Best Result: Good Guys a Lot, Bad Guys a Little

Cincinati had to kick a field goal with 18 secods left here to beat Delaware Sttate, 23-7, in 2012.

Cincinnati had to kick a field goal with 58 seconds left here to beat Delaware State, 23-7, in 2012.

When people ask me about my favorite Temple football games of all time, a lot of them expect me to say the Navy game of 2009 and the New Mexico Bowl win of 2011 or the Garden State Bowl win of 1979.
Nah, I say. All fun games, but not in my top three.
My favorite Temple football game of all time was Temple 45, Delaware 0. A close second was Temple 31, Delaware 8—both at Delaware before capacity houses of over 20,000 fans. (I also enjoyed Temple 56, Uconn 7, at Franklin Field and the 56-28 and 49-7 wins over Rutgers.) At Veterans Stadium, when Delaware was the top-ranked team in Division II (now FCS) football, Temple beat Delaware 36-7 (see inset). I enjoyed that game very much. topranked
All of those schools liked to talk smack about Temple back in the day and it was especially gratifying when Temple did the talking back by pointing to the scoreboard.
You get my drift. When the good guys score a lot and the bad guys score a little, those are usually my favorite Temple football games.

Delaware State is Delaware Light.

Delaware State brings a new meaning to the term “bad guys” on Saturday, perhaps because they are as bad on the field (0-3) as they are in the community.

I’m expecting a big game from the good guys on Saturday, only because Temple needs to get some work done on offense. If it does do good work, the Owls should light up the scoreboard.

Or it could be like Cincinnati in 2012, which plodded to a 23-7 win over the same program.

Hopefully, it will be more like those Temple vs. Delaware scores above.

Taking Care of Business

Matt Rhule’s press conference this week.

One of those little annoyances about Temple football is the inability to sustain a weekly highlight show in the Philadelphia market.

Penn State has one. Notre Dame has one. Even Rutgers has one. Temple, which has 155,000 of its 275,000 graduates still living in the Philadelphia TV market, does not–unless you are counting the Temple TV station (Channel 55 on Comcast) in Philadelphia. While tossing and turning and thinking about Fordham and Idaho at 4 a.m. this morning, I went through the channels looking for a replay of The Roosevelts (PBS, every night this week) and found Matt Rhule’s press conference instead.

Hopefully, the producers of that show will put a microphone in the crowd because you cannot hear a single question being posed.

Maybe if Temple goes to a bowl, the highlights’ show returns to Comcast next season.

That’s one order of business that needs to be taken care of and it won’t be accomplished without a big win over Delaware State. I’m not one of those Temple fans who writes “I’ll settle for a one-point win.” I’m settling for a big win–about 44-7 would be nice, 63-0 would be better.

I’m on record as saying Matt Rhule would be better for this program than Steve Addazio ever would have been, but he’s got to start doing some of the things that Daz made routine–including putting away these lesser opponents. When Daz arrived, the uni needed him to take care of business against Villanova and he did that twice by 42-7 and 41-10 scores. Against a service academy with strict academic admissions standards and a five-year post-graduate commitment, Army, Daz put up 63 points by throwing just five passes. Temple, with no such tight restrictions, should have been recruiting at a level for the past five years that made beating these service academies routine.

Rhule and the Owls need to take care of business starting Saturday.

Press Conference Notes: Somewhat surprised that we won’t be seeing Zaire Williams any time soon, but I hope that his problems are all injury related and he makes a big comeback …. doesn’t look like the Owl coaches took any time watching the Eagles’ game Monday night to see how the Eagles used 5-6, 170-pound Darren Sproles. Too bad because that’s the best way to use Khalif Herbin, who was drafted No. 1 by his teammates in the Cherry and White Day Draft. The kids know who can play and who can’t. Too bad the coaches don’t seem to know. My biggest fear is that for the second year in a row the most unique offensive talent for Temple will be lost on an island of inactivity. Call it Slot Receiver Island for Herbin; last year it was Tight End Island for Chris Coyer. It’s No-Man’s Land for Temple. Just like to see five … five .. Darren Sproles-like carries from scrimmage for Herbin on Saturday. If he does nothing, put him back in No Man’s Land … What are they afraid of? …. Good interview with Temple center Kyle Friend on Temple TV this week. They asked him about goals and he said winning every play should be the focus. Seems humble for the best center in the AAC and a great leader for the Owls to follow. .. looks like David Hood will get some carries this week. Owls need to find an explosive guy who can take it to the house at RB.