This is what Mike Gerardi should be doing mostly on Saturday.

To say there will be a healthy breeze on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field when Temple takes on Bowling Green for Homecoming Day, would be a bit of an understatement.
The National Weather Service in Philadelphia is calling for gusts in the 50-60 mph range and that’s a pretty damn good breeze.
Kind of a good metaphor for what will happen on the field as well.
I had a feeling Al Golden would be going to Mike Gerardi as Saturday’s starting quarterback no later than with two minutes left in the loss to Northern Illinois when Chester Stewart forgot how many downs there were, ruining any remote chance the Owls had of winning the game.
It was about that time, around 3 in the afternoon, that Golden mentally checked out on Chester Stewart right about the time Stewart mentally checked out on him.

“When the curtain came down on Parsippany Hills’ football season, college coaches practically made a conga line into Vikings coach Dave Albano’s office.

“The subject of the coaches’ admiration: Par Hills quarterback Mike Gerardi.
What was there not to like? Gerardi wowed college recruiters for the entire season, led his team to a state championship game, and was an Associated Press first-team All-State player.”
_ Bergen County (N.J.) Record, 2/9/07

It’s one thing to forget how many downs there are when it’s first down.
It’s quite another to forget how many there are on fourth.
Since Mike Gerardi was listed as the No. 2, I figured Golden made the move no later than 3:30 or so Saturday afternoon.
It turns out I might be right.
The word I get from the kids (Temple students) who saw Monday and Tuesday practice is that No. 14 was taking a good deal of the reps.
That’s all I needed to hear.
Quite frankly, it’s about time.
Quite frankly, too, I don’t expect Mike to light it up on Saturday.
If he can learn how to hand the ball off to The Franchise (No. 30) and mini franchise (with a lower case f, No. 22), he should do just fine.
Bowling Green can’t stop the run. Bowling Green can’t run the ball on its own. It’s got a decent passing game, but how decent can passing be throwing into 50mph?
So, if Gerardi can hand it off and avoid the turnovers, he should do just fine.
Save the touchdown passes for next week because even Payton Manning ain’t getting anything accomplished in this wind.
Quarterback is a funny, as in curious and interesting, position.
You either have it or you don’t.
From my experiences with 20 or so past Temple quarterbacks, I’ve found that if you don’t bring an impressive resume to North Broad Street you are just not going to get it done once you get here.
Vaughn Charlton was second-team all-league in a weak (and now defunct) Southern Chester County League, throwing all of nine touchdown passes as a high school senior.
Chester Stewart threw for 17 as a high school senior in a weak D.C. City League (rough equivalent of the Philadelphia Public League).
Both were projects, guys who Al Golden felt he could “coach up” into serviceable Division IA (or FBS) quarterbacks.
Adam DiMichele, on the other hand, threw for 36 touchdowns as a high school senior in the WPIAL.
He was a first-team All-State player.
Golden never had to coach him up. He was already up when he got here.
Other successful Temple quarterbacks, like Matty Baker, Tim Riordan, Lee Saltz, Brian Broomell, Doug Shobert, Steve Joachim, etc., were either first-team All-State in high school or close to it.
None of those guys were projects but they came to Temple polished and all Wayne Hardin had to do was impart his own shine on them and that worked out well for Temple.
Mike Gerardi was a first-team all-state player at Parsippany Hills in New Jersey, which is a very high level of high school football. He threw for 35 touchdowns as a high school senior.
I like that kind of pedigree in my Temple quarterbacks.
In football, as in business, the best predictor of future success is past success.
If he succeeds at Temple, I would not be surprised.
He deserves a chance to show what he can do both this week and next when the winds die down.

Proof positive that even a JC quarterback can routinely hit Rod Streater in stride.

Does an AVERAGE Division I-A (FBS) quarterback miss that wide-open Rod Streater for a touchdown with the Owls down, 24-17?

No.
Does an AVERAGE Division I-AA (FCS) quarterback miss that pass?
No.
Does an AVERAGE Division II quarterback miss that connection?
No.
Does, say,  West Chester University’s  Sean McCartney (who completed 36 for 44 for 447 yards in a win over East Stroudsburg Friday night) complete that pass?
Yes.

Let’s start the blame game for Temple’s 31-17 loss to Northern Illinois on the right foot.
The right foot was the defense, which returns six All-MAC performers.
No way a defense with more than half the MAC all-star team should yield 31 points to any MAC offense.
 That said, I hope all of the Chester Stewart fans are happy now. I haven’t been one and that’s been well-documented here.
Temple won some thrilling games that didn’t need to be thrilling early because, in my view, Chester Stewart brought the Owls down to the level of competition, not up. Freaking Ball State put up 31 points on Central Michigan, but not Temple. Freaking William and Mary put up 34 points on Villanova, not Temple. Freaking Illinois put up 33 points on Penn State, not Temple.
Yet I would take all of the weapons around Chester Stewart (Bernard Pierce, Matty Brown, Joey Jones, Rod Streater, James Nixon, Evan Rodriguez, Michael Campbell, etc., etc.) over all the weapons on Ball State, W&M and Illinois combined.
So who’s fault is it when the offense underperforms?
I’ve been saying all season that Chester Stewart’s performance needs to come up a level or two or three for Temple to win the MAC title.
My detractors said to shut up, he’s got the Owls to 4-1.
I told them the Owls have got to 4-1 in spite of his consistent overthrows, fumbles and interceptions.
He proved me right today.
Does an AVERAGE Division I-A (FBS) quarterback miss that wide-open Rod Streater for a touchdown with the Owls down, 24-17?
No.
Does an AVERAGE Division I-AA (FCS) quarterback miss that pass?
No.
Does an average Division II quarterback miss that connection?
No.
Does, say, West Chester University’s Sean McCartney (who completed 36 for 44 for 447 yards in a win over East Stroudsburg Friday night) complete that pass?
Yes.
It’s a simple pitch and catch, yet Stewart not only missed it on Saturday but he’s missed it on the other Saturdays and the Thursdays and Fridays Temple has played this year.

What concerns me more than Chester missing that toss was that Al Golden and Matt Rhule do not have confidence in the backups to make it.
If they can make that simple toss, they should be playing.
If they can’t, Temple is in trouble the rest of the season.
This is the week some hard choices have to be made at that position.
Because Al Golden made those same hard choices this year at about the same time, I’m confident he could pull the trigger again.
But will he?
One of the other guys should have a chance to try these weapons on the Bowling Green firing range.

Man, this season is going fast.
It’s time for the weeklhy MAC football bloggers roundtable.
Here are the questions thrown my way and my answers, as always, are Golden, as in Al:
1. What are your realistic best- and worst-case scenarios for the rest of your team’s season?
My worst-case scenario is that Bernard Pierce doesn’t get fully healthy. Even though Temple beat Army with a 226-yard, four-touchdown performance by backup Matty Brown … Matty Brown is no Bernard Pierce. Penn State could not handle Bernard Pierce in the red zone before BP sprung an oil leak, err, ankle sprain. Penn State had no problems at all with Matty Brown. So while a lot of Owl fans are excited about Matty Brown going forward, I look at him through the Prism of the PSU game. Best case? Chester Stewart becomes Randall Cunningham and BP comes back and Temple runs the table.
2. If you could pick a single down that’s been played this year to give a different result, which play would you choose? Why that play? How would you like it to go?
Pick is a good word. I can’t pick a single down. I can pick three downs and I have to use the word pick three times, which is precisely what Stewart did on the three absolutely worst reads of a defense by a Temple quarterback I have ever seen in the Penn State game. That game was Temple’s for the taking, even without Bernard Pierce.
3. Which MAC team is better than their record? Which is worse?
Miami is definitely better. I saw the Florida game and the Red Hawks hung. I think Central Michigan is probably worse than 3-2, although you couldn’t tell it from the Temple game.
4. What remaining game are you most looking forward to?
Just one. Northern Illinois.
5. Rank ’em, in whatever order and by whatever criterion you prefer.
1. Temple
2. Northern Illinois
3. OHIO
4. CMU
5. Miami
6. Bowling Green
7. Toledo
8. Buffalo.
9. Western Michigan
10. Ball State
11. Kent State
12. Eastern Michigan
13. Akron

Scott Hartkorn’s great video over TU’s encounter with the other Huskies.

In a perfect world, this would be a good time for a nice bye for the Temple University football team.
Don’t get me wrong.
I hate byes.
A weekend without Temple football, to me, is a lost weekend.
Still, I can’t think of a better time in recent Temple football memory (starting with the Al Golden years) for a bye.

How good is Northern Illinois?
Well, the Huskies have won at Minnesota, 34-23. (Doesn’t it seem like yesterday when the Owls lost at Minnesota, 62-0?)
They have beaten North Dakota, 23-17.
They lost at Illinois, 28-22 (a team that gave Ohio State all it could handle).
They lost at Iowa State, 27-10 (a team that buried Texas Tech, 52-28).
They won at Akron, 50-14.
This is a very good team.

The Franchise, AKA Bernard Pierce, could certainly use an extra week to heal his ankle.
The team has just been through a gaunlet that included winning a trophy for football superiority in its hometown (a must game, if there ever was one), beating the perennial league power (Central Michigan), winning a grudge match against both a good football team (UConn) and a league (the Big East, with a lower case t) and winning at Army’s homecoming before 33,000 fans.
If a team ever needed a rest, it is the Owls.
So Al Golden gave them one.
Two days.
That’s it.
Now the Owls have to fly halfway across the country and play a Northern Illinois team that might be the best team they’ve played so far and that includes Penn State. (We don’t know that for sure so that’s why we’re using the word might. If Penn State beats Illinois by more than 28-22, Penn State will have been the best team on Temple’s schedule.)
There’s not much a belief that the Owls can beat this team at this time, if the nation’s bettors are any indication.
The Huskies opened as 1 1/2-point favorites on Sunday night. By Monday morning, it was 2 1/2. By Tuesday morning, it was 3 1/2. By this morning, it is 4.
A lot of that is the uncertainty over whether Bernard Pierce can play and how effectively he can play if he does.
Maybe at least a little of it is the bettors watching Chester Stewart game film.
Either way, it does not show a whole lot of confidence in the Owls.
Stewart is going to have to play better, avoid a Penn State-like three-pick performance  and his penchant for fumbling for the Owls to have a chance.
There’s very little in the game film to believe that he will.
Chester improved over the Penn State game, but the improvement was inches, not feet. He did fumble a ball that Army recovered late in the game, but that was not reviewed. Good for Temple that it wasn’t, but an indication that the bad habit hasn’t been shaken.
I think Temple’s best chance is to have both Bernie and the Bug back there in a two-man set and have the NIU defense on their heels.
Throw on first down to keep them on their heels more. Use play-action on second and third down. Get Joey Jones in there to run reverses and then have him throw off reverses.
It’s going to take a full bag of Matt Rhule’s tricks to win this one.
If the Owls can pull this off, on the road and  as tired mentally and beat up physically as they are, it will be their most impressive win of the season.

Temple fans got to experience a beautiful setting and a win Saturday.

Rather than feeling blue once they arrive later this week in Illinois to face a Northern Illinois team that won at Minnesota and is coming off a 50-point outburst in a win over Akron, Temple’s football players might be in a bit of a comfort zone once they arrive.
Heck, playing perhaps the first- or second-best team in the Mid-American Conference is  a challenge, but this season has been one step steeper than the other so far.
They are used to challenges and, in almost all cases, they’ve risen to it.
Nothing new to these Owls after what they’ve been through, the latest a come-from-behind 42-35 win at Army.
This is the dangest schedule I’ve ever seen Temple play.
Maybe not the toughest, but I don’t remember ever seeing a schedule where the next week’s challenge was tougher than the last one.
The Villanova game presented a huge monkey in the form of getting back the Mayor’s Cup and credibility in the old hometown.
Check.
Central Michigan meant slaying the reigning perennial champion in the league.
Check.
UConn might have been the biggest one of all, sending a message to the Big East that Temple, not Villanova, was the Philadelphia team they should have kept and should go after.
Check.
Penn State would have been a program-defining win and shocked the world, but who could forsee losing a Heisman Trophy candidate on the day when the quarterback would throw three picks?
Uncheck.
Now Army.
It’s almost impossible to fathom a Temple team scoring 29 straight points against a good team in front of 30,000 of their fans, but that’s what happened yesterday.
Check.
“It was the biggest win we’ve had since we’ve been here,” Al Golden said.
I believe him. I believe it, too.

I thik in many respects this opponent was even tougher than Penn State was because the Owls had to get that one out of their heads and, at the same time, focus on how to stop a difficult offense in a short work week.
Now Northern Illinois.
They don’t seem to be getting any easier, do they?
Maybe this schedule provides just the focus these Owls need to avoid pitfalls.
Great job by Matt Brown, but also a great job by Mark D’Onofrio making the necessary adjustments to shut down Army’s sophisticated scheme. Quarterback Chester Stewart played better, didn’t panic, didn’t throw into reads. Maybe he learned something watching Penn State game film. Still holds the ball too much like a loaf of bread for my taste, but maybe some more film study will rid him of that bad habit.
And who knew Joey Jones could throw the tightest spiral of the day?
The schedule has demanded the team and the fans focus on the next challenge and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Apparently, neither do they.

Walking out of the Penn State game on Saturday, someone wearing Penn State blue told me not to worry.
“Who do you have next week?” the man asked.
“Army, at Army,” I said.
“You should spank them pretty good.”
“I don’t think they can spank anyone right now,” I said. “I don’t think they’ve found the paddle.”
Mixing metaphors, I really don’t think they’ve found the trigger to their offense.

Bernard Pierce says he’s a fast healer, but  unless he went to Lourdes, I don’t think he’ll be able to play this week.

They have all kinds of weapons and plenty of gunpowder, but I question whether they have the right guy to light the fuse.
Tom Leonard had a great line earlier this week, tossing in another metaphor.
“He’s got a gun for an arm but he has no scope.”
Everyone said I should not judge Chester Stewart on the basis of the Penn State game because the Lions are too good.
Fair enough, but the four-game body of work is not all-that-impressive, either.
Sure, there was the game-winning drive against Villanova and the 62-yard touchdown pass to Michael Campbell.
Those were two drives out of 28 Temple drives that night.
Where was Chester the other 26?
That’s a fair question. To say he disappeared would not be an unfair answer.
Thirteen points against a Central Michigan team that Northwestern put up 30 on is not all that impressive, either.
UConn?
The Owls were down, 16-14, when Adrian Robinson stole the game.
They added to that total behind Delano Green and Bernard Pierce, not Chester Stewart.
I didn’t see very many big plays from Chester in that game, either.
Against Penn State, I saw a true freshman quarterback play like a redshirt junior and a redshirt junior play like a true freshman. A program-defining win theirs for the taking and only a 46-yard, three-interception performance prevented them from taking it.
Forgive me for not enjoying that.
So do I expect Chester to break out against Army and throw for 300 and three touchdowns?
That’s neither fair nor realistic.
I would not be surprised to see the Owls to be impotent on offense once again, especially if The Franchise (see crutches above) doesn’t take the field. Although Army’s 24-0 win over North Texas doesn’t look all that impressive on paper, North Texas won at Florida International (the same FIU that took Rutgers down to the wire) and North Texas lost excruiatiingly close games to in-state rivals Texas A&M and Rice. Army led at Duke, 35-7, before winning that one, 35-21. Before you dismiss Duke, the Blue Devils scored 48 points on Wake Forest. This Army team can score and ballhawk.
If the game is low scoring, this is a game Army can win. If Temple can only put up 13 against Central Michigan, will it put up a lot more than 13 at Army?
I doubt it.
Yeah, I’m worried.

No, that headline is not a typo and I know Temple lost to Penn State, 22-13, not, 31-30, on Saturday.
I came across this terrific video the other day while preparing for the Penn State vs. Temple game.
I looked at it again tonight.
It’s from the 1976 Temple vs. Penn State game, a 31-30 final with the bad guys, as usual, on top.
Temple coach Wayne Hardin went for two to win it (there was no overtime in those days) and the ball agonizingly went off the Temple player’s fingertips.
One of the things that struck me about it was how well Terry Gregory passed in that game and how well-conceived the offensive game plan was.
That was 1976, but the way Temple passed the ball in the 2010 game, you’d think we were back in the single wing days now and not then.
Terry Gregory was not even the 10th-best Wayne Hardin quarterback in my humble opinion but Hardin could recognize good quarterbacks when he saw them. Steve Joachim, Marty Ginestra, Frank DiMaggio, Tim Riordan, Lee Saltz, Brian Broomell, etc., all were better quarterbacks than Gregory. Why was Temple able to get those guys then and not now?
Call it what you will but Al Golden has struggled with identifying good quarterbacks or at least putting good ones on the field. He lucked into his best QB, Adam DiMichele, when Alex DiMichele was recruited as a fullback by former coach Bobby Wallace.
Since then, the Temple quarterback play as been spotty at best and that’s probably a generous characterization of it.
I think it’s pretty obvious the 1976 Penn State team was better than the 2010 Lions, so Gregory lighting them up for 300 plus yards was impressive.
My Kingdom for a Terry Gregory-type quarterback now.
Or an Adam DiMichele.

Subliminal message No. 1 for AG

UNIVERSITY PARK _ I had three overriding thoughts after this long day and a three-hour tease they called a game today:
1) Forty-six yards through the air ain’t cutting it. I don’t know if it’s Matt Rhule’s fault or Al Golden’s fault or Chester Stewart’s fault, but 46 yards through the air ain’t cutting it and it’s got to be fixed. After the Navy game last year, I mused out loud if Al Golden had the err, intestinal fortitude, to make a quarterback change. It turned out he did and I applauded him for it. How many coaches have the stones to remove a quarterback who has won six straight games for underperforming?  It turned out Al Golden did. Vaughn Charlton’s numbers against Navy last year were 5 for 17, 36 yards, two INTs. Chester Stewart’s numbers against Penn State on Saturday mirrored those, except he threw one more INT. I’m sure Chester is a nice kid, just like Vaughn is but now, like then, I think it’s time for a quarterback change. If Mike Gerardi or Chris Coyer can’t get me 200 yards in the air against Army, we’ve got to rethink our quarterback recruiting. But I think either one of them gets two bills against Army. Chester Stewart is a one bill quarterback, if that. You just can’t win over the long haul in major college football these days without a viable passing attack and Temple did not display a viable passing attack in any of the first four games.

Subliminal message No. 2 for AG.

2) Temple is just not any better than an above-average team without The Franchise in there. When TF (or BP) is in there, Owls are a great team. Without him, Owls struggle and I mean struggle to win the MAC (and probably fall short). Keep our fingers crossed that BP returns next week or the week after. Matt Brown is a great third-down back, but he’s not a feature back. It’s no coincidence that, with St. Bernard/The Franchise/Bernie’s MAC Show in there, Temple had a lead. When he left, it all went to the crapper. That’s pretty much the way the season has played out so far.
3) Unless a miracle happens, the best-case-scenario for Temple fans is two straight trips to Detroit, one for the MAC title and one for the bowl sponsored by a Pizza company. I only have one word for that. Ugh. I will make one but not both trips. I just have to figure out which one. Probably the MAC title tilt, since I want to see the Owls prance around Ford Field with the MAC trophy secured. I’m sure the walk from the parking lot to the indoor stadium will be too cold for at least one Temple fan to make either trip.

I can tell you somewhat fewer than this number are in the stadium now.

UNIVERSITY PARK _ My relationship with Black Shoe Diaries doesn’t go back as far as my relationship with Penn State fans, but both are solid and based on mutual respect.

I’ve been coming up here for 30 plus years and have gotten nothing but first-class treatment from Penn State fans. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had my Temple sweatshirt or jersey on and been invited to Penn State-run tailgates. I’ve made a lot of great Penn State friends over the years that way.
Once inside the stadium, it’s been the same thing. Penn State fans are tremendous fans.
Black Shoe Diaries found me about five years ago and we’ve had this question and answer session once a year every year since.
My thanks to Mike of BSD for the great questions and for keeping the comments on topic.
I do not tolerate personal attacks on my website and it’s good to have people out there like Mike and Shawn Pastor (Owlsdaily.com) and John DiCarlo (Owlscoop.com) who won’t tolerate personal attacks on theirs.
Today is all about the game. That’s all real Temple fans should be thinking about.
Is it the biggest game in Temple history?
No and yes.
No, because losing it wouldn’t be as big a blow to the solar plexes as losing to UConn would have been (Big East explusion, Big East refs, etc.).
Yes, because Temple would have the most to gain from this win over any other in its history. Win this one and the regional respect soars through the roof. Win this one and it clears the table for 12-0.
The benefits of 12-0 are enormous.
Can you say Rose Bowl?
Can you say Heisman Trophy?
I thought you could.
Go Owls.
(No prediction other than 24-21, either way.)

Way back on June 24, I hesistated to write this post because I knew Temple’s first three games were a mine-field.
I knew Temple could just as easily be 0-3 going into Penn State as 3-0.
Even most Temple fans I knew thought the Owls would be 2-1.
I went ahead and wrote the post anyway because I felt this was the year Temple is best-equipped to beat Penn State and it focused on what beating the Lions would mean to the Owls and their long-suffering fans.
Now that the Owls have zig-zagged their way through the mine field, this game should be fun.
The Owls can win this game.If there’s any pressure, it’s not on them but the Lions.
The Lions have quarterback issues.
Temple’s got a good defense.
If Bernard Pierce gets in a groove, the Owls can shorter the game on offense with some clock-consuming drives.
The Owls have a terrific punter and a great place-kicker.
They have six returning all-league players back on defense, so they should be able to contain a Penn State offense that had trouble sustaining drives even against Kent State. Despite the fact that defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio has not been as aggressive as I would like in rushing the passer, I think he’s figured out one of the best ways to win is rattling the true freshman into interceptions and fumbles. So maybe the Owls will change up and bring the heat this week. I trust D’Onofrio whatever he does.  He might be the best coach on the field Saturday.
Chester Stewart, the Owls’ quarterback, has improved slightly with each game and that’s a good sign.
Yeah, this is the year.
Will they get it done?
Hard to say.
This looks to me like a 24-21 game either way.
In that case, I’m glad Brandon McManus is on Temple’s side.