior of the defensive front with returners Averee Robinson and Freddy Booth-Lloyd.

I like the fact that Sean Chandler is now listed as a safety for a couple of reasons. One, his break on the ball is sensational and that’s a trait better suited to the middle of the field than the corner of it. Two, in part-time duty, both Artrel Foster and Nate Hairston performed admirably at opposite corners last year. Now it is full-time duty. Hairston is the fastest man on the team and has been since Khalif Herbin departed for medical reasons. Chandler showed some speed deficiencies in the bowl game when he let No. 25 of Toledo—not exactly a Travis Sheldon—get behind him for a touchdown.

In other words, trading Chandler to the middle of the field strengthens both the middle of the field and the corners. It’s a trade that will help both ballclubs, somewhat like the Cole Hamels for Jake Thompson trade the Phillies made a year ago.

Good depth is available at the corners in redshirt freshman Kareem Ali and Derrick Thomas, who is probably the fastest 6-foot-6 man ever to play at Temple. (The slowest was the late great Walt Montford of the basketball program.) Look for Thomas to play some red-zone corner and be an effective counter to the corner fade pass.

Wednesday: We’re Talkin’ Practice

08.05.16
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Media Day Takeaway: The U Word

 

It’s a new team and probably a better one than last year’s version.

Unfortunately, many of us have heard the “c” word and the “b” word and the “f” word but it took until AAC Media Day earlier this week for Temple football fans to hear the “u” word for the first time.

Unbeaten.

That’s a pretty sweet word and it rolled off quarterback Phillip Walker’s tongue like a double-layered cake.  As far as I can recall, that’s the first time a Temple player has uttered the “u” word in any formal setting, although I’m sure a couple of guys might have dreamed about it out loud during an off-season weightlifting session.

Asked by a media member what the team’s goals were, Phillip said: “League championship, unbeaten season …”

Unbeaten season? Why not?

aacchamps

For most of my adult life, I never associated “unbeaten season” with Temple as an achievable goal. This year it might be on that top shelf of reachable things.  At the very least, an unbeaten regular season is in play. A few months ago, I wrote I believed this team had all of the ingredients to break the school record for wins with 11 and that should be the minimum goal (with the maximum one being an AAC title).

If you can win 11, you can win 12 and that’s what Phillip Walker is talking about. Every year, I’ve been following Temple, the Owls usually lose a game or two they should not or win a game or two they should not. To reach an unbeaten season, though, pattern will have to be broken. This year might be the year. (The exception was the 1979 team, which lost to only two top 10 teams by a grand total of 16 points. Also, the 1974 team lost only to a much higher-ranked Boston College team.)

First, they will take a lot of confidence from a 2-0 start into Penn State. They will also take a proven four-year starting quarterback there against an untested rookie. Win there, and that opens a wide path for 7-0 going into USF, which is at home this year. Forty thousand crazed Temple fans can make a difference in that one. I don’t buy this fallacy that USF has “too much” for Temple this year. USF lost to Western Kentucky, so let’s pump the brakes on comparing them to Alabama. Of course, Temple lost to Toledo.

Win there, and it’s an Autobahn ride to 12-0.

Since all of the above puts the title game in Philly, 13-0 is also possible. Now 14-0 or 15-0, that might be another shelf no vertical leap can reach but it is fun thinking about.

Monday: Roster Thoughts

08.03.16
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Temple’s No. 1 Foe: Brutus

softcoretemple

A Temple watch party within driving distance of the game last year.

Over the last few days, there has been speculation about Temple being, err, cherry-picked by the Big 12 as part of that conference’s proposed expansion.

My reaction to that is pretty much the same as my feeling about an on-campus stadium. Two words: Not happening.



If the Owls averaged
45-50,000 fans
in Lincoln Financial
Field over the past
few years, they would
be in the Big 12 right
now and this would
not even be a discussion.

One, is because of outside influences that are dead set against Temple having a stadium. There are just not enough votes in City Council and there never will be to get the necessary street approvals the university needs for a stadium. Two, the university’s own proposed price tag—building a stadium for the dirt cheap price of $128  million—suggests that it does not have any money for the necessary accoutrements needed (health care center, community center, playground) to bribe the community into giving the stadium its approval.

The fault for not being seriously in play for the Big 12 lies elsewhere: Softcore Temple fans. You know the type. This is the guy who lives within an hour of Lincoln Financial Field, makes only one  (or less) home games a year, but spends the afternoon or evening on his couch with the potato chips on the coffee table, the remote in one hand and the other feverishly typing comments on the computer about the game on Owls Daily or Owl Scoop.

To me, it’s OK to do that for a road game but I see that happen much too often for home games. It’s not the fault of those people you see tailgate every week, but the fault of those people you see once a year.

Temple, to me, has a hardcore fan base of 20-25,000 and a much larger group of fans who will follow the Owls on TV but not to the stadium. The reason West Virginia is in the Big 12 now and Temple is not is because Mountaineer fans make it to the stadium. If the Owls averaged 45-50,000 fans in Lincoln Financial Field over the past few years, they would be in the Big 12 right now and this would not even be a discussion. The Temple administration can point to the TV market and success on the field, but those thousands of empty seats is a handicap hard to overcome.

As it is, we are on the outside looking in and will probably be pressing our noses against the window while others are chosen. As Shakespeare wrote in the play Julius Caesar: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars  but in ourselves.”

Friday: Media Day Thoughts

Monday: The Updated Roster

Wednesday: We’re Talking Practice

08.01.16
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What The Eff?

field

Hands off our players.

Memphis v Temple

Kip (80) gets TU love after scoring.

Anyone who read this blurb on Philly.com had to have one reaction: “What the Eff?”

Kip Patton was that rare talent end who had the speed and the athleticism of a wide receiver in a tight end’s body.

There is a rest of the story, as Paul Harvey might say, that neither the article mentioned nor any of the first 24 comments suggested. Patton is transferring from Temple to Tennessee Tech and the new Tennessee Tech head coach is his former offensive coordinator  at TU, Marcus Satterfield.

The optics of this are just not good.

I’m sure Satterfield will deny any charges that he is “poaching” a Temple player, but it sure looks like that. If Patton was transferring to Tennessee or Vanderbilt or even Tennessee-Martin, I would understand it. But transferring to Tennessee Tech should not have been allowed. Where there’s smoke, though, there’s fire as Temple walk-on Yeedee Thaenrat—a former Father Judge player and Rutgers’ commit—is following Satterfield to TT.

The last time I worried about a Temple player leaving with a  Temple coach that player was P.J. Walker and that coach was Steve Addazio, who recruited him to Temple. At the time, I hoped that Daz would have enough integrity to keep his paws off Walker or any other Temple recruit that year. Much to his credit, Daz did have that much decency.

The same cannot be said for Satterfield, no matter how innocent (or guilty) this transfer might be. All the best to Patton, but the optics of this situation is very bad for Temple University, Tennessee Tech and Satterfield himself.

What the Eff, indeed.

Wednesday: Temple’s No. 1 Foe Not On Schedule

07.29.16
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New Site For Spring Game?

 

springer

The new Temple soccer stadium (drawing here) is fully completed.

Buried in a roundup of AAC spring football games was tidbit: “South Florida held its spring game at its soccer facility before 3,500 people.”

Funny, because that the exact number Temple estimated that was squeezed into the Edberg-Olson Football Complex for its spring game.

The USF game comfortably sat 3,000 people in Corbett Stadium with very few people standing. The Temple spring game had a couple of hundred people sitting in portable seats brought in the for occasion, with the rest of the fans trying to move their heads to get a view of the action.

USF soccer stadium. Tampa, Fla. Sept. 6, 2012.

This USF soccer stadium was the site of school’s spring  football game.

That all could change by the middle of next April as Temple will also have a soccer complex that seats 3,000 people. In roughly the same amount of square feet the university plans to build a football stadium, it will open a soccer/field hockey complex in the middle of next month. Both will have separate seating of 3,000—a nod to the Title IX regulations that call for equal facilities for men and women’s sports.

Still, if USF can hold its spring game at a soccer facility, so, too, can Temple.

The people who tailgate will just have to move to closer open lots, but the people who come to see the football will do so with an unobstructed view of the action. It will be a stopgap for the spring game until the school can build a football stadium, if indeed it ever does, but it will represent a considerable upgrade of the spring venue Owl fans have been used to for the last decade or so.

Nothing has been decided, but moving the game a few blocks seems to be a no-brainer.

Monday: What The Eff?