Tag Archives: football

05.28.26
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An historic opportunity for fan engagement at Temple

The “later date” is today and the time and network is the ESPN flagship network and Temple football will be the only thing on in every sports bar in country in the most crowded Happy Hour of every week, Friday.

On the surface, a 4 p.m. start on a Friday afternoon for a Temple football game looks pretty strange.

First of all, Temple fans who can afford to do it will have to take a day off–or at least negotiate a half-day–to get in some semblance of a pre-game tailgate.

What we’re talking about is Temple being part of an ESPN tripleheader starting at 4 on Sept. 25 with a home game against a true national team, Army.

That’s the somewhat bad news.

The good news might outweigh it, though, if the university as a whole takes this as a challenge.

Declare that Friday in September “Temple Football Day” on campus and cut off all classes at noon. Start a free shuttle bus system at 12:30 in front of the Bell Tower that runs every half hour and make sure the students get treated like royalty with free food and a free tailgate when they get off the bus. Incredible, because it involves not only the 10,000+ students living on campus but the 20,000+ plus students who commute to Temple from Philadelphia and the suburbs.

You are not going to get all 30,000 full-time students to buy in but 15,000 is a realistic goal since cash-strapped students (I know because I was one 100 years ago) love free stuff.

It’s an investment not only in the future but in the present.

Temple football being the only thing on every TV in every sports bar in the country during one of the most lucrative times of sports TV watching–Happy Hour on the final day of the work week in America.

If the university tried to purchase that kind of national advertising, it would cost in the high millions. They now have it pretty much for free and must capitalize to create an engaged crowd showing a worthwhile product.

That means, on a Friday in Philadelphia, students leading the way.

Have those fans watching an involved crowd of mostly students behind their classmates would be the most positive advertising Temple can ever purchase not even locally but nationally.

K.J. deserves all the credit for this terrific idea.

The future part comes into play by establishing a bond between the current students–both commuter and residents–and the university and attracting financial support down the road from students who remember their positive experiences with the school while at the school.

A fun, winning, game against a nationally known team like Army is a positive experience. (That would involve a whole day of defensive practice against the triple option one day a week during at least August and maybe through the first three weeks of Sept.)

We’ll leave the winning part up to head Temple football coach K.C. Keeler and his staff.

The creating the experience part is up to President John Fry with a nudge from athletic director Arthur Johnson. Thousands of engaged, happy, students now lead to millions in contributions in 20 years. A small investment now for a huge return later.

That ball is in their court or, in this case, field (Lincoln Financial).

Monday: A Surprise Position

It’s about time the student section comes back to this level of support. The Army game provides a perfect opportunity.

05.24.26
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College Football News checks in on Temple football

Every once in a while, you read something on the internet from a guy who thinks he knows everything about Temple football.

With Temple playing Penn State on Sept. 12, we are going to run into a lot of those guys.

Like this guy:

Pretty good tweet followed by an ignorant one about Temple not fielding a football team.

My only answer to him is something a very wise man once said on the cross more than 2,000 years ago: “Father forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing.”

In that case, saying it’s a shame Temple stopped fielding a football team. A guy from “Sinking Spring, PA” who should have known better.

I shamed him in the following four posts below his name, including receipts.

Others with some knowledge–like College Football News–are doing a deeper dive into Temple football and coming up with a more fair and balanced assessment.

The one guy who answered the 2stripesCPD post would be wise to read that assessment of this fall’s Temple football team.

Like us in February, College Football News and Temple Football Forever are in agreement that the Owls will finish 6-6.

Unlike CFN, we hope we are wrong and can see a pathway to a few more wins. First, we know Jaxon Smolik is inexperienced. On the other hand, not even in the Al Golden and Matt Rhule Eras–no doubt the best of the last 20 years–was Temple able to recruit a 4* quarterback. (P.J. Walker, for example, was a 3*.) Now, weirdly in this transfer portal era, 4* guys stuck behind other 4* guys are dropping down to Temple.

The Owls might benefit from that.

In fact, our post last week was us putting our money where our months were and plucking down $10 on Temple to win the American Conference football championship, repeating a feat it was able to accomplish a decade ago. That $10 investment could return us $460. (I wish I had $100 for a $4,600 return but we preach only bet what you can afford to lose.)

The twitter account @gnestro probably doesn’t even know Temple football won the AAC title in 2016 nor appeared in the championship game in 2015.

Father forgive him, because he doesn’t know what he’s saying. Or talking about. With Temple football playing Penn State this year, it won’t be the first or last guy who claims Temple gave up on fielding a football team.

So we have to get ready for those kinds of comments.

College Football News supplied the most interesting stat in its lead paragraph and that was in 33 years of football, K.C. Keeler has never had two losing seasons in a row.

He doesn’t plan on having one now, no matter what that guy down the street who claims he knows something about football tries to tell you. Plan is the operative word and what Keeler has done both maintaining and adding to the roster is the result of over 30 years of planning and it should pay dividends once again.

Friday: The Most Surprising Room

05.15.26
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What will the next Halcyon Days look like?

Only sustained winning will enable Temple to repeat this: 35,000 of its own fans for 2015 Homecoming against Tulane.

A little bit after Temple beat Penn State for the first time since 1942, Matt Rhule visited our tailgate and was holding the game ball.

He gave it to 90-year-old Wayne Hardin, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and said, “Coach, this is for all the times you came close and should have had one of these.”

Taking it all in, I turned to my good friend, John Belli (RIP), and whispered, “These are the good old days.”

He understood.

It wouldn’t get better than beating Penn State and extending them the courtesy of a worse beatdown that 27-10 by taking four knees to end the game on the Lions’ 12-yard-line.

Tailgating late into the night afterward was the Cherry on top of that White.

Why didn’t it finish 34-10?

That was a little bit of the Penn State in Matt Rhule. I would have scored the touchdown to make the final 34-10, but that’s me remembering Joe Paterno rubbing it in when Penn State won by 47-0 and 55-7 scores.

Today, a football site dedicated to the G5 remembered that 2015 team was a damn good one. What they forgot to note was that the team in the next year was even better.

That got me to thinking.

Was I right when I mentioned that to John?

Yeah.

Not only did Temple beat PSU that year, it went 7-0 and hosted No. 9-ranked Notre Dame and drew the highest rating for a Prime Time game ever in the 4th-largest TV market. Had safety Will Hayes turned the right way on a touchdown reception, the Owls would have started 8-0.

I shouldn’t have thought beating PSU was the Zenith of Temple football but I said it out loud then. Maybe it was prescient.

Because in no way did I ever dream that college football would devolve into what we have now. You not only pay to play, but you pay to win.

As much as I would love to beat Penn State in September of this year, I’m a realist, too. They pay to win and as much as I like to think Temple has a chance to win that game, I don’t.

What will the next “Halcyon Days” at Temple look like?

Webster’s dictionary refers to Halcyon Days as being “a very happy and successful period in the past.” We can be happy in the future, but I think it’s unrealistic given the current landscape to expect to be as happy as, say, 9/5/15 or championship Saturday the next season. I think K.C. Keeler is every bit the coach Rhule and Al Golden were so there could be happy days in the future.

Happier?

I think Temple–with the No. 1 recruiting class in the AAC and the No. 1 transfer portal class–has an outside chance to win the league this year but I think that would be more likely next.

Still, would it match that two-year stretch in 2015/2016?

You don’t win this attendance title with just ND and PSU sellouts. You win with getting 35,000 all Temple fans to do the wave at Homecoming.

No, because the student involvement with the program then was much more strong than it is now and enabled the Owls to draw 35,000 of their own fans for a 48-14 Homecoming win over Tulane in 2015. You need sustained winning seasons to build that kind of support and even if the Owls have one now after four 3-9 and one 5-7 seasons the fan momentum is not at the level in 2026 that it was a decade or so ago.

So, what do we have to hope for?

Minimum 6-6 seasons going forward with an occasional league championshipis the ceiling.

Even though that ceiling isn’t high, it certainly beats the floor we’ve seen in the six years of Carey/Drayton.

Unless college football goes back to the foundation it had then, that’s a ceiling we will have to embrace.

05.11.26
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P.J. Walker: A legacy that will never be duplicated

Without this final drive, Temple doesn’t even get to the title game, let alone win it.

Just a small note in the transactions section in the back of the Philadelphia Daily News, but it jarred a lot of good memories:

“Quarterback P.J. Walker has announced his retirement from football.”

Here are the top 10 quarterbacks of all time from a statistical standpoint at Temple. Arguably, Walker had the best career and Evan Simon had the best single season.

After nine years in three pro leagues, mostly with the NFL, Walker has decided to move on with his life, and we wish him the best because he gave us his best.

For all the NFL success he had, he will be most famous for the legacy he left as a Temple Owl: Winning.

Steve Joachim was on this impressive list of Maxwell Award winners from the 60s and 70s.

You can have all the stats you want and Walker compiled some impressive stats with the Owls, but here is something that will probably never be duplicated under the current lawless college football landscape.

Consecutive double-digit win seasons.

Walker was the quarterback for a pair of back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016, and, in that period, Temple football went to one AAC championship game and won another.

What would happen now if Temple had a 10-win quarterback? He would probably be poached by a P4 school. That’s the sad reality we live in today.

Same can be said for career numbers. E.J. Warner had a chance to break all of Walker’s numbers after getting off to a good start but decided that the grass on the other side of the Edberg Olson fence was greener.

Lee Saltz (left) with Paul Palmer is No. 6 on the career list.

It wasn’t. He never had as good a year elsewhere as he did his first two years at Temple.

Is P.J. the greatest quarterback of all-time at Temple?

There’s a good argument to be made for him, but there is just as good an argument for Steve Joachim, who had a better winning percentage and was able to take home the College Football Player of the Year trophy (Maxwell Award) in 1974, finishing just ahead of Ohio State’s Archie Griffin, who won the Heisman that year.

Joachim also had the highest passing rating (141.7), while Adam DiMichele was second (134.3) and Simon third (133.1).

Passing ratings are a fine indicator but, as far as careers go, Joachim and Walker’s couldn’t be beat. In the current climate of musical chairs among players and coaches, though, it’s safe to say that those two legacies won’t ever be matched.

Friday: The Halcyon Days

05.08.26
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Don’t bet against a team with two All-Americans

Temple punter Dante Atton (laughing, No. 7) is a preseason first-team All-American. Peter Clarke may join him.

(Photo courtesy of Zamani Feelings)

On most betting markets, the Temple football “over/under” is 5.5.

That means, if Temple wins six or more, you win and “The Man” (the house) loses.

Fortunately, I jumped on future College Hall of Fame coach K.C. Keeler and the Temple Owls when the man gifted me a ridiculously low 3.5 last year.

Going to do the same this year at the 5.5 number.

The reasoning is simple.

It’s hard to beat a G5 team with one All-American. It’s even more difficult to beat one with two.

Yeah, I know the No. 1 concern is a quarterback position where the Owls don’t have a single guy who ever started a college football game, but anyone who watched the Cherry and White game (raising my hand here) was more than satisfied with the performance of Penn State transfer quarterback Jaxon Smolik.

He’s got a little bit of Joel Embiid in him in that his career is injury plagued but there’s a chance he’s past that.

He certainly will have two All-Americans to work with if things play out the way we expect.

When I watched the Cherry and White game on April 11 (and got a $100 ticket for “speeding” on Broad Steet going 41mph), I was aware the Owls already had one certified consensus pre-season All-American in punter Dante Atton.

This week, the realization hit home they have another: Tight End Peter Clarke.

Clarke was named one of the five “tight ends to watch” this week and Mel Kiper had Clarke as one of the top 10 tight ends on the entire board had he come out for the 2026 draft.

Instead, Clarke made the gamble to return to Temple to move closer to the No. 1 tight end of the 2027 class and the gamble seems to be working because people have been watching his film in the offseason and noticed.

Add to that the fact that Clarke’s character is off the charts and that’s something every NFL team likes.

Clarke was the glue who kept an entire G5 roster together. Keeler gave him the credit for not only retaining the current roster (“we were the only G5 team not to lose a single starter”) and recruiting the No. 1 transfer portal group in the entire G5.

Catches in traffic mean a lot, YAC (yards after catch), too, but add on character and that’s an unbeatable combination.

To be a first-round NFL pick, Clarke won’t have to match Bruce Francis’ 2008 season with the Owls (15 TDs) but just reach 10 TDs and 1,000 yards.

That’s about the number for every past first- or second-round NFL draft choice in the past.

Winning will raise his profile even more so maybe that’s why Clarke worked so hard to build the roster.

Ironically, Clarke’s main goal is to lead an offense that keeps the other All-American (Atton) off the field.

My guess is Atton won’t mind if the Owls score touchdowns and kick field goals and never punt. (I know that sounds crazy but Temple went two straight games without punting in the 2023 season, led by quarterback E.J. Warner. Going 10 more may be a stretch, but it’s a goal worth striving for.)

If that happens, the Owls blow way past that 5.5 number and make a lot of their fans happy.

And maybe their wallets much thicker.

It still won’t pay my Cherry and White speeding ticket, which is due May 23, but the ROI on the Owls should pay dividends come December.

05.03.26
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A fluid situation: Temple’s home schedule

Up until a few days ago, the last weekend of September was already planned.

Tailgate on Saturday morning, a game on Saturday afternoon.

Then the schedule makers changed things up by moving the Saturday afternoon home game against Army to a Friday night game.

There are good and bad things about that Friday night (9/25) date.

First the good.

Temple gets a chance to open some eyes on national TV against a respected opponent.

Then the bad.

From Temple’s perspective, an extra practice day against Army is always a good thing especially considering that the Owls have to travel to Toledo on Sept. 19, which is exactly one week after the home Penn State game.

Not an ideal situation, so maybe head coach K.C. Keeler will set aside a practice day per week to install defensive principles against Army and Navy.

Whatever problems Temple had against Army were offensive-related, not defensive, in a 14-13 loss. You limit Army to 14 and you should be able to win the game. My feeling last year was Temple didn’t take advantage of its passing game and played into Army’s hands.

Maybe that approach changes this year. We’ll see.

Evan Simon threw for over 300 yards against Navy but didn’t get that same chance because Army capitalized on the time of possession. He uncharacteristically overthrew tight end Peter Clarke in the end zone and that would have given the Owls the win.

Also problematic in the Army game a year ago was a 45-yard field goal miss by Carl Hardin. You get so few scoring opportunities against Army, you have to cash it and Temple missed two big chances there.

The realization in this day and ago is that the schedule is so fluid fans will have to rearrange any plans they have given the time of games and day of games. That’s all due to TV controlling things.

It’s not ideal but it’s all part of the imperfect college football world we live in today.

Friday: A Second All-American

Monday: Legacy Pecking Order

04.30.26
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Regrets, some ex-Temple football coaches have a few

How did college football get into this mess a lot of us more traditional fans see clear as day now?

Well, it started way back in 1869 as a true amateur sport where students could get some exercise competing in “interesting” athletic competitions with rival schools.

The perfect rivalry in those days was Princeton and another school up the road, Rutgers.

So they started one with a “football” game in 1869.

Nobody was paid. Nobody was expected to be paid.

Then, for the next century or so, the sport lived on under the “amateur” umbrella with as close to a level playing field as possible with every football player getting the same thing–room, board and tuition.

That’s the best way to level the playing field.

That’s how the 1979 Temple team led by Steve Conjar, Brian Broomell and Mark Bright–and an offensive line Joe Paterno called the “best in college football”–came 16 points short of 12-0 and a would-be national championship.

I would have given anything to have witnessed that in real time.

Instead, I lived to see that team go 10-2 and become the first Temple team to win a bowl game, destroying a California team that gave both USC and UCLA a much more competitive game than they did Temple.

That was in Giants Stadium where 52,233 seats were sold but 40,000 Temple fans made it through the turnstiles on a 40-degree day that felt like 20. There might have been 300 California fans there, but I seriously doubt it.

Consolation prize because I know I will exit this world with the most imperfect college football system since 1869.

The most compelling argument for what happened after 1987–when SMU got the “death penalty” for doing what every school does now–has always been, “Well, if coaches can break their contracts to go to other schools without having to sit out a year, so should players.”

$100 bucks that I don’t have for providing coverage for this website. I’m sorry, 41mph on Broad Street is not speeding. Today would be a good day to contribute whatever you can to help me cover this monstrosity via the paypal link on the sidebar. Thanks in advance.

My counterpoint was that a contract is a contract and should be honored by both parties until the end of the contract. In other words, BOTH players and coaches should have to sit out a year if they “transfer” and that would end a lot of this current instability we have now.

That probably wouldn’t have withstood the legal system, unfortunately.

Now, everyone–players, coaches, water boys–can move on without consequences.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t regrets on both coaches and players sides.

Collins always had Temple practicing outside in the snow. He said it was part of the “Temple TUFF” culture and fullback Nick Sharga (left), who, in my mind was the MVP of the 2016 championship team (great fullback and linebacker), is now a Catholic Priest.

The biggest Temple football news this week was that Geoff Collins, who holds the unique distinction of being the only Temple coach to NOT have a losing season, said on a national podcast that his “biggest regret was leaving Temple.” The funny thing is that Collins, had he continued those 7- and 8- win type seasons at Temple, would have had a job for life.

Moving up always comes with some risks and Collins found that out the hard way. My feeling was I didn’t like Collins’ OC (Dave Patenaude) but felt he could have done just enough to win and get to bowl games, which should be the goal at Temple.

Still, it’s obvious he had regrets leaving good money at Temple for better money elsewhere.

My guess is that some players have had the same regret, especially Jadan Blue who, after an 81-catch season at Temple, left for a 10-catch season at Virginia Tech. Had Blue duplicated his numbers as a senior there that he did as a junior here, he would have no doubt been an NFL draft choice. Instead, he fell into oblivion.

It’s a cautionary tale for current Temple players who might be thinking the grass is greener outside 10th and Diamond.

Fortunately, the group in the building now seems to have bought into K.C. Keeler’s philosophy. He’s not looking to go anywhere and the players aren’t either. That’s not a culture every other school has right now.

That’s a formula for winning that Temple fans might appreciate come December.

Monday: A Fluid Situation

04.23.26
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The Ultimate Survivor Show: Temple’s Nadia Harvin

Great job by Temple TV’s Ashley Lovelace here.

Amazing in my mind that the show The Survivor has been on for 26 years now.

It seemed like only yesterday that I watched the first year when Richard Hatch won the $1 million prize in the year 2000.

At the time, I thought that was nothing because Hatch survived only one season.

By then, Temple University’s Nadia Harvin survived her 14th season in the football program.

TFF’s interpretation of interesting: Asshole (sorry, Nadia)

Whatever this stupid new show, I thought, was child’s play in comparsion.

It still is.

There is no nicer person involved in Temple football than Nadia and no survivor story anywhere in college football that even compares. Her job is “executive assistant” to the Temple football head coach and, no matter who the Temple football head coach is, she has survived.

They have not.

Nadia has been the rock of Temple football for not only Bruce Arians, but for Jerry Berndt (RIP), Ron Dickerson, Bobby Wallace, Al Golden, Steve Addazio, Matt Rhule, Geoff Collins, Rod Carey, Stan Drayton and now K.C. Keeler.

Wow.

Me? With this kind of diplomacy, I would have lasted about six minutes, not 50 years.

Since all these big-time college football coaches like to bring their own staff, Nadia’s longevity is not only impressive it is spectacular. A lot of this is due to the relationships she made along the way, not only with the players but with the fans.

I thought about all of this while attending my 58th-straight Cherry and White Day. I stopped by Joe Greenwood’s tailgate, where I usually she Nadia but missed her this time.

That was one of the rare occasions, though. I almost always run into Nadia on gameday and she usually gives me a hug and when I write something negative, she admonishes me and I write something positive gives me encouragement, but she knows my heart is in the right place.

As do I with her.

When I got home I watched the excellent job Ms. Lovelace did on the above piece and have to second the motion.

This is the kind of recognition Nadia Harvin deserves.

Geoff Collins with Nadia after the GT job imploded. Probably not happy he ever left Temple.

Love her short descriptions of the coaches she served under.

Pretty damn diplomatic. Despite Daz getting Temple to a bowl game in his first season with Golden’s players, I thought that Daz was a detriment to the program. After a 4-7 season, I knew Temple football enough that the administration wasn’t going to fire him but heard on KYW radio while driving past the Rydal SEPTA Regional Rail Station that Boston College gave him a job.

I banged on the steering wheel in celebration that they took him off Temple’s hands.

When Carey was fired, I was shocked that Temple did an un-Temple-like thing in firing a guy with two years left on a $2 million per-year contract.

Didn’t want Stan Drayton because I felt a school as large and as prestigious as Temple was deserved a big-time winning head coach and not a guy whose Peter Principle was an RB coach.

Now that they have one, Temple football has become a lot more interesting than it ever was under Daz or Carey and, I for one (maybe thousands) are glad longtime people like Nadia Harvin will be around to see the results.

In this definition, interesting means winning more than it means asshole.

Monday: The Most Crowded Room

04.19.26
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Tyler Walker’s Best-Case QB room scenario: Be Best

We really don’t get into politics in this blog, but one recent “political” phrase sums up my assessment of the current quarterback room after spring practice.

Be Best.

Secretly, it also could be offensive coordinator Tyler Walker’s best-case scenario. Walker was brought into Temple to duplicate the dynamic offense he had at Montana State, which featured a quarterback who could do an equal amount of damage with his feet as he could with his arm.

Hard to believe Temple is going to get this kind of production from its next QB. However, if it’s a dual running and passing threat like Lamar Best, that opens up what Tyler Walker was brought here for and that’s a dynamic explosive offense with a dual-threat QB.

Nothing puts the fear of God into a defensive coordinator than that type of guy.

That’s where the “Be Best” motto comes into play.

Now I know that Lamar Best has an outside chance of winning the starting quarterback job, but here’s hoping he matures quickly between June 1-September 1 because that is Temple’s best chance of duplicating what Walker did at Montana State in 2024.

Winning that job would pretty much be up to Lamar once he gets here. That’s the hard part. The easier part is for Lamar to keep doing what he’s been doing all his life: Moving up to better competition and proving he belongs.

Right now, after Smolik’s spring, he’s a little behind.

If, as expected, Jaxon Smolik wins the job he will be a carbon copy of Evan Simon.

According to Chat GPT, Simon has a chance to get drafted in the middle rounds and that was because of his accuracy in throwing the football. Smolik seems to have the same accuracy but his history of being oft-injured raises questions.

Like, what if he goes down?

Probably the least surprised person if Lamar Best won the job would be Augie Hoffmann, the legendary HC at St. Joseph’s.

Does Temple have a guy who can win? It certainly purchased a $100,000 insurance policy in Oregon State starting quarterback Gevani McCoy and, had Simon gone down, chances were pretty good the Owls could win the same number of games (five) they did with Simon.

After watching the Cherry and White game, not so sure current backup Ajani Sheppard has the same kind of chops McCoy had. Maybe that was just a bad day.

The last true freshman QB starter TU had (E.J. Warner) put up these numbers in 2022.

Let’s hope so.

If, though, Walker can bring Best up to speed, it gives him the kind of quarterback who can open up the Walker playbook in a way that both Simon and Smolik couldn’t. Put it this way: Simon still ran Walker’s read/option offense last year and did the best he could with it when he saw an opening to run. Usually, an optimal outcome on those types of plays were 4–6-yard runs. A guy like Best can take a play like that to the house. Maybe several plays like that. Defending against that type of guy makes other areas more explosive as well.

There are examples all over college football of a true freshman coming in and not only starting right away, but leading his team to breakout seasons. Bear Bachmeier of BYU is the latest example.

If Best becomes the next one, Temple could be, err, the best team in the American Conference.

Friday: The Ultimate Survivor

Monday: The Most Crowded Room

04.16.26
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5 Biggest Surprises of Temple spring ball

North Allegheny is a great football school and Kolin Dinkins earned his scholarship to Penn State there.

The saying that applies here is that “to beat the man you’ve got to be the man” and it applies to at least three of the surprises from Temple spring football.

Thanks to the loyal followers of our site who put us at the top of all Word Press Blogs today for stats.

Yeah, I know the most important goal is to win the American Conference football championship and I’m onboard with that but a secondary goal that would wake up this entire region is to duplicate the feat of 2015 and beat Penn State.

For a lot of casual football (and not even college) fans, Penn State is The Man. Temple football would move Heaven and Earth (and many of the Joe Football Philadelphia fans) to boost attendance with a win in the second game of the season. (Yeah, I know beating Rhode Island is the focus now but let’s be real.)

Never believed it before, but three Penn State transfers did some convincing for me that it could be a rallying cry for the 2026 Temple Owls. They were not “The Man” at Penn State but they all could play a part in beating the man.

My hesitance has always been this: Temple is asking the third-string Penn State quarterback to beat the second-team Penn State quarterback behind him and that’s never a good plan. Now Penn State did what Temple wasn’t able to do and grab a big-time Iowa State transfer, Rocco Becht, that former Iowa State and current PSU head coach Matt Campbell brought with him for big bucks. Ethan Grunkemeyer, who stepped in as PSU starter (making Smolik a backup) when Allar went down, followed James Franklin to Virgina Tech.

According to our research, Jaxon Smolik will be the first player from Iowa in the 134-yard football history of Temple to play here. Might as well get the first-team All-State QB.

How delicious would it be for an Iowa native, Jaxon Smolik, to beat the big-time Iowa State star of last year? Hell, Smolik, a 2023 grad, was a bigger “person” on campus at Dowling Catholic High than Caitlin Clark, who was ahead of him for a year.

Smolik had an outstanding spring for Temple and tossed three touchdown passes in the Cherry and White game. As of now, he is way ahead of Washington State backup Ajani Sheppard and a bunch of guys who participated in spring ball. This blog is a big fan of Lamar Best and I hope he gets a chance to beat out Smolik for the No. 1 job when summer camp begins on June 1.

If, however, Smolik hold onto the job because of what he does against Best from June 1 to Sept. 1, there will be no bigger Jaxon Smolik fan than me.

That’s where the other two surprises come into play, other Penn State transfers safety/LB (Viper) Colin Dinkins, and tight end Joey Schlaffer. Dinkins is from a great Western Pennsylvania football school (North Allegheny) and Schlaffer is from a great soccer school (Exeter) in District 11.

Dinkins got on the field way more than Smolik (500 snaps, mostly on special teams) at Penn State and Schlaffer caught a touchdown pass in a 52-6 Penn State win over Villanova.

Now the Temple coaching staff found the sweet spot for Dinkins, a hybrid LB/safety position and Dinkins has proven virtually unblockable on QB blitzes. This is what head coach K.C. Keeler has said about Dinkins:

“He’s so damn dynamic, he’s making plays maybe shouldn’t be made,” Keeler said after the scrimmage. “He has a knack of blitzing and being disruptive.”

You think the winningest active Division I head coach (Keeler) isn’t going to find a way for Dinkins to be disruptive?

That leaves the other two big surprises of camp, Illinois transfer portal safety transfer Saboor Karriem and Temple holdover Luke Watson (OT).

Karriem made all of the plays in the first two weeks of camp and that should not have been surprising. He led Illinois with 10 tackles (seven solos) in a win over then No. 21 USC just seven months ago.

Watson was forced into a starting OT tackle role as a true freshman when Stan Drayton forgot to recruit enough tackles three years ago. Keeler with one of his few shots at Drayton: “Watson should have never started as a true freshman but he’s come into his own now.”

Watson will anchor an experienced and talented offensive line that went toe-to-toe with some great talent Keeler brought into Philadelphia.

Surprises?

Sure.

But to beat the man, you’ve got to get the men and Temple has done enough to make any game a toss-up and that’s all fans can ask for at this point.

To be sure, by the second game, there will be at least three Owls as motivated to beat Penn State as the 40,000 Temple fans in attendance will be.

Monday: Slogan