04.23.19
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What’s Next for Temple? A NY6 Bowl

visual proof

Getting an AAC championship home game would be a logical next step.

A few days ago, we checked a few of the boxes that we once did not think were possible for Temple football:

  • Beating Penn State
  • Two NFL first-round draft choices
  • A National Player of the Year
  • A league championship
  • College football game day

A cynic might suggest there’s not much left to accomplish as long as this program has Group of Five status but the Owls can do something either this year or next that they haven’t been able to do so far:

  • An AAC championship HOME game
  • A New Year’s Six Bowl Game.

It certainly isn’t low-hanging fruit this year as both Cincinnati and UCF figure to be picked ahead of Temple. Even if the Owls won the AAC, scheduling Bucknell could prove to knock them out of an NY6 game–this year either the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl–just like the ill-advised Stony Brook game probably had a big hand in knocking the AAC champions out of the Cotton Bowl in 2016. Had the Owls then scheduled, say, an ACC team or another (good, not average) Big 10 team and beaten them, they would have had at least as compelling a resume as unbeaten Western Michigan did.

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That’s probably the strongest argument for dropping all FCS opponents going forward, at least from Temple’s perspective and maybe the league’s as a whole.

Still, the Owls now have a coach who has beaten the Big 10 in four of the six games he has played them and more talent here than he did at his last stop so he should not be afraid of asking Pat Kraft to upgrade the non-conference portion of the schedule and that, combined with another AAC championship, is what this program should strive to accomplish.

If not this year, then certainly next when the Owls should be stronger and UCF and Cincy weaker.

Friday: Gauging The Competition

Sunday: Bulking Up a Position

Tuesday: Shot Chart

 

04.19.19
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Temple Football: Checking Five Magic Boxes

Penn State v Temple

Robby Anderson celebrates win over Penn State with many of the 70,000 fans that day

There was a lot of talk on Saturday at the various aptly named fun-fest stops about the current and the future of the Temple football program but, to get an appreciation for where we are now, it is a worthwhile endeavor to reflect upon the last decade or so.

There was no one more optimistic than me on that December day in 2005 that Al Golden was hired but if you told me one … ONE … of these things would happen in the span of 10 years I might agree it was possible.

All five?

I’d have to say you were crazy.

Consider these five boxes checked:

Penn State v Temple

Sharif Finch suckers Hackenberg into a near pick six.

Beating Penn State: This I would have believed the most. Temple had come close many times before in this series but just never got to the finish line.  Getting this monkey off the back, though, might have been the most satisfying of the five boxes we’re checking today. Having a capacity house of 70,000 fans (more Cherry than Blue in the stands) cheering their heads off for something that has not happened since 1941 was awe-inspiring. Having Temple be the team showing mercy to Penn State by taking four knees deep in Nittany Lion territory when it could have scored easily to make it 34-10 made it that much better.

golden

Al Golden no doubt was watching this day. I wonder if he saw his photo?

Being the focus of ESPN’s College Football Game Day: Not only were the Owls the focus, but the thousands of cheering Temple fans that filled Independence Mall made it one of the more iconic Game Day shows in that program’s history. Mix in a national TV game between then No. 21-ranked Temple vs. No. 9 ranked Notre Dame that night in 2015 that went down to the last play and that was the topper. If the Owls ever won a game they lost (24-20), that was it. It was the second-highest rated college football game on TV in 2015 and the Philadelphia rating of 18.2 (higher than most Eagles’ games) made it the most watched college football game in Philadelphia of all time on ESPN.

Tyler Matakevich, Temple, Notre Dame,

 

Having the National Defensive Player of the Year: Maybe the most difficult needle to pass through is getting a Temple player a prestigious national player of the year award but, in 2015, Tyler Matakevich squeezed through it by getting both the Chuck Bednarik and Bronco Nagurski Awards as national defensive player of the year.

Getting Two NFL first-round draft choices: In Mo Wilkerson and Hasson Reddick, the Owls have had two first-round draft choices in a span of five years. More, obviously, to come–maybe this season–but that’s pretty good stuff.

NCAA FOOTBALL: DEC 03 AAC Championship - Navy v Temple

Winning a championship: Winning the AAC is not a national championship, but it’s darn good. The year the Owls won their league, 2016, Navy beat Notre Dame (28-27), Cincinnati beat Purdue (38-20), Memphis beat Kansas (43-7) and Houston handed Oklahoma one of its only two losses (33-23). Temple, though, was the team in that league which hoisted the championship trophy of that league.

Hopefully, there’s more of that kind of hoisting to come.

Tuesday: What’s Next?

 

04.17.19
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5 Takeaways From Spring Ball

Five takeaways from spring football which just concluded with the Saturday’s Cherry and White practice:

Offensive line getting thin

Usually, you don’t think about offensive linemen being thin but, certainly, the ranks of the offensive line thinned considerably with the loss of former Chestnut Hill Academy standout Darien Byrant to a transfer on Monday. New OL coach Joe Tripodi said last week that his primary concern was getting eight offensive linemen ready to play and that he had eight. We hope he wasn’t including Byrant among the eight because he now only has seven ready offensive linemen going into the season. Byrant could not crack the starting lineup in two years but the Owls have an outstanding first-team group of center Matt Hennessy (6-4, 295), guards Jovahn Fair (6-2, 300) and Vince Picozzi (6-4, 295) and tackles Isaac Moore (6-7, 305) and Adam Klein (6-5, 264).  This might be an area to scour the JUCO ranks for an immediate signee as Bryant’s departure has freed up a scholarship.

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Russo on a different level

Defensive backs know who the good wide receivers and quarterbacks are so, when Keyvone Bruton was asked on April 6th what player on the entire team has stood out the most, his mention of quarterback Anthony Russo was an eye-opener: “I know he was good last year but, this year, he’s just on a different level as far as throwing the ball, knowing the offense.”  Toss in the fact that new head coach Rod Carey has said backup Todd Centeio has established himself as reliable and Trad Beatty is just behind him makes the Owls much more solid in this position than they have been in years. Russo’s TD/Int ratio should improve by getting away from Dave Patenaude, who used the pass to establish the run. Carey’s offenses have always used the run to establish the pass and that’s where Russo’s skill set should shine.

wright

Waiting on Wright

Carey also said that wide receiver Isaiah Wright would be “moved around a lot” to utilize his explosiveness. A lot of people have interpreted that to 15 carries a game and a couple of pass receptions but, to me at least, putting Wright full-time at running back makes the most sense. Up that to 20 carries a game and the Owls will be that much more explosive because they have the luxury of play-makers at wide receiver like Branden Mack, Jadan Blue, Freddie Johnson, and Randle Jones. The Owls have no such depth at running back although Jager Gardner and Tyliek Raynor should be able to split the remaining carries. A guy who came out of nowhere this spring is Valley Forge Military Academy product Trayvon Ruley, where he was a two-time conference MVP.

Open competition at corner

While there is an open competition for the starting cornerback position, Temple is the only team among the 130  in FBS with two returning cornerbacks who have had returned interceptions for touchdowns (Christian Braswell versus UConn and Ty Mason versus Tulsa) and they might not even be the best cornerback on the team because Linwood Crump Jr. has the most experience.  Baylor transfer Harrison Hand will be in the mix if he gets the OK from the NCAA clearinghouse.

Defensive Line is set

If you thought the defensive line was good last year, it just might be better this one and that’s despite losing NFL draft choice Michael Dogbe and underrated interior run defender Freddy Booth-Lloyd. Starting ends Quincy Roche, Dana Levine and Zack Mesday return but will be pushed by JUCO phenom Nickolos Madurie (6-6, 230), who had 17.5 sacks in his last full season. Interior is solid with Karamo Dioubate (6-3, 295) and Dan Archibong (6-6, 285). Depth here, like on the OL, could be an issue but that’s something the coaching staff has time to address between now and summer camp. Departures have freed up a couple of scholarships and this might be the time to grab a couple of JUCO impact linemen.

Even without that kind of insurance policy, you have to feel sorry for Bucknell and maybe even Maryland and Georgia Tech.

Friday: Checking The Boxes

(Back to a Tue-Fri-Sun rotation until summer practice)

Tuesday: What’s Next?

Friday: Gauging the Competition

04.15.19
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Still unbeaten on Cherry and White Day

https://twitter.com/i/status/1117135887396163590

Great question from Shawn Pastor here about tackling in the spring

On the same day the Sixers and Phillies got embarrassed, Temple football won.

The Owls always win on Cherry and White Day. Since 1894 or thereabouts, the Owls have never lost on the middle Saturday in April. If they had an opponent who wore some color other than Cherry or White, it would be the most impressive streak in sports.

For the past 40 years or so, I’ve been to just about every one of these days and I can not remember walking away thinking the Owls did not look good. Some of the days were bitterly cold and a couple of recent ones featured driving rain.

At least the weather (78, sunny) this time was good.

This time, though, was a little different. I got that vibe early when the public address announcer said the Owls would “simulate” a punt return–with the returner catching the ball and evading two guys who did not even attempt to tackle him. Then they went to a drill with the quarterbacks throwing the ball into the end zone to wide receivers. The only thing missing were defensive backs trying to knock that ball down.

New head coach Rod Carey certainly has his way of doing things and it’s way too early to know if this is a good way or a bad one. It certainly limits the number of injuries the team has in the spring but, at some point or another, the players are going to have to put on the pads and start hitting and punt returners will have to evade guys with ill intent and quarterbacks will have to thread the needle over the outstretched fingertips of safeties and cornerbacks.

Hopefully, they will get enough of that done in the summer practices.

Put it this way: Former head coach Geoff Collins had a much more “game-like” Cherry and White experience last year and lost to Villanova in the opener. Whatever he did, it did not prepare the kids for the opening day. If the guys who were playing a glorified version of pitch and catch on Saturday get off to an unbeaten first month, Carey’s way will be a better one.

That is the litmus test of how good this team will be, not what happened on Saturday.

Unlike the Sixers on South Broad Street, there was not a single boo to be heard on North Broad.

Wednesday: Recapping Spring Ball

Friday: Checking the boxes

04.12.19
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Cherry and White Day (but not Game)

 

 

best

Plenty of room for a football stadium here and it will be one for at least a day tomorrow.

As many of you have noticed over the last few years, the Cherry and White game we’ve all known and loved has pretty much devolved into a glorified practice.

Sometime after Brandon McManus left, we did not see any field goals and that was followed by no kick returns after Matty Brown left and no punts after Alex Starczyk left.  There hasn’t been a real sack in one of these games in 20 years with the quarterbacks off limits.

 

The game never really meant anything even before that but it was football and looked pretty much like the real thing.

there

Each time, though, the reminders were that the Cherry and White game was not a Cherry and White game but a Cherry and White day.

Getting rid of the game is one thing but getting rid of the day would be unacceptable.

That’s why what new head coach Rod Carey has done is a good thing, not a bad one. It’s been a practice for at least a good decade now so why not call it what it is? The goal of this whole exercise of spring ball is to get ready for the bad guys and having game conditions exacerbates the risk of injury to the good guys, something Carey found out early in his career at Northern Illinois.

Still, by going tomorrow (11:30 a.m., err, kickoff) at the Sports Complex we can learn a few things:

  • What is this new offense for which Anthony Russo speaks? Just about every article talks about Russo and his teammates learning a “new” offense but not a single one I’ve read (and I think I’ve read them all) says just what the new offense is? Wishbone, triple option, spread, run/pass option, pro set?  You think at least one reporter would have asked that question by now. We should get a good look on Saturday.
  • Wouldn’t that be a nice spot for the new stadium?  There will be thousands of Temple fans there and not one protester that they are there. The neighbors on the Broad and Master area are used to Temple hosting nearly 100 games in three sports at that site and the world did not end. They probably would not object to putting a football stadium there and having the uni use it only a half-dozen times a year.
  • What will Mayhem be replaced by? There were a lot of defenders woefully out of position, particularly on gouging running plays by opposing offenses the last two seasons. That will always be Mayhem to me and not the good kind. Temple fans should get a new appreciation for the term “staying home” on defense with the first clues coming tomorrow.

After that, though, it’s a long time before we see Temple football players in full uniform so appreciate the day, if not the game.

Monday: Cherry and White Answers

Wednesday: Spring Recap

Friday: Checking Some Temple Boxes

04.10.19
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Saying Goodbye is Hard to do

Fortunately, despite all of the turmoil in one section of the Edberg-Olson Football Complex, the coaching offices, Temple avoided it in the larger part of the facility, the locker room.

Until the last few days.

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First, the Owls got the news that kicker Aaron Bouhmeri was leaving and then, on Monday, wide receiver Sean Ryan announced via Twitter that he was leaving for West Virginia.

When you go to war, you want to go to it with all of your soldiers and those were two POTENTIAL starters. In both cases, though, there were reasons that deserve some illumination here.

 

One, Boomer–as responsible for the 2016 American Athletic Association championship as anyone on the team–was perpetually injured with a nagging hip flexor. He played a couple of games in 2018 but could not go on and there was a school of thought that he would be ready to kick in spring ball.

He was not and that did not make the new staff comfortable that he would be able to go in the fall so they are in the hunt for another kicker. I must admit when Austin Jones was the victim of a cheap shot at Memphis, the Owls were cooked for that season but who would have known that Boomer would hit 15 of 17 field goals and be just as good as Jones?

Boomer will always have a special place in Temple lore.

The Ryan case is different.

Isaiah Wright says he will carry the ball in the backfield this season and I think he will be turn out to be so valuable there that this coaching staff will have no choice of keeping him there even though they are talking about moving him all over the field. That, plus the star of last year’s spring game (Jadan Blue) returns to catch passes with the breakout star of the regular season, Branden Mack. Add to that the fact that Randle Jones and Freddie Johnson need receiving reps and that wide receiver room is so crowded they might have to knock down the walls.

As a certain government official says about the country, we’re full there and there is no more room.

I think Ryan saw the handwriting on the wall and left for West Virginia. I don’t know what he expects to find when he gets there, but he knows what is here and he decided he did not want to fight for reps. One thing I’m certain of is Troy’s Neal Brown is every bit the head coach Rod Carey is and will give him as fair a shot as Carey would have.

Anytime players leave, though, you wish them well and hope that they don’t regret the decision.

Meanwhile, it’s going to be harder to find a kicker with range than a backup wide receiver so we’re hoping Rod Carey and his staff have someone in mind.

Friday: Cherry and White Preview

Monday: Spring Camp Roundup

04.08.19
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Carey and the Alumni get off to a good start

goat

Former Temple lineman Ray “Big Cat” Haynes with Temple football’s GOAT (greatest of all time), Paul Palmer on Saturday

One of the few constants over the last 40 years of Temple football is the support of the football alumni.

That is guys who played on winning Temple teams in the past and want nothing but the same for the players of the present.

Even in the days of the 20-game losing streak and 20-plus losing seasons, a group of players set up in the Jetro Lot.

cat

Former Indiana offensive lineman Rod Carey meets and greets former Temple offensive lineman Ray Haynes. Photo credits: Ray Haynes

 

Coaches come and go but the players’ loyalty has always been constant.

That’s why around this time of year of any coaching change keeping an eye on how the new guy treats the ex-players always portends the future. Al Golden and Matt Rhule embraced the Temple tradition. Steve Addazio pretty much ignored the ex-players and everything Geoff Collins did screamed that Temple football started in 2005, not in 1894.

Fortunately, it appears Rod Carey has listened to Rhule where Collins did not because Carey has embraced the ex-players from all different eras with open arms in his first alumni day on Saturday.

Carey seemed genuinely interested in getting to know the guys who played for Temple and the coaches who they played for. Contrast that to Collins who, upon first meeting Paul Palmer, had no idea who he was.

“Who do you coach for?” Collins asked.

Players know who is a phony and who is not and Carey passed the smell test up close on Saturday. From all reports we’ve heard, the practice they saw was a crisp one with no time wasted on things like having the band play or putting a solid contributing running back up in the DJ booth and celebrating that. There was no guitar playing.

Only football and getting work done.

After two years of mostly nonsense, it was a refreshing change.

Wednesday: Saying Goodbye

Friday: Fan Fest Preview: It’s Not the Same

 

 

 

04.05.19
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Did Greatness Just Quit?

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Greatness doesn’t quit Temple football but, unless something changes, Sean Ryan apparently has. Credit: Alamy

Just about every Temple fan was disappointed when Sean Ryan’s name appeared in the transfer portal but, when you take a step back and look at it objectively through blue eyes and not cherry ones, it’s almost amazing how the Owls have only one significant guy thinking about a transfer.

That’s a good thing, not a bad one.

Look at it this way: Some of these guys have been through three coaching changes now so what’s the difference in a fourth? Or maybe some of these guys might think there’s a little too much instability in the coaching offices at the Edberg-Olson Complex and want out.

My only problem with the transfer portal is that it opens another opportunity for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. If this turns out to be an avenue for some of the better G5 players to find their way into the P5, then college football–already dying from the disparity between the Power 5 and those below–is truly finished.

That doesn’t appear to be the case here. If Ryan ends up at Georgia Tech, I might change my mind but I don’t think that will happen.

Temple head coach Rod Carey took a step toward nipping future portal problems in the bud when he said: “As soon as you go in the transfer portal, you are not on the team anymore.” That’s a powerful thing for an 18-year-old kid because he established relationships and a bond with his brothers and breaking that is hard to do.

First, from all appearances, Carey is here to stay for the long haul and there would be no reason for any Temple player to leave.

Ryan’s case is particularly puzzling. He had a nice freshman year (12 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown) but those stats are nothing spectacular. He also seems to have established a rapport with quarterback Anthony Russo and wherever he would go he probably has to establish a similar connection and that would be problematic at best.

For Temple, though, the effects are minimal. While Ryan was a projected starter, Jadan Blue returns from a fall off after catching a pair of touchdown passes in last year’s Cherry and White game and was arguably the Owls’ best receiver last spring in a strong group that included Ventell Byrant and Isaiah Wright. It’s entirely possible that Blue, having another good spring, could have beaten Ryan out.

The Owls can still switch Wright to running back because they have a formidable group of receivers that include Branden Mack (44 catches, 601 yards, five touchdowns), Blue, Randle Jones, and Freddie Johnson.

Hopefully, Ryan will take heed in the Temple motto “Greatness doesn’t quit.”

Or transfer.

Monday: Carey greets the Alumni

 

04.03.19
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The Real Darkside Defense

gang

Expect the Owls to return to this kind of gang tackling as shown in a prior Penn State game.

Geoff Collins handed out nicknames like candy.

Rod Carey hands them out like Scrooge with Christmas Gifts.

Different strokes for different folks.

Collins, the self-proclaimed Minister of Mayhem,  called his defense “The Darkside Defense” last season.  That same defense went out and gave up 45 points to Boston College, 49 to Houston, 52 to UCF and 57 to Duke.

Hardly a unit that earned any nicknames.

knowles

From left, Knowles, Rice and Stewart sound like a law firm but the are ready to defend the Owls on that side of the field this fall.

Keeping people out of the end zone is a priority for the Owls this season and Carey hinted as much in a radio interview with Harry Donahue when he said his defensive philosophy was to have a “more sound base” and to take fewer chances designed to create turnovers for the trade of keeping the bad guys out of the end zone.

The good news is that Collins brings a sound system for Northern Illinois and three outstanding defensive coaches in DC Jeff Knowles, Melvin Rice and Walter Stewart. Mix in co-DC Fran Brown with his special knowledge of personnel and the Owls will get a lot more from their talent than they have in the last two years.  On October 28, the Huskies won a football game against BYU by scoring just seven points because their defense only allowed six. Yes, that was the same BYU team that beat Wisconsin and that was the same Wisconsin team that beat Manny Diaz’s Miami team, 31-0, in the bowl game.

In Knowles’  first season as defensive coordinator this past fall, the Huskies were second in the FBS in sacks with 50, trailing only national champion Clemson. The Huskies were ranked 11th in the nation in rushing yards allowed per game (109.2), 10th in team tackles for loss per game (7.9) NIU had six all-Mid-American Conference selections on its defense.


In Knowles’  first season
as defensive coordinator
this past fall, the Huskies
were second in the FBS in sacks
with 50, trailing only national
champion Clemson. The Huskies
were ranked 11th in the nation
in rushing yards allowed per
game (109.2), 10th in team tackles
for loss per game (7.9) NIU had
six all-Mid-American Conference
selections on its defense

Arguably, with the linebackers Collins has now and a front line that includes returning starters like Karamo Dioubate, Dana Levine, Dan Archibong and Zack Mesday he probably has more talent than he had at NIU.

There is some learning for the coaches, especially ones who weren’t with Carey last year at NIU. One of them is Fran Brown, the co-defensive coordinator/cornerbacks coach. Brown coached four seasons at Temple, spent the last two years as an assistant at Baylor and is now back with the Owls.

One change in the defense, according to a recent Marc Narducci story, is that the Owls will play off more receivers instead of playing press coverage.

That tends to keep the play in front of the defensive backs and limits long scoring plays.

In other words, don’t expect this defense to give up 57, 52 or 45 points in any single game.

It’s not Mayhem, but Mayhem was never what it was cracked up to be so this change appears to be a welcome one.

We’ll just have to come up with a new nickname for those one-time dark side guys.

04.01.19
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20th Century Solution to 21st Century Problem

 

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At $5 a pop, people will be lining up for these seats at the new Temple stadium

You hear it all the time about modern-day problems of all sorts.

“You can’t apply 20th Century solutions to 21st Century problems.”

Strangely enough, from what we hear, Temple is close to announcing that a 20th Century solution will solve its most vexing problem of the last half-decade: Getting a neighborhood set on saying no to change its mind and say yes.

rooftop

A radical stadium design by the new stadium opens up seats in one end zone to be controlled by residents on the Norris side of 15th Street, with all of the proceeds for tickets sold on their rooftops going to the homeowners.

Temple got the idea from looking at photos of nearby Shibe Park, where 100 years ago the residents of Lehigh Avenue got some needed supplemental income by selling rooftop seating to Phillies and A’s fans.

“Money talks and it seems that the Norris Street people are listening,” one Temple source said. “We’re close. The new design will be a horseshoe and the open end will be facing the Norris Street side. We will build some pretty nice bleachers on the top of those houses and provide ticket takers and security at the front door of each house. The people who live there can go shopping on us for a couple of hours and, once the game is over, we will clean everything up and return the houses to those folks as they were.

“It’s a win-win for Temple and the community and we hope to present this idea at the next stadium stompers’ meeting. Hard for us to believe these people who are struggling financially will turn down this kind of financial windfall. Plus, Temple will have the most unique stadium design in the country. The rooftop seats will go for $5 each with the regular seating at $50 a ticket so there will be enough incentive for fans to use them.”

Applying good old-fashioned capitalism and an economic solution to the problem seems to work better than what the university has done over the past five years, pleading its case to a small group of people covering their ears.

“Hell, we’ll even call it Stompers Stadium if that’s what they want,” the Temple source said.

Happy April’s Fool Day everyone!!!!