10.09.14
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Every Saturday Should Be Homecoming

Unfortunately, we only see this much Cherry in the stands on Homecoming or Penn State games like this one in 2011.

Unfortunately, we only see this much Cherry in the stands on Homecoming or Penn State games like this one in 2011.

Every so often, people in Philadelphia get a glimpse of what Temple football could be like to the sports culture of the city.

For the past four years, that every so often has come on Homecoming. Really, I wish every Temple football day was Homecoming for two reasons: Big crowd and a big win. Here’s what has happened the past four Homecomings:

Last 4 Homecoming Games for Temple:

Year
Score
Opponent
Attendance
2013
Temple, 33-14
Army
25,533
2012
Temple, 37-28
South Florida
25,796
2011
Temple, 34-0
Buffalo
25,820
2010
Temple, 28-27
Bowling Green
23,045

Those of us who go to the games and participate in the tailgate scene know the drill well. Most of the good spots are given to the folks who come to the games just once a year, with the various schools getting tents of their own at prime locations.

To me, that’s OK, too. I’m all for welcoming the 25,000 Prodigal Sons and Daughters who return once a year in the hopes that what they see will convince themselves to become one of us—the 15-20,000 who do not miss a home game.

That hasn’t happened over the past couple of years because even though the wins have come on Homecoming, the sustainability has not. It’s pretty hard to draw good crowds after 4-7 and 2-10 seasons.

Winning at Homecoming is vitally important, but what happens there has to be followed by sustained success. With the Owls right now at 3-1 and owning both conference wins and an SEC win, there’s a big chance for both ahead. They should grab that chance and run with it.

10.08.14
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Dare to Be Great

Paul Palmer makes a good point at the 30-minute time stamp about a commitment to the running game.

Sitting at 3-1 with the toughest eight-game stretch of the season ahead, there are three ways Temple football can go right now in my mind: 3-5, 4-4 or 5-3.

Or the Owls can dare to be great and do something like 6-2 … or better.

I chose daring to be great, but that’s easy for me because I’m a fan. Whether or not the players—and the coaches—make that choice will start to be determined on Saturday.

Palmer: "In my humble opinion, they need to make more of a commitment to the running game." Paul runs behind John Rienstra and fullback Shelley Poole here. Guys like Jahad Thomas and Jamie Gilmore would be much more effective running behind a fullback like Kenny Harper.

Palmer: “In my humble opinion, we haven’t committed enough to the running game.” Paul runs behind John Rienstra and fullback Shelley Poole here.

To me, there is nothing wrong with the defense. Sean Chandler and Tavon Young are huge upgrades at cornerbacks and, if the newly-constructed defensive line continues to get pressure, the Owls’ safeties are going to continue to pick the ball off.

Offense is where the fixes need to be made. If the Owls stay with their one-back and empty-back sets, they could struggle to six wins and that would be enough for a bowl but if they can go to two backs, put Kenny Harper at blocking fullback and someone like Jahad Thomas at tailback, they can establish a viable running game—a part of their arsenal they do not have now. Once a viable running game is established, the passing windows for players like Jalen Fitzpatrick,  John Christopher, Romond Deloatch and Khalif Herbin are open wide for P.J. Walker on play-action passes. All four of those receivers are capable of making explosive plays downfield in the passing game, but not if the passing windows continue to be slammed shut by the lack of a viable running game. Run the ball and you force the safeties closer to the line and then can drop the ball in the passing game over their

rankheads via play-action passes.

Explosive plays in the running and passing game is what is going to take for this team to be great. Hopefully, the coaches have the courage to make that tweak. Otherwise, we’re looking at 6-6.

10.06.14
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Coach Hardin’s Big Night

Wayne Hardin, Roger Staubach, Navy,

Getty Images

There will be a program given out on Tuesday night at the brand new College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta listing the accomplishments of the latest class to be enshrined.

Next to one name should be the description “greatest college football head coach ever.” No, Pop Warner, Bear Bryant and Amos Alonzo Stagg are already enshrined, but if greatness in a head coach is getting the most out of the talent he had, Wayne Hardin is the greatest head coach ever, period, end of story. Tuesday’s event will be rebroadcast on ESPNU on Wednesday night.

Pure coach Hardin. After the 1962 win over Army, reporters asked him what was the turning point: "When we walked onto the field." Classic. Love it.

Pure coach Hardin. After the 1962 win over Army, reporters asked him what was the turning point: “When we walked out on the field.” Classic. Love it.

Hardin was the last guy to coach two schools to Top 20 national rankings and both of those schools, Temple and Navy, do not travel to that stratosphere often. At Navy, he had the Midshipmen ranked No. 2 in the country and playing No. 1 Texas in the 1964 Cotton Bowl. Think about that for a moment. Navy did not give football scholarships in those days—technically, it does not now, either—and required its players to serve five years in the military after graduation. On top of that, the academic requirements just to get into the Naval Academy were Ivy League level. Interestingly enough, Hardin played for Stagg, coached at a school where Warner coached (Temple) and was succeeded at Temple by a guy, current Arizona Cardinals‘ head coach Bruce Arians, who was an assistant to Bear Bryant.

Yet Hardin had Navy competing and winning at a big-time level and that’s the very definition of a great coach. Hardin left Navy to coach in a fledgling professional league, the Continental Football League, and led that team, the Philadelphia Bulldogs, to a championship in 1966. That team played their games in Temple Stadium, which led to a 13-year-association at Temple, where Hardin was 80-52-3, the only winning coach in that program’s history. These days there are 39 bowls. In those days, there were only 15 and Hardin had the Owls in one of them.

In the 1979 Garden State Bowl, Hardin’s coaching directly led to Temple’s 28-17 win over California of the then PAC-10. Hardin found out by grading the Cal film if he pulled his guards up the middle (instead of right or left), there was no one to block. He pulled the guards straight ahead and the back followed through and, before Cal knew it, Temple had a 21-0 lead. The Owls out-rushed the Golden Bears, 300-23, in that game—a more than 200-yard advantage.

On the other side of the ball, Hardin discovered that Cal quarterback Rich Campbell was taught if he did not see his first read, to throw blindly in the flat to the fullback. Hardin developed a two-man pass rush and had one guy (all-time leading tackler Steve Conjar) meet the fullback and eight others into coverage. There was nothing to read, except a lot of Cherry-colored jerseys.

That kind of coaching was the norm, not the exception, for Hardin both at Temple and Navy. Before an Army-Navy game, Army had a group of defensive backs who led the nation in interceptions and who got the politically incorrect nickname “Chinese Bandits.”  Hardin had the Navy helmets painted to read “Beat Army” … in Chinese. Navy routed Army that day.

Nothing describes great coaching better than stories like that and perhaps that’s why next to Wayne Hardin’s name in Tuesday’s night’s program should be the words “greatest college football coach ever.” Guys like Stagg, Warner and Bryant did it with a maximum of talent. Hardin got the most out of what talent he had and that should always remain the standard for evaluating coaches.

10.02.14
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Throwback Thursday: Who’s No. 1?

Tavon Young in his high school days.

If he continues to play the way he’s been playing, perhaps the Temple Owls should abandon their plans of rotating No. 1 this season.

Tavon Young is playing like he wants to keep the honor for good. He reminds me of another young who used to roam centerfield for the Owls’ defense, Anthony Young (no relation). That Young played for coach Wayne Hardin and coach Bruce Arians and could make a jump on the ball like no DB I’ve seen before or since. He was like that guy you play pickup basketball with at the YMCA. You know, the guy who would always jump in front of a pass you think you are throwing to a wide open guy underneath the hoop.

Tavon Young is getting that reputation as a football ballhawk.

So for Throwback Thursday we’ll take you way back to Tavon Young’s high school days. When Temple signed him, there was a lot of excitement on North Broad Street and he’s lived up to the hype. He also wore No. 1 at Potomac High School. Another great Owl was also from Potomac, 1986 Heisman Trophy runner-up Paul Palmer but Paul played for rival Winston Churchill in that town.

Tavon Young today .…

09.27.14
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Finally, the Boise State of the East

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Two years into Al Golden’s rebuild of the Temple football program, someone walked up to him and asked him what he envisioned the Owls program could be in five years.

Golden thought about it for a moment and said: “I think we can be the Boise State of the East.”

Street near the Owls' hotel in downtown Hartford.

Street near the Owls’ hotel in downtown Hartford. Photo courtesy of the “real” Dave Gerson (aka, Owlified)

It’s only a little late, but Golden’s vision seems to be coming true under Matt Rhule, one of his apprentices. Consider this: The Owls’ 36-10 win at UConn on Saturday was every bit as dominating as Boise State’s 38-21 win at Uconn two weeks ago and even moreso.

The Owls were bigger, faster, stronger and played like a program who has eyes on a championship, all things Boise has done out west. There is still much left to do for this team to reach its potential. One of the things that made Golden’s good teams so effective was a punishing running game and the Owls have not been able to develop one four games into this season.

Does that mean we won’t see one?

I find that hard to believe because one of the things that Rhule should understand was successful running backs like Bernard Pierce and Matty Brown ran behind not only a big offensive line but a dynamic blocking fullback in Wyatt Benson (who still has a year of eligibility left if he’s in the neighborhood). Kenny Harper, in a part-time fullback role as a freshman, proved he’s every bit the blocker Benson was.

Marcus Satterfield, the current offensive coordinator, does not know that but Rhule does and he’s the CEO. The buck stops with him and if the Owls are finally going to develop a championship offense, they need a running game and the personnel is here to do it. Two weeks of tweaking to Tulsa are ahead and that would be a nice time to unveil one.

Video highlights:

Uconn fan reaction:

http://the-boneyard.com/threads/temple-game-thread.65397/

Uconn game story:

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-football-temple-0928-20140927-story.html