Tag Archives: Georgia Tech

09.18.25
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GT-Temple: Only one more chance to meet the moment

Another scoop and score for the Owls against Georgia Tech would be nice, maybe two.

From a conference standpoint, there are plenty of chances for Temple to meet the moment this year.

From a reality standpoint, there is only one and that one is Saturday (4:30 p.m., The CW Network) at Georgia Tech.

Why?

Let’s finally see that throwback pass to Kajiya Hollawayne, who hits JoJo Bermudez for six. That would qualify as a Trojan Horse.

Simply because even if Temple is only able to do something that is a 7.5 percent possibility (according to ESPN) and win the American Conference championship, there will always be a “yeah, but. …” aspect to it.

“Yeah, but they were blown out by the only two big-time teams on their schedule, Oklahoma and Georgia Tech.”

I will take that “yeah but” knowing that still the storyline of what could be a remarkable season includes the chapter which will be written Saturday.

Here’s what it could be:

“Amazing season for Temple. It not only won the American Conference championship it beat Georgia Tech, which went on to win the ACC.”

Scratched my head all week wondering how that could happen and came up with the Troy theory.

In my mind, Temple is a better team–maybe MUCH better–than Troy, which went into Clemson and took a 16-0 lead before falling, 27-16. GT had to have a Herculean Effort to beat Clemson, 27-24.

There are a lot of fans out there who think Georgia Tech is closer to Oklahoma in roster talent than it is to Troy yet there is a lot of evidence to the contrary.

We will see come around 8 p.m. or so Saturday.

The “wise guys” in Vegas say this will be a 24 or 25-point game which projects to a probable score of 34-10 or 35-10.

Hmm.

Temple is the only game in the country in the 4:30-7:30 TV window. Click over for better view.

Not if GT is closer in ability to Troy than it is to Oklahoma.

Maybe Temple is GT’s “Trojan Horse” which was a legendary tale of subterfuge that marked the end of the Trojan War. After a prolong siege of 10 years, the Greeks devised a clever plan to gain entry into the heavily fortified city of Troy. They constructed a large wooden horse, hiding a select group of soldiers inside and left it at the gate as a supposed offering of peace. The Greeks pretended to sail away and the Trojans brought the gift horse into the city. While they slept, the soldiers inside the horse opened the gates for the rest of the Greek Army and a surprise upset occurred.

That’s where the Troy-Temple comparison comes into play.

I will admit my theory about Temple being better than Troy is out there but so was the Trojan Horse a dozen or so centuries BC.

Maybe that’s a sign that new OC Tyler Walker should try a few trick plays because going at Oklahoma conventionally did not work.

This is Temple’s one chance to meet the moment from a national perspective. The season can still be good with a loss, but this moment is out there to be had so why not seize it?

Late Saturday Night: Game Analysis

03.07.18
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Eye on Atlanta: Root for Georgia Tech

urban

Hopefully, Temple’s stadium will be closer to this than the crude drawing released recently

Hard to believe, Harry (Donahue), that one of the websites that list such things has placed Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson on the hot seat.

A few years ago, Johnson was one of the hottest coaches in the country at The Naval Academy, now he’s sitting on a hot seat. That’s life in the Power 5.

If you are a Temple football fan, you’ve got to root for him and his Georgia Tech team this season because when Owls’ head coach Geoff Collins called Temple “a developmental program” a month ago tomorrow, he probably meant it with his coaching staff, too. Three of four of Collins recent hires are from the state of Georgia and his current defensive coordinator, Andrew Thacker, was a position coach at Kennesaw State (also known as the Owls). Kennesaw is in Cobb County, which is in the Greater Atlanta metropolitan area.

Collins himself as a history at Georgia Tech, being the recruiting coordinator there for the Yellowjackets. If you don’t think this staff is being developed for a place like Georgia Tech, you probably don’t believe that General Billy Sherman burned the town to the ground 168 or so years ago. If Collins does well here this fall, he certainly would move to the top of the Georgia Tech wish list.

So that’s probably what Collins means by a developmental program. Ask him if he considers Georgia Tech a developmental program.

Still, rooting for a solid year from our friend Paul Johnson is almost as good as rooting for the Owls themselves.

That’s the lay of the land, though, in the “developmental” AAC.

In January, Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo interviewed for the Arizona opening. While he  decided to remain in Annapolis, had he left the Midshipmen it would have left Tulsa’s Philip Montgomery as the longest-tenured head coach in the American Athletic Conference, after only three seasons with the Golden Hurricane.

Coaching turnover has become a fact of life in the American with six head coaches leaving the AAC for jobs at “power five” schools. Next year, Memphis’ Mike Norvell and USF’s Charlie Strong are sure to attract suitors.

A good year for Paul Johnson probably won’t mean Collins will be here for life, but it would certainly close at least one very attractive door and limit the damage to Temple’s program for at least another year.

How’s that Georgia Tech fight song go again?

Friday: Thoughts on The Mitten Hall Fiasco

Monday: Spring (Practice) is in the Air

Wednesday: Our New Scheduling Buddies