05.11.16
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Unfinished Business: The Real Meaning

unfinished

At first, the slogan Unfinished Business seemed like an overused and trite slogan for the 2016 Temple football team, but it seems to be catching on as of late and it certainly describes where the program is right now.

On Sunday, around 4 in the afternoon, I saw an attractive young woman (in her early 30s, I assumed), jogging through the park near where I live wearing a Cherry “Unfinished Business” with a Temple’][‘ logo smack in the middle. She was otherwise pre-occupied—multitasking with a kid on a bike will do that–or I would have asked where she got it. I have since learned that the only place where she could have got it was the Cherry and White game because they were given out at that venue and, even if you were there, if you were not at the right place at the right time you would not have received one. (I did see from my vantage point shirts being given out, but I assumed they were generic Temple football ones and I have about 90 of those.)
Damn.

As the season goes along, I have a feel that the shirts will become more popular.
Assumptions about both the shirt and the slogan were a little premature. At first, I thought the slogan meant winning a bowl game but now it is pretty clear the business that was unfinished last year and will be the focal point for this year is getting that school record of 11 football wins in the same season. Anything beyond that will be gravy and, since I like gravy, let’s do it. Ironically, Walker’s No. is 11 but I don’t he was talking about uniforms in these tweets as much as a record-setting season for Temple football.

The evidence is these two tweets from quarterback P.J. Walker:

Legendary year ahead:

 

These goals, to me, are reasonable and attainable. First, the offense should be more explosive–especially if Jahad Thomas is split out and Ryquell Armstead or Jager Gardner emerge as at least equal to JT’s production last season. That doubles the number of weapons Walker has, not even counting the other WRs and TEs. Two, despite defensive losses, there are people ready to step in at positions where the losses were felt the most. Three, the schedule is significantly weaker.

Unfinished business indeed. The waiting is the hardest part.

05.09.16
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Time To Give Old Shoe The Boot

shoe

This is what you get for a win over Bucknell

When it comes to college football and future schedules, it is always wise to follow the money. The money—in this case Power 5 opponents—is moving away from  scheduling FCS schools and so should Temple.

Because what the P5 says, usually goes, and if the P5 conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Pac-12) have told their members to stop scheduling them, then the BCS is probably planning to tell the NCAA what to do and that will be making what is now a bowl-eligible game ineligible for bowl consideration.

That’s why Temple should start to clear the table of its future FCS opponents. On this page an updated list of Owl future foes as of a month ago. We’re hearing that Villanova for 2017 is a “done deal” and even that the Owls are talking to Bucknell for a future game. Hopefully, the 2017 Villanova game is a one-and-done deal  and any thought of reviving the Bucknell rivalry for the “Old Shoe” has been quickly dismissed. (Temple once scored 82 points on Bucknell and then shortly after that lost 20-straight games, the first of two 20-game losing streaks Owl fans had to endure in the last 50 years.)

bucknell

Owls were up 82-14  at one point in this game before 7,000 at Homecoming. They had 35,000 at Homecoming this year.

There are a lot of opponents who make sense for Temple football, especially since Penn State will be off the schedule, maybe forever, with this fall’s game.

Rutgers and Maryland because of geography and Syracuse, BC and Pitt because of past relationships make a great deal of sense. Virginia Tech and Miami should also be considered. Idaho, which just dropped FBS football, should also be dropped from the 2018 schedule. The problem with playing P5 schools for non-conference games is that they won’t play home-and-homes. Still, the Owls got a home-and-home with Maryland and should seek one with ‘Cuse and BC. If not, then dip into non-P5 schools like Buffalo (which we hear is also a done deal). A UMass game in 2017 holds no appeal, especially if the Minutemen follow Idaho in the FCS as rumored.

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At a tailgate last fall, I asked Temple athletic director Pat Kraft, a former Indiana football player, about playing the Hoosiers and he said “they don’t want to play us” and that he had indeed asked them. He felt it was because Temple was getting too good. The only reason Temple is playing Stony Brook this year is because the Seawolves graciously stepped aside when Notre Dame asked for the 2014 game to be pushed back a year. Opponents similar to Delaware State and Stony Brook should never be considered again.

It’s not dissing those schools, just following the leaders Temple aspires to be a part of in the not-too-distant future.

Wednesday: Real Meaning of Unfinished Business

05.07.16
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Inside The Mind Of A Stadium Stomper

tustadiumconstruction

With a lot of luck, this is what Geasey Field will look like in 2 years.

Days before her scheduled graduation in 2015, Rachel Hall was struck by a hit-and-run driver, leaving her in a coma. After an agonizing year of medical treatments and therapy, Hall received her graduating honors with her fellow Temple University grads on Friday.

Hall was among the 9,341 Owls who graduated and made most of her fame not only in the classroom, but with her athletic accomplishments on the site of the future on-campus stadium at Temple, currently called Geasey Field.

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Colorado State started construction on its $220 million stadium. This photo was taken Friday night. It will open in the fall of 2017.

There would have been no athletic opportunities for Hall or her teammates had there been a group of Geasey Field Stompers when the university sought to build the then “largest Astroturf field in the world” 40 years ago. (They used the same land as grass fields for at least 63 years. In 1953, university public information director Bob Geasey died and the fields were immediately named after him.)

Fortunately, most students today at Temple are like the ones back then, intelligent and driven to success.

Then you have others,  looking to pick a fight when there is no fight really there.

Those are called Stadium Stompers and at least one went off on an illogical rant in response to our recent post how misguided the stompers are. Here are just some twitter responses.

stomper

Yes. People who want to donate to that can follow this link and name it as their specific cause. There are donors who made stadium-specific donations. If the stadium is not built, the money returns to the donors.

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To give to the office of sustainability, go to Temple.edu, find giving , click other and name that as your cause. I’m sure they would appreciate as many Stomper contributions as possible.

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You are also allowed to donate to that as well.

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That above tweet, as well as the others, represents a basic misunderstanding how of university projects are funded at Temple. It might be “stale” to her, but it’s how funding life works at major universities without an Ivy League-level endowment. For a special project like a stadium, where the university does not want to dip into the general fund, it solicits donations. The Board of Trustees made clear it would not approve this project without special conditions. For the stadium, the bulk of the project will be funded by donations from alumni specifically directed toward that project. The  balance of the money required will come from shifting the Lincoln  Financial Field rent to the new stadium. If the project isn’t started, the money returns to the donor and the Owls continue to rent LFF with the Linc money. It’s a relatively simple concept that is hard for some who have not done their homework to understand.

Something tells me Rachel Hall and most of the graduates yesterday have done enough homework to understand simple reality that others interpret only as stale rhetoric.

Monday: Future Schedules

Wednesday: Real Meaning of Unfinished Business

Friday: Stadium End Game

 

05.05.16
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Matakevich: Steel City Walker

Joe Walker is nothing special here.

By passing over the consensus national defensive player of the year, Tyler Matakevich, twice in the seventh round, Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has made Pennsylvania a battleground state for right or wrong.

joewalker

Joe Walker

Or, more precisely, an eye test. By, oh, the 14th game of this season, we will probably find out that Roseman needs to be fitted for a new pair of glasses. From Roseman’s subjective view, Walker was the better player.

Forget the fact that a whole bunch of other eyes saw enough of Matakevich to make him both the Chuck Bednarik and Bronco Nagurski Awards as national defensive player of the year, here are the stone hard cold numbers:

tyles

 

If that was a blind Player A and Player B comparison, most people would pick the guy with 138 tackles and 15.5 tackles for losses over the guy with 87 tackles and five for losses.

Not Roseman, though.

The explanation offered by Roseman for not picking Matakevich was tepid at best:

“He’s a good football player,” Roseman said of Matakevich. “Obviously we had a chance to watch him locally live. Coach [Matt] Rhule is a big booster of his. We know him well. We spoke to him a couple of times today. Happy for him that he got an opportunity in Pittsburgh. A good football player. He was in consideration for us when we were looking at linebackers here.”

Big deal because “in consideration for us” and picking Walker let the entire Philadelphia area know that the Eagles felt that Walker was the better player. The stone cold hard numbers suggest otherwise, as do a whole lot of good football people on both the Nagurski and Bednarik committees.

On the other hand, Roseman is a nerd who never played football. Matakevich will be walking the sidelines in the Steel City long after Walker is back home in Oregon. That’s not a prediction, it’s a promise.

Saturday: Stadium Stompers React To Our Story

05.03.16
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Sadly, Breaking Up The Owls

philbert

Three great Owl fans (from left): Ted DeLapp, Rick Gabe, Phil Makowski. (Photo from STH twitter)

Over the last few years, St. Peter must have said out loud “break up those Temple fans; they are too good” and the boss must have taken it a little too literally.  The latest bit evidence is long-time Temple fan Phil Makowski, who passed away recently at the ridiculously young age of 51.

Break up the Owls indeed.

To that point, people living in Philadelphia might have heard the phrase “break up the Phillies” over the last few days and wondered why anyone would ask for a team which has won eight of nine to be broken up. It’s a joke many younger fans don’t get and relates all the way back to the time in the 1920s when only the Yankees were able to sign all of the good players for that Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig dynasty. “Breaking up” meant the team was too good and, for the good of the sport, to spread the talent around.

tatum

Longtime TU beat writer Kevin Tatum also passed away. Of Kevin, OwlsDaily editor Shawn Pastor said this: “Kevin was without question my favorite guy to cover  the team in the last 25 years.”

They won’t break the Phillies, but The Man upstairs must have been annoyed at all of the phony Rutgers and Penn State fans and wanted a few genuine fans floating on those clouds up there. Say what you will about there not being enough of them, but Temple fans, if anything, are genuine. This site is dedicated not to the team, the parents, the players or coaches, but to Temple fans. Players, coaches, parents and staff (except for Nadia, Thank God) come and go, but fans stay forever and that’s why this site is called Temple Football Forever. Fans who come to every home game in the middle of 20-game losing streak and are still there on the other side are real fans. Fans who generously offer to give rides to other Temple fans on road games are real fans.



This site is dedicated
not to the team, the parents,
the players or coaches,
but to Temple fans.
Players, coaches, parents
and staff (except for Nadia,
Thank God) come and go,
but fans stay forever

Phil did both. I got to know him on a road trip to UConn in 2012. We stayed at the Sheraton East Hartford, which happened to be the UConn team hotel.

The ice machine in my room wasn’t working, and my one job was to keep our brewskis cold for the tailgate. Rather than knock on Phil’s door and wake him up, I kept getting up and going to the ice machine down the hall. All night, the UConn football players in team blue sweats were up and down walking the halls. I posted on Facebook and Twitter that night that there was no way this sleep-deprived team should be 5 ½-point favorites, so take the Owls outright.  It’s one thing for a fan in charge of the brewskis to be sleep-deprived;   it’s another thing for a 55-person team of athletes.

The Owls won, 17-14.

That morning, after breakfast, we made eye contact with former (and now) Temple, then UConn assistant, George DeLeone, who was coming out of a team meeting room. George saw us in our Temple fan garb, gave us a knowing nod, and left the room open and empty. For some reason, Phil said, “Let’s go in.” On a seat in the meeting room, we found a complete UConn playbook with the name of the kid on it—we looked him up, he was a deep sub—and stuck it under the seat of his car and we were off to the game.

Phil spent the first half of the game in the box of the athletic director, then came down to cheer with us peons for the thrilling conclusion.

bestblog

On the white-knuckler ride home, Phil must have driven between 85-90 mph. That was a two-seatbelt trip. I thought the two of us would never make it back to Philly safe and sound, but somehow we set a land speed record for a trip between Rentschler Field and Philadelphia and lived to tell about it. (I must have looked over at the speedometer and said “yo, Phil” 27 times. He would laugh and say, “don”t worry, Mike, I got this.”)

Every time I saw Phil, which was every home game since, I gave him good-natured grief about his driving and we had a few laughs about it and the playbook story and the game itself.  In between, we met and conversed with and converted a whole lot of future Temple fans who will outlive us both.

Phil now joins a long group of Temple fans who have left a lasting legacy. He will be missed and we will toast him before every kickoff but it will not be nearly enough to repay his devotion.

Related:

Doc Chodoff

NJ Schmitty

Wes Sornisky

Dan Glammer

Lewis Katz

Shane Artim

Steve Bumm

Thursday: Soul City Walker

05.01.16
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Owls Will Prove Character Prevails

Matt Ioannidis made one of the most iconic plays in Temple history at the 1:20 time stamp here.

Back when getting into college was literally a matter of life or death, a lot of the Philadelphia Catholic League high schools started shifting their focus from core subjects to doing well in the SATs. A lot of the tests and courses were geared to getting that minimum SAT score and thereby saving a lot of the lives of their students with a heavy does of late afternoon tutoring.

You could be a real SOB but if you got the SAT score and the nice guy who got A’s in all of his classes sitting next to you did not, he was going to Vietnam and you were getting the student deferment.  It was a messed-up system, but it was the system of the day—SAT scores meant everything and grades meant little.

tavon

Tavon Young closes fast on Will Fuller.

So it is today with the NFL combine scores and the NFL draft. A lot of Temple nice guys who got A’s on the field got passed over but guys who did well on that combine test by SOBs.

The difference this time is that the nice guys will not get shot at, but instead will have a shot at sticking in the  NFL. The only Temple guys who got a fair shake were Tavon Young (fourth round, Balitmore Ravens) and Matt Ioannidis (Washington, fifth round).

Tyler Matakevich, the consensus national defensive player of the year, was seriously overlooked and went to the Steelers (seventh round) and Robby Anderson and Kyle Friend, while undervalued, will get a more than fair shake with Todd Bowles and the New York Jets as UDFAs.  Friend did not go to the combine, but both he and Anderson ruled Temple pro day. The real pleasant surprise was Brandon Shippen, who went to the Miami Dolphins as an UDFA.

The biggest offenders in all of this were the Philadelphia Eagles, who chose to draft guys of questionable character in rounds five and after when they could have had all but one of the Temple players. If you are wondering why the Eagles have never won a Super Bowl, here it is:

Of the six players, the Eagles drafted on Day Three, three face character questions. Of the six players the Eagles drafted on Day 3, three face obvious character questions.  Fifth-round pick Wendell Smallwood (West Virginia), was arrested on criminal charges of witness intimidation back in 2014.  In the seventh round,  the Eagles dipped into the sordid world of the SEC and took LSU safety Jalen Mills, who was arrested and charged with battery of a woman in 2014. Later that round, they picked Florida defensive end Alex McCalister, who  was dismissed from the Gators for an undisclosed reason in December. When they say undisclosed,  it usually is worse than you imagine.

Meanwhile, in a related development, former first-round pick Johnny Manziel watched the first night of the draft from a bar and purchased 300 shots for his fellow patrons.

Tuesday: Double Loss

Thursday: Soul City Walker

04.29.16
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Football Stadium Protesters Misguided

 

How cool would it be for one of these to show up at the next protest?

There aren’t many great sports fantasies left out there but, if I had one, the next time the Stadium Stompers had a rally against the proposed new stadium at Temple, a wicked dust devil would descend upon the crowd and all of the “No New Stadium” signs would be blown away.

In the above video, you can see a cow mascot pretty much oblivious to everything. I do not know if the Stadium Stompers have a mascot, but I would suggest a horse’s ass because that’s how oblivious they have been to the facts surrounding the stadium.

more

From the FAQ section of the Stadium  Stompers’ website. Since the new stadium “takes over” only Geasey Field, which Temple has had for the past 40 years, the word “more” is invalid. Wonder where these people were when Temple built the SAC, Morgan Hall and the Library? All are similarly inside campus-owned property.

Facts are pesky things and they often get in the way of emotions, but the stompers do not have much off a point.  They seem to have two main objections to the stadium. One is that the university will infringe on lands beyond its campus and another concern is that the money used for a stadium can be used on other projects, like a health clinic.  “No New Stadium” signs are popping all over campus even though polls by both the student newspaper and television station demonstrated overwhelming support for a stadium from the student body as a whole.

nonew

Got to wonder what  their problem is when the stadium will be entirely within the campus. That “students say no” sign is incorrect. Every single survey of students show widespread support of a new stadium.

When those two points are easily debunked—the land for a stadium exists entirely on the site of a turf complex, Geasey Field, all entirely inside the campus—the protesters do not want to hear it. Since the money for the stadium will be entirely raised by private donations from stadium supporters, that objection is also unfounded.  Imagine Temple fund-raisers going to deep-pocketed donors and saying, “Sorry, change of plans. You know that $15 million donation you gave to a stadium? Can we use that for a health clinic instead?” Phones would be hanging up all over the Philadelphia area. It’s not an either/or proposition; the money will go to a stadium or there would be no money. At least that’s the way things are supposed to work in a free marketplace. Big donors will give big money to projects they support and, generally speaking, it is easier to raise money for a stadium than a health clinic.

When Temple head coach Matt Rhule was wooed by Missouri at the end of last year, the university convinced him to stay with a hefty pay raise and a commitment to “improved facilities” and that meant a stadium.  The new contract did not say anything about improved facilities unless a lot of protesters objected.

This is what Temple will have to deal with until a stadium is built and probably beyond, but while protesters might have an issue they feel is worthwhile, sometimes a little research would save both shoe leather and needless stress.

Sunday: Draft Aftermath For Temple

04.27.16
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Frank Nutile: Only One Play Away

Hopefully, the Owls can get Frank some mop-up duty in a 49-14 win at Penn State.

On the list of things a head coach has to worry about between the time that spring football ends and summer camp begins is backup quarterback but when the subject is Temple football and the head coach is Matt Rhule that item has to be thumbtacked at the top of the list.

It appears as though Frank Nutile, a former star at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, has won the job but that should not stop Rhule from biting his fingernails until August. Nutile clearly looked better than the other backup hopeful, Logan Marchi, but facts are facts and the facts are that neither quarterback has any experience to speak of playing in a real game.

frankster

Frank on his signing day.

The stats show Nutile (pronounced NEW TILE) completed one pass for four yards in a 49-14 win over visiting Tulane. Since it was a rollout designed to get him away from pressure, there was not much to tell from that appearance. More telling was the fact that the coaching staff kept starter P.J. Walker in for 99.9 percent of the other plays in a 14-game season, an indication that the staff was addicted to the comfort level a four-year starter like Walker provides.  Remember, Walker played four games with a separated left shoulder and that would not have been possible had the cheap shot hit in the PSU game come on his right shoulder.

Walker has been someone the Owls could count on the last four years but that, like everything in college football, is subject to change.

The Owls are going to have to wean themselves off that formula this year and one way is for the staff to work more playing time in for Nutile in the opener against Army and the second game against Stony Brook. If things go as expected, the Owls should have a comfortable lead in the first game and a larger one than that in the second game, and having a guy like Nutile shake off the rust in those games can only increase the comfort level in later ones.

The closest the Owls could get to real football was the spring game when redshirt sophomore Nutile threw a touchdown pass. It should have been enough to get him some more time in the fall. If not, the Owls will be forced to burn the redshirt of three-star recruit Anthony Russo and they do not want to do that.

If they have to, though, they should and they will.

Friday: Stadium Stompers and Dust Devils

Sunday: What The NFL Draft Means for Temple

 

 

04.25.16
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landing

While Thursday is a big day for the first- and second-round NFL draft choices, there are no bigger days for Temple football than Friday and Saturday. On those days, up to five Owls could be and likely will be drafted in rounds two through seven, making it easily the biggest day in terms of the school’s relationship with the NFL. While Temple boasts of the only player in league history to make All-Pro at three positions, Joe Klecko of the New York Jets, and numerous players with Super Bowl rings, the Owls have never had five players drafted in the same year. Here are the five likely picks and their likely landing spots.

b

5. ROBBY ANDERSON, GREEN BAY PACKERS

Playing against a consensus No. 1 NFL draft pick in Houston’s William Jackson, Anderson had 12 catches for 150 yards in the AAC championship game. Anderson helped himself by running a 4.37 40-yard dash at Temple’s Pro Day. The Packers are interested.

c

4. KYLE FRIEND, NEW YORK JETS
The Jets have had tremendous luck with Temple players in the past, from All-Pro defensive lineman Joe Klecko through Muhammad Wilkerson. Coach Todd Bowles is another Temple grad, who should be able to pick up Friend, a center, in the sixth round.

3. TAVON YOUNG, PITTSBURGH STEELERS
When the Steelers allowed corner Brandon Boykin to sign with the Carolina Panthers, that left a glaring need for a less expensive option. Young has a similar skillset and should be available as a fifth pick.

e

2. MATT IOANNIDIS, CLEVELAND BROWNS
The Browns have a need for a lockdown run-stopper and the 6-foot-3, 303-pound Ioannidis certainly is that. He is also a better-than-average pass rusher who the Browns would be wise to pick up by the fourth round.

1. TYLER MATAKEVICH, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

New England head coach Bill Belichick is a disciple of former Temple coach Wayne Hardin, both big believers in film over combine measurables. Matakevich, the national defensive player of the year, has film and should go no lower than the third round.

04.23.16
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Penn State’s Spring Game Raises Questions

 

The best thing about this game was the crowd.

When one team wins a spring game 37-0, you know the coaches just are not paying attention so wherever James Franklin’s mind is (maybe the pros), it has to be good news for the third Temple football game of the season.

It certainly is not on the kind of detail you need to choose competitive sides in a spring game. That’s a bad job of picking teams by Franklin or whomever he gave that job to and probably a wasted day of preparation for the Nittany Lions. Kids playing pickup basketball across the street from Beaver Stadium probably picked better sides than Franklin did.

That’s Penn State’s problem, though.

(The biggest blowout we could ever find in a Temple spring game came in 2001, when the White beat the Cherry, 36-0. No surprise that Bobby Wallace was the head coach. Most of the games in the last eight years have been competitive.)

The big player for the Lions was Blue quarterback Trace McSorley, who will have to replace NFL-bound Christian Hackenberg. He hit 18-of-19 passes in the first half against a squad that obviously had bottom-end, for Penn State, talent. Penn State’s defensive line lost players like Anthony Zettel, Austin Johnson and Carl Nassib so it is not going to be at the level it was even a year ago when Jahad Thomas ran for 135 yards against them. If Ryquell Armstead or Jager Gardner are good enough to wrest the starting tailback job from Thomas and Thomas goes to the slot, there will not be enough PSU defenders to cover the weapons the Owls will have at their disposal.

Offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead (from Fordham) will bring a faced-paced tempo this season, but the Owls are used to seeing that in the AAC. Other stars among possible Temple opponents this season.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl - Florida State v Houston

Isaiah Johnson

Houston’s Isaiah Johnson

Johnson, a sophomore, caught all three touchdowns from quarterback Greg Ward in the Cougars’ spring game and it appears the two have developed a special chemistry. Those were just three of the 15 balls Johnson caught in the spring game, totaling 292 yards. His touchdowns covered 48, 51 and 90 yards. Fortunately, Houston will not be an opponent of the Owls until the championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. At least that has to be the plan.

c

Navy’s Tago Smith

If Houston isn’t an Owl foe in the title game, Navy could be. Certainly the most unusual first name in the league, it will fall to Smith to replace the NCAA’s all-time rushing touchdown leader, Keenan Reynolds, who many thought should have own the 2015 Heisman. Fortunately for Midshipmen fans, Smith looked good all spring and runs a 4.4-40-yard dash—a full tenth of a second faster than Reynolds.

Connecticut at Temple

Javon Hadley

UConn’s Javon Hadley

Hadley is one of three starters returning from an already strong Huskies’ secondary. The Huskies were 12th in the nation in interceptions last year and Hadley, a corner, picked off one in the spring game.  He also led all Huskies’ defenders with nine tackles.

South Florida’s Quinton Flowers

Playing at the school’s soccer complex, quarterback Flowers led the White team to a 32-19 win over tailback Marlon Mack’s Green team. Flowers, an equal threat to run or pass, had his team out to a 17-0 lead on three flawless drives.

Monday: 5 Temple Players Who Will Be Drafted