04.01.16
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Moody Blues

 

… and I thought Temple dropped softball ….

With the hiring of an architect, Moody Nolan, the endless speculation about what the new on-campus stadium will look like can finally come to an end.

Temple Football Forever was given a working concept of what the stadium will look like and, while it admittedly is preliminary, this is what they were able to come up with:

architect

“We’ll be working on this concept and refining it, of course,” our source said. “What you see here is a generalization based on something novel.”

If what you see above looks like a crude Roman Coliseum, our source says that the resemblance is on purpose.

“Dr. (Neil) Theobald asked us what we could give him for $100 million for the stadium and $26 million for retail. I said to Neil, ‘Well, we won’t be able to put seats in.’ Neil said, ‘We’re OK with benches. That’s fine.’

artwork

An art firm has been commissioned to paint this on the rolldown retail security doors in an attempt to “blend the project in with the surrounding community.”

“We then broke the bad news to him. We won’t be able to do seats,  or benches for $100 million, but we can give you concrete seating, just like the Roman Coliseum had. Neil didn’t look happy, but we sold him on the general concept and have the retail blend in like the outdoor markets in front of the old Roman Coliseum. One of the retail stores will be called Animal House and it will sell themed items like sandals and Cherry and White togas. We could make it a Roman/Greek themed Stadium by calling it the Apollo of Temple. The President said that idea was already tried, but could be revived.

score

The old Geasey Field scoreboard.

‘It was a hard sell, because the President kept saying the Board of Trustees would not go a penny over $126 million so that made it tough. We said we can just move the current Geasey Field scoreboard over to the new stadium to cut corners.

 

“We finally sold the President when we said we would not only blend our theme in with the design of the stadium and the retail, but we would blend the rolldown security doors on the retail stores with the surrounding community. We’ve even commissioned an art firm to paint the row houses of the community on those doors so the project looks like an extension of the neighborhood.”

 

There will be a fun element the retail.

“Much of the Roman/Greek theme will be playing up the whole Apollo of Temple concept. The President thought that could be fun. Temple will be the only fan base in the country with a toga party tailgate. So we’re going to pour the concrete as soon as we can and hope to get this thing done in 18 months after that. The only thing we’re concerned about are the fans getting butt hurt over the deal.”

“You mean, because there are no seatbacks or video boards?” I said.

“No, because they are going to have to sit on concrete for three hours every week but the President said something that made sense. He said, ‘If the Romans could sit on concrete for three hours watching Chariot races, then our Temple Tuff fans shouldn’t mind the concrete at all for football games.’

“After that we shook hands and said, ‘Done deal.’ ”

Happy April Fool’s Day everyone.

Sunday: The First Scrimmage

Tuesday: Funding Ideas For Stadium

Related:

Big 10

Urban Meyer

Devonte Watson

 

03.30.16
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5 Potential Punt Return Candidates

 

Unfortunately, this Khalif Herbin TD in 2014 was the last for the Owls on a PR.

One of the most frustrating things to Temple football fans coming out of the 2014 season was the lack of a punt return game. After Khalif Herbin got hurt, the Owls’ top returner was John Christopher, averaged 2.0 yards per return. Last year, things improved significantly as Sean Chandler was the top punt returner with a 12.2 average as he returned 16 punts for 195 yards. Robby Anderson was next with nine returns for a 5.9 average. Neither scored a touchdown on a return.

Still, those numbers could not compare to Delano Green’s 2009 season, when he had 20 returns for 233 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Chandler, though, seems to have that explosive first step needed but he is a valuable starter and the Owls might want to consider other options in the return game.

The possibilities are endless, and these are just five:

natel

Nate L. Smith

  1. Nate L. Smith

The leading punt returner in the history of high school football in the state of Pennsylvania, Smith has never been given a long look at the position at Temple and maybe this year deserves it. Playing for Archbishop Wood, he had a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown in the state title win over Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt. He was given only one chance to return a punt with the Owls and that was a 21-yard return that set up a game-tying field goal against AAC champion Memphis.

  1. Kareem Ali Jr.

Ali, a four-star recruit, is the son of a couple of speedsters, his mom, Tasha, a track star at Temple, and his dad, Kareem Gilliard, a speedy slot receiver at Temple. He put that speed to good use last spring as he was the team’s top punt returner in practices. Yet because he would not start, he was awarded a redshirt year. If he can duplicate the explosive returns of a year ago, he should be the guy.

Kareem

  1. Cortrelle Simpson

He was two-time Scout Team player of the week in 2015 (prior to Penn State and East Carolina) and has run a 4.33 40 at the Ohio State camp. He had an amazing 795 kick return yards as a high school player, almost all amassed over his junior and senior seasons at Lackey High in Indian Head, Md.

  1. Freddie Johnson

If the above three do not work out in the spring, the cavalry arrives in the summer in the form of North Ft. Myers’ product Freddie Johnson, a dynamic punt returner who is the county 200-meter champion.

  1. Randle Jones

The special teams MVP at North Miami High (primarily for kick returns), he is also a track star who plays wide receiver, like Johnson.

Friday: Early Architectural Drawing of New Stadium

03.28.16
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5 Greatest TU Spring Phenoms

 

myles

In the 2011 game, Myron Myles scored 3 touchdowns.

As Allen Iverson once said, talking practice is different than talking games and, while there will be a Cherry and White game on April 16, even that is still practice. The important thing is doing it in a game, but to get in a game, you’ve got to do it in practice.

That’s why everything that happens until the kickoff of the Army game in September has to be taken with a boulder, not a grain, of salt. Exhibits A through E are these five April phenoms who were were not as phenomenal when the real games started in the fall.

khalif

  1. Khalif Herbin

At Cardinal O’Hara in 2014, Herbin was the key player for the White team in a 10-9 loss to the Cherry squad. Herbin, the No. 1 draft choice of that squad, caught a 66-yard touchdown pass from Connor Reilly in the game. “The whole team recognizes what Khalif can do,” Temple head coach Matt Rhule said. By the end of the next season, he was gone, a victim of injuries.

 

  1. ventresVentres Stevenson

On April 26, 1986, a freshman running back named Ventres Stevenson was the best player on the field and, according to head coach Bruce Arians, “the outstanding player during our spring practice.”  He led the White squad to a 17-7 win over the Cherry squad. Stevenson finished with 86 yards on 16 carries, but finished the season as third string behind Heisman Trophy runner-up Paul Palmer and second-teamer Todd McNair, both future Kansas City Chief players. Stevenson later became a very good back for the Owls, but just not that season.

charlton

  1. Vaughn Charlton

In the 2008 game, Charlton—wearing the Orange jersey—led the Cherry to a 21-6 win at the Edberg-Olson Complex. The Orange jersey meant the quarterback could not be hit and that always made a difference for Charlton, who went 13-for-28 for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Adam DiMichele went on to be the starter that season and only a Hail Mary loss at Buffalo kept the Owls from being bowl eligible. DiMichele thrived on contact and seemed to make some of his better plays after getting hit by defenders and spinning out of contact. Charlton had the tools but never reacted as well to contact.

  1. Louis Angelo

With Louis Angelo calling the signals in the 2001 spring game, the Cherry beat the White in the most lopsided game ever, 36-0. Angelo threw a pair of touchdown passes. By the start of the season, Angelo was behind starter Mac DeVito and backups Mike McGann, Devin Scott and Collin Hannigan.  He did not throw a pass that season.

myron

  1. Myron Myles

In 2011, a freshman running back named Myron Myles—at least that was the name he was going by at the time—gained 133 yards and scored two touchdowns on 20 carries and led the White team to a 27-26 win over the Cherry squad. (Myles also caught a touchdown pass.) Bernard Pierce sat out the game, but, in the fall, led the Owls to nine wins and a bowl game. He was recruited to Temple from Wissahickon High as Myron Ross. Myles later transferred to Millersville, where his best game (114 yards) came during the 2014 season.

Wednesday: In Search of a Punt Returner

03.26.16
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We’re Talkin’ Practice

Learning to distrust the results of Spring Practice is a necessary step to move forward to the more important practice period—the four weeks prior to the opening game, in this case, Army. Still, there are battles to be won now and players who can win them.

Here are 5 Things We Should Know Coming Out of Spring:

thomascatch

1) Backup quarterback

This currently is being billed as the battle for the backup quarterback position, and for some good reasons. Two guys, Frank Nutile (pronounced NEW TILE) and Logan Marchi have been in the program for a couple of seasons. However, Anthony Russo arrives in July and all bets could be off.  If P.J. Walker, who has been rather durable all three seasons, goes down, head coach Matt Rhule cannot be blamed for burning Russo’s redshirt. If it’s for just a play or two, Nutile and Marchi are battling for backup quarterback. That is what this spring is for. Of course, one could play off the charts and change the dynamic.

natel

2) Starting Safety

This battle could get interesting. The defensive coaching staff has resisted the temptation to start Nate L. Smith, but the former George Washington and Archbishop Wood star has made plays during real games every time he’s asked. Delvon Randall should play the other safety, but Rhule moved Brodrick Yancy over to safety and that could mean that they have a plan for Yancy since Rhule called Yancy the “receiver more like John Christopher” than anyone on the team. They like his toughness and that could translate well to the safety position.

averee

3) Interior defensive line

The cavalry here arrives in July, with Karamo Dioubate and Gregg Webb expected to compete for starting positions along with Averee Robinson and Freddy Booth-Lloyd. Yet the Owls really need to build interior depth as many of their returning linemen either are or have started as defensive ends. There may be a few conversions out of necessity.

4)   Interior offensive line

Only two positions are set in stone, offensive tackle (Dion Dawkins) and center (Brendan McGowan). Bryan Carter, a starting offensive tackle, might be needed to return to DL, but that’s what spring is for. There are a number of promising guys, like Jovan Fair, who can earn starting spots.

5) Running back

I fully expect Jahad Thomas to run with the ones again, but it has to be enticing to split out that game-breaking ability and put it in the slot. That’s probably the position Thomas is better-suited for at the next level, so why not start him now. He’s a little (lot) undersize to be an NFL running back, but one good season in the slot earns him some camp looks. The only way he gets those is if Jager Gardner shows the kind of form that enabled him to run for 2,776  yards and 36 touchdowns as a high school senior. Ryquell Armstead and David Hood, who had half that many yards and touchdowns in their senior high school season, are also in the mix.

Monday: Five Biggest Owls’ Spring Phenoms of All Time

03.24.16
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Happy Birthday, Coach Hardin

 

Very classy tribute from Temple football video guys.

As an undergrad at Temple, Wayne Hardin was the only head football coach I ever knew at my school. As a result, winning was the only thing I ever knew. From the time I entered Temple to the time I graduated, Temple had four-straight winning seasons.
The Owls have not accomplished that feat since.

hardin

Joe Mesko (left), Hardin’s first TU captain, shakes hands with Roger Staubach, Hardin’s last Navy captain, last night  with coach and Steve Conjar in between.

Now that coach Hardin turned 90 yesterday, a group of his former players both at Temple and Navy honored him with a dinner last night in Florida, and it was a fitting tribute because they got to tell him again how much he meant to them and that was important.

I got to know coach Hardin as a reporter for the Temple News. Al Shrier, the then Sports Information Director, arranged for me an interview when I was a junior who was given the football beat.

To me, it was like getting to interview The Wizard of Oz.

One of the questions I asked him was about fun and football.

“The only fun in football is winning,” Hardin said.

That’s pretty much the way I felt then and my entire life and pretty much why I take losing so hard.

People talk about Bill Belichick’s coaching tree but, in reality, Belichick is one of the small branches on Hardin’s tree. Belichick’s dad, Steve Belichick, was a longtime scout and assistant for Hardin at Navy. When Hardin was head coach there, Belichick was just a kid. Yet Belichick tagged along at Navy practices and soaked up as much as he could.

Hardin was noted for outsmarting other coaches not only with everyday schemes but with trick plays and a keen eye on exploiting opponents’ weaknesses.

Patriots quick kicks, unique punt and field-goal rushes, certain trick plays — Belichick credits Hardin for many of them.

This from Comcast New England on Temple’s Garden State Bowl win:
“In 1979, when the Owls took on heavily-favored Cal in the Garden State Bowl at Giants Stadium, Belichick was in attendance. The Giants special-teams coach at the time, Belichick sat with then Giants assistant Ernie Adams, who now works alongside Belichick as the football research director for the Patriots. The pair of young and talented football minds were completely baffled as they watched Hardin toy with Cal’s linebackers, who were taught to read the guards in front of them.

“Ernie and I were sitting up there watching the game, and on the first series of plays, one guard pulled deep, the other guard pulled short,” Belichick said. “And they just folded around to get the linebacker, but they pulled. And the two inside linebackers ran into each other. I looked at Ernie, and he looked at me . . .”

Did Temple just screw that up, they wondered?

“Four or five plays later, same thing. The two linebackers,” Belichick clapped his hands together loudly, imitating the collision, “because they’re standing right next to each other. They went right into each other. [Temple ran] straight down to the safety for, like, 20 yards. They must’ve run that play six or seven times and it was 20 yards every time . . . At the time, I’d never seen that before.”

The result was the first bowl win in Temple history and a wide-eyed and impressed New York Giants’ assistant coach named Belichick.

Later, after graduating from Temple, I covered Hardin’s teams for Calkins Newspapers. While in the press box in State College, Hardin was driving Penn State head coach Joe Paterno crazy with similar schemes and play calls and Temple took a lead late into the third quarter against the heavily favored Nittany Lions. The Owls had several close calls before that game and it was only because Hardin was able to close the talent gap against the Nits with his brilliant mind. John Kunda, the long-time sports editor of the Allentown Morning Call, broke the silence in the press box.

tree

Bill Belichick is from the Hardin tree, but coach Hardin is from the Amos Alonzo Stagg tree. Must be a Redwood.

“Hardin’s outcoaching Joe again,” Kunda said.

The press box erupted into laughter, but it was a laugh of respect. I just sat there beaming with pride in the knowledge that the smartest guy on the field every Saturday was coaching my team and everybody in the room acknowledged something I already knew.

Fortunately, coach Hardin was there last year to see the Owls finally get that monkey off their back. Happy birthday, coach Hardin, and many more healthy and happy ones.

One thing I’m sure both the Navy and Temple guys agreed on last night were two words:

Beat Army.

Saturday: We’re Talkin’ Practice

03.23.16
by

The One and Only Doc Chodoff

 

chair

Players came and went, so did parents and coaches and athletic directors and student managers and band members.

Peter “Doc” Chodoff was always there, no more than an arm’s length away on tailgate row every single game day of my adult life, holding court from a folding chair. That’s the thing I will always remember about Doc and Temple football. He was always there, always in that folding chair, waiting to move into the stadium about a half-hour before each game.

He seldom remained silent.

doc

Most of the time, he would say something about this road trip or that road trip that he made or make a statement about a coach or a player that was usually on the mark.  Or he would say something funny, which he said a lot.

Always from that Cherry and White tailgate, or camping, chair. He was always there, surviving coaches, players, parents, other fans.

Now he isn’t, having passed away. He lived a full life, but I wanted him to live until 114.

Whenever I see one of those chairs, I will think of Doc. If they ever give an award in his name, it should be for a long-time fan, a season ticket-holder, who has been there through the downs as well as the ups because that defined Doc. When I tried to call him Mr. Chodoff, he admonished me to call him Pete or Doc. I thought Doc was preferable.

One day during the Steve Addazio Era he grabbed my arm and said, “Mike, I just want to tell you that you have a first-class blog.”  (All you had to do last year was ask him what he felt about Addazio and he would go on an invective-filled rant that would make Richard Pryor blush. He loved Al Golden, because he knew Golden gave Temple what he promised.)

I was on Cloud 9 for a few weeks after that because his credibility was already through the roof with me. When I sprained my knee (torn meniscus) in 2007 playing basketball, he even gave me some solid medical advice about who I should see and what I should do on my rehab and how long before it would be before I was playing basketball again.

As usual about everything else, he was right.

I sat behind him only once and it was during a game in the Bobby Wallace Era when I was lucky enough to score seats upstairs. Temple was getting the snot beat out of it, as it usually did in those days, and the subject came around to freshman quarterbacks. He turned to me and said: “Why is it that you see every school in the country with a better quarterback than Temple?”

Then Adam DiMichele came along and I reminded Doc about that statement and he laughed and said, “Well, it was about time.”

When I could not find an answer about Temple football on Google, I knew I could find it from Doc. Last year, someone on this site asked why they built Temple Stadium so far from the main campus. I could not find the answer, so I asked Doc.

“They were planning to move the entire campus to Wyncote and Cheltenham, so they put the stadium there first,” he said. “After they built the stadium, they changed their mind about the campus.”

Thanks, Doc. I did not know that.

When Temple football was threatened, he put his money where his mouth was to save it.  He was always before everyone else, stayed through two Dark Ages (the 50s and the post-Bruce Arians’ Era), and preached that things could and would get better.

They did, as much because of him as anyone else. His passing reminds us all that life is too short and treasure those who have added to your life experience. I always looked forward to Saturday mornings because of people like him.

Doc Chodoff certainly made Saturday mornings for me and for many fellow Temple fans. We all share a deep pain today knowing no one can fill that folding chair quite like he did. If Temple football had 100 Chodoffs, the new stadium would have been built by now and it would be 40,000 seats, not 30,000, with all of the amenities it should have.

There is only one Doc and that’s why this is a very sad day for Temple football and all of us who love it.

Related:

Doc Chodoff

03.22.16
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Promise Keepers

Matt Rhule talks assistants and Logan Marchi in this video among other topics.

Chances are former Colorado head football coach Bill McCartney will not be looking to recruit Matt Rhule to the religion he founded called Promise Keepers.

One of the tenants of that religion is the “three strikes and you are out” rule, meaning three promises broken, find another religion.

Rhule already is oh-for-two in the Temple football promise department but many think—this writer included—that he has a very good chance of making good on both promises this year.

Matt Rhule, Temple football,

Matt Rhule’s promise of giving Nick Sharga the ball may be no BS this season.

The first promise came a few days after he was hired as Temple head coach in December of 2012. Speaking to a “crowd” of about 4,500 at a basketball game, Rhule promised that he would “win league championships at Temple.” Close, but an AAC East trophy does not count.

The second promise came before a smaller group of people, those holding notepads and tape recorders before Temple’s game with UConn. Talking about fullback Nick Sharga, he went on and on praising the guy and then said, “we are going to give him the ball some time this year, I promise you that.”

UConn came and went and no Sharga carries, as did the Houston game and the bowl game.

No worries because one of the most interesting items coming out of an early spring practice was that Rhule stated that Sharga will be a full-time fullback this fall. That is great news for a couple of reasons. On several of Jahad Thomas’ 17 touchdown runs, there is clear evidence of Thomas following a terrific lead block by Sharga. Thomas will be the first to tell you that Sharga’s blocks helped make the running game go. So Thomas or Jager Gardner or Ryquell Armstead or David Hood following a road-grader like Sharga through the hole means the running game will be going in the right direction this season.

The second great news part of this is that the defensive coaches must have confidence in the returning linebackers, single-digit guys like Stephaun Marshall and Avery Williams and Jared Alwan and redshirt freshman Chap Russell are coming along quite nicely. Sharga played much of last spring at linebacker and Temple football alum will tell you he was the second-most impressive linebacker on the team, behind only Tyler Matakevich.

New run game coordinator George DeLeone has been around the block to know the effectiveness of the fullback kick-out block in a team’s overall run game, so maybe when Rhule forgets the promise to give Sharga the ball, DeLeone will remind him with a friendly nudge.

Who knows? Maybe keeping the second promise at least a couple of times will make  the first promise just a tad easier to attain.

Tomorrow: Thoughts On The One and Only Doc Chodoff

03.20.16
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Long-Term Expectations

The only sad coincidence on Saturday was that the day after one season ended at Temple, a new one begins. Last day of basketball came the day before Temple football players strapped on the pads and, if the next 10 years are as productive for the university in football as the last 10 were in basketball, this will be one happy football camper. I don’t buy the argument that there should be different standards for Temple football than basketball. Both should be competing for and winning league titles.

jetpackster

Temple fans will be putting  on jetpacks if the football team can win a regular-season AAC title this year like the hoopsters did.

Largely, basketball has done that. By the standards set by head coach Fran Dunphy, this is what should happen in football for the next 10 years:

Eight bowl games

Arguably, it’s harder to get into the NCAA Tournament because there are 346 eligible teams for the tournament and only 68 make it. However, I will take being one of the 80 being selected to a bowl despite the fact that there are only 126 bowl-eligible teams. That would be both a realistic and positive result, given the fact that the Owls only made three bowls in the last 37 years.

Two bowl wins

Dunphy gets a lot of criticism for this but, since this regime is already 0-1 in a bowl, two bowl wins in the next seven would be OK with me.

Three league titles earned in the postseason

This would be getting to the AAC title game and winning, something Dunphy did three years in a row in the A10. Three in 10 years is not an unreasonable expectation.

Two league regular-season titles

Something like the Owls did this year in basketball (and one year in the A10), post the best league regular-season record in years that they did not win in the playoffs, would also be acceptable and realistic.

Those 10 years would put Temple on the football map and, if the Owls accomplish all of the above goals, I will start a GoFundMe.com to fund both a Jetpack and a statue for Matt Rhule. Or maybe a statue of Matt Rhule wearing a Jetpack. Hold off those contributions until 2026, though, or about the opening day of the new stadium.

Tuesday: More Immediate Expectations

03.17.16
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If Only Football Could Have This Day

bracket

 

buster

Today is the best day of the sports calendar and it’s not because of St. Patrick’s Day, although it happens to fall on that day this year.

To me, while I’ve always been more of a fan of NCAA football than NCAA basketball, I have to admire what that sport has done to captivate the national sports public for a whole month. Today is the one day of the year when your favorite basketball team has a chance, no matter how small, of winning it all. In basketball, with runs by teams like Butler, George Mason and LaSalle in recent years, that kind of hope exists.

It would be nice if football had the same thing.

Football can never duplicate that because it does not want to but, just once, I’d like to see them try. It’s gotten far too complicated with far-flung conferences that make zero geographical sense, but this is how it can be done.

1) Have a 64-team field

Base the seeding on the regular-season outcome so, say, Alabama opens at home with Idaho. Before you say it would be a bloodbath, check out some of the teams Alabama played in its non-conference schedule over the last five years.

2) Play a Limited Regular Season Schedule

Determine how many weekends a regular-season would take, with byes, then base the post-season off of it. If it’s an eight-game season, the 2015 Temple Owls would have had a high seed based on a 7-1 record that included a four-point loss to the then No. 9 team.  Maintain current rivalries, like Ohio State-Michigan, Army-Navy, Alabama-Auburn, Texas-Oklahoma, but ditch the Stony Brook-Temple and Rutgers-Howard type games, which really clog up the college football season and nobody really wants to see.

3) Create November-Dec. Madness

Pair the field down to 32 after the first week of the playoffs, 16 the third, eight the fourth and four the fifth. Hold the Final Four in January. No byes.

4) Wake Up

It was a good dream while it lasted but face facts. We college football fans will never have what college basketball fans have this one day of the year—the audacity of hope, and that’s a powerful drug.

At least we will always have tailgating.

 

03.15.16
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Football Weather On First Practice Day

 

Since all of the Temple football practices are closed this spring, probably the best way to add an extra layer of secrecy to the whole deal is to hold the first day of spring practice during a time when the entire campus is distracted by March Madness.

It was a rainy day, but the long-term forecast is for a brighter few weeks ahead right until the spring game on April 16. Hopefully, that carries over to the field as well.

thomascatch

P.J. to Jahad: Explosive downfield plays in the passing game. 

Even though the football’s official slogan is “Unfinished Business” another key word for spring practice is progression. Is this the year P.J. Walker makes the natural progression from freshman sensation to sophomore slump to junior game manager to major impact player?

I think so.

P.J. had a very similar season to his freshman year (20 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 9 games) to his junior year (19,8,14) and I look for him to drive those numbers up to 25 (or more) touchdowns. The more important number for P.J. though is to get to double-digits again as a winning quarterback and help the team lift those heavy post-season trophies, including a bowl one.

Hopefully, the Owls learned from a “fun” approach to the bowl game and will adjust that itinerary  when the time comes to go bowling. While the Owls played air hockey, beach volleyball and bowling (in an alley), the only bowling Toledo seemed concerned about was between the white lines on game night. Even though the Toledo staff was gutted by the departure of Matt Campbell to Iowa State, there were enough holdovers who learned by experience that was the quickest route to winning was detouring around the fun and focusing on a businesslike approach.

averee

Averee Robinson, a two-time Pennsylvania large school state champion heavyweight wrestler, would be a nightmare for opposing centers if he were allowed to play nose guard.

Hopefully, the Owls will show a similar a progression from bowl one to bowl two as well.

On defense, do the Owls  go to a 5-2 defense or do they have personnel better suited or a 3-4 (Averee Robinson playing the nose flanked by Sharif Finch and Praise Martin Oquike with four starting linebackers in Nick Sharga, Jared Alwan, Stephaun Marshall and Avery Williams)?

A couple of things to look for: Do the Owls make a bold move, switching Jahad Thomas from tailback to the slot and making room for Jager Gardner and Ryquell Armstead at the tailback position or do they stick with the status quo? An argument can be made for either move, but Thomas would definitely add an element of explosiveness to the downfield passing game that did not exist last year, even with Robby Anderson. It looked to me that Anderson lost a step in his return and the Owls could use a guy, like Jalen Fitzpatrick, who could run under a long bomb and stretch the field for a quick six from time to time.

Armstead and Gardner would be an interesting tailback battle. Numbers do not lie. In Gardner’s final high school season, he gained 2,776 yards on 266 carries with 36 touchdowns in just 11 games vs. Armstead’s 1,488 yards and 18 touchdowns in 12 games on 219 carries in his final high school year.

Giving P.J. those kind of weapons, in addition to tight ends Colin Thompson and Kip Patton, could finish the offensive progression this team started to make a year ago and take P.J. from game manager to game buster.