Tag Archives: Louisville

10.05.13
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P.J. Walker: Teddy Bridgewater Light

P.J. Walker had perfect touch on his TD pass to Jalen Fitzpatrick.

P.J. Walker had perfect touch on his TD pass to Jalen Fitzpatrick.

On the way down to the game today on the subway, I ran into four very attractive 40ish ladies wearing Louisville gear.
One of them saw my Temple football T-Shirt.
“You are going to love Teddy Bridgewater,” she said. “He’s very enjoyable to watch.”

Click over the photo to read account of the game.

Click over the photo to read account of the game.

I nodded and told her I was all too familiar with Bridgewater from last season.  Then they asked me for directions to McFaddens, I walked them there and they thanked me profusely. (Louisville had their pre-game tailgate at McFadden’s.)
All in the name of being a good host for fellow American Athletic Conference fans, even if it’s only for a year.
I walked away thinking about the “enjoyable to watch” comment.  I guess he’s enjoyable to watch, if you are into watching the bad guys. I haven’t really enjoyed watching a  quarterback since Adam DiMichele and that’s because he played for the good guys. (Chris Coyer was also good the bowl year, but he’s no Adam DiMichele because that kid made more good throws in pressure situations under duress than any Temple quarterback I could ever remember and I really admired ADM for that.)

Looks like Khalif Herbin is not in Witness Protection, after all (we had to hire a private detective, Mike Edwards, to take this photo).

Looks like Khalif Herbin is not in Witness Protection, after all (we had to hire a private detective, Mike Edwards, to take this photo).

Still, I saw enough of P.J. Walker today to know I’m going to like what I see in the not-too-distant future. He’s no Adam DiMichele, at least not yet, but he reminds me a little of Teddy Bridgewater Light, at least the Teddy Bridgewater I saw two years ago when he quarterbacked Louisville to a 7-6 record. Walker is nowhere near as good as the current Bridgewater, but maybe by the end of the season he’ll be throwing more than one touchdown pass a game and we can start the discussion.

Last week, the problem with Connor Reilly was the brutal play-calling. I’m still convinced had Temple committed to moving the sticks with a short passing attack instead of throwing 50 long bombs, the Owls would have beaten Idaho fairly easily. Still, the few times Connor was allowed to throw an intermediate pass, he seemed to throw it through the receiver instead of leading the receiver. On Walker’s long first-half pass to Robbie Anderson, he led the receiver perfectly just like Bridgewater does on many of his throws. That’s encouraging.
Who knows how good Walker is going to be, but I think there’s enough of an upside there to think he’s going to be really good. The best predictor of future success is past success and Walker is last year’s New Jersey High School Player of the Year, giving Temple its second N.J. Player of the Year in as many seasons. Khalif Herbin, the 2011 winner, was spotted on the sideline and I would love to see him get a chance to play, too. He’s a playmaker, like Walker, but, like Walker before today, it’s pretty hard to make plays from the sideline.
All I want from Walker is to be American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and, while that won’t happen this year, I think it can not too far down the line. Hopefully, I’ll be on someone else’s subway one day telling people, “You are going to love P.J. Walker. He’s very enjoyable to watch.”

 

Related:

http://templefootballforever.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-haves-might-haves-and-have-nots.html

10.04.13
by

Teddy Brewskis

Click over the photo of a great head coach, Ball State's Pete Lembo, for five possible upsets this weekend. We're already 1-0 with Iowa State covering the 9 against Texas. If you win any money this weekend, please throw one percent this way via a pay pal donation. Thanks.

Click over the photo of a great head coach, Ball State’s Pete Lembo, for five possible upsets this weekend. We’re already 1-0 with Iowa State covering the 9 against Texas. If you win any money this weekend, please throw one percent this way via a pay pal donation. Thanks.

Teddy or Brewskis?
Or both.
Or just stay home.
That’s the dilemma Temple fans are facing this weekend.


Temple vs. Louisville
Time: Noon
Place: Lincoln Financial Field
Breast Cancer Awareness Game
(fans are asked to wear pink)
TV: 6ABC, ESPN National
Announcers: Eamon McAnaney (play-by-play)
former Monsignor Bonner and New York Jets
tight end Anthony Becht (color)
Radio: 1210AM
Announcers: Harry Donahue (play-by-play)
former Heisman Trophy runner-up
tailback Paul Palmer (color)

Come to the game, have a few brewskis, then watch a very bad matchup for Temple, Teddy Bridgewater vs. a secondary who could not cover a fat guy at a picnic. Or stay at home and have a few brewskis and watch on TV.
For years, I’ve cajoled and pleaded with Temple fans on this site to come to the games and support the Owls. Based on the results of the first four games, I cannot do that anymore.
Although I will be there because I haven’t missed a home game except for work in the last 30 years, I would not blame a single Owl fan for not attending. We’ve already been through one rebuilding cycle, eight years of total misery. It’s really too much to ask this fan base to go through another, even for a year or two. I’ve got an idea: After Saturday’s game, let’s win now. Let’s face it, unless God himself intervenes and has the pigeons knock down Bridgewater’s passes, Temple isn’t winning this Saturday but that doesn’t mean it can’t win a lot of the ensuing Saturdays.


We’ve already been through
one rebuilding cycle,
eight years of total misery.
It’s really too much to ask
this fan base to go through
another, even for a year or two

I’ve been hearing too many “we can wait, we’re not Alabama” and “we’re rebuilding” comments lately from the Matt Rhule Apologists (the MRAs).
Please stop. We’re not rebuilding, at least not when it comes to talent, and we can’t wait, not with Board of Trustees’ decisions on stadiums and leases due within a year or two. Nothing says no to a building a stadium on campus or extending the Linc lease better than an 0-12 or 2-10 season.
The rebuilding was supposed to stop with Al Golden’s “I’m building a house of brick, not straw.” Golden kept his part of the bargain, recruiting five straight No. 1 classes in the MAC. One of Steve Addazio’s recruiting classes was No. 55 in the country, putting him No. 1 in the MAC and ahead of any of the Golden classes, which never got rated any better than 55th in the nation.


Run the ball against the 247-pound-average
Fordham defensive line and the Owls might
have gotten 500 yards on the ground alone.
… Commit to a short passing game, like
North Texas did in a 40-6 win over Idaho,
and Temple wins like North Texas did

Well, where did all this talent go? Did they transfer out?
No.
There’s enough talent here to beat Fordham, 51-14, and Idaho, 36-6.
If this talent was coached properly, those would have been the scores but those were not the scores and this talent has not been coached properly.
Run the ball against the 247-pound-average Fordham defensive line and the Owls might have gotten 500 yards on the ground alone. Heck, one St. Francis of Loretto back got 293 on his own against that vaunted defense.  Commit to a short passing game, like North Texas did in a 40-6 win over Idaho, and Temple wins like North Texas did. Instead the Owls attempt what only seemed like a hundred 50-yard bombs to slow-footed receivers that are overthrown by 10 yards each time. That’s not Carl Lewis running under those passes, they are midget versions of Riley Cooper. (Unless Nate Hairston and Khalif Herbin are allowed to run under those throws and, except for a couple of Nate cameos against Idaho, it seems like both of those guys have been in Witness Protection.)
Did that look like smart game-planning to you?
We’re not asking for Temple to be like Alabama here. We’re asking for Temple to be like North Texas. North Freaking Texas.

Scout.com’s National Recruiting Rankings

Year Temple North Texas
2013 92 124
2012 55 110
2011 95 113
2010 75 117
2009 89 116
2013 result Idaho 26, Temple 24 North Texas 40, Idaho 6

Teddy Bridgewater vs. a Phil Snow-coached defense is perhaps the biggest mismatch I’ve ever seen in a Temple game in the last 30 years. I’m hoping Temple shocks the world and wins but I wish I had more than hope.
I don’t.
Hope and pigeons is all I’ve got.

10.01.13
by

Breaking Bad: Temple’s season

Matt Rhule has plenty of company in his misery. Four other new coaches have experienced similar "success" and click over the photo to read about them.

Matt Rhule has plenty of company in his misery. Four other new coaches have experienced similar “success” and click over the photo to read about them.

Like 10.5 million of my fellow countrymen, I watched the final episode of Breaking Bad on Sunday night.
If you a fan of great writing, as I am, there was no more well-written show than Breaking Bad.
A compelling story has a beginning, middle and end all neatly tied together.
That’s why I loved Breaking Bad.
I think the Temple season is very much like the show.
In the beginning, while I had my doubts about the lead character, we’ll call him Matt Rhule because that’s his name, I fell for the “we’re not a 4-7 team” comment, thinking that was pretty much Rhule guaranteeing without saying that this 2013 team would do better than 4-7.


Not asking here for a return to Dazball,
but a more balanced offensive scheme
appears to be in order.
Use the run to set up the play-action
pass, not keep attempting 50-yard bombs
that are overthrown by 10 yards
all of the time. Use Chris Coyer
coming around the end and give him
a run-pass option as part of the team’s
regular Tennessee-Chattanooga offense.
Every football organization in America,
except maybe this braintrust at 10th
and Diamond, knows the Wildcat
offense never works anymore.

I didn’t think last year’s team was a 4-7 team, either, and I felt since most of that team was back 4-7 was an unacceptable benchmark for this one.
Let’s face it, this team won’t get four wins. Wins over Idaho and Fordham were a must to get to a bowl game and those bowl prospects now are about as dead as Walter White.
The Temple team that scored 62 points on Army doesn’t exist anymore. Yes, the same guys who opened those interstate-highway-wide holes for Montel Harris to run through still exist on this team, but this coaching staff would rather throw 50-yard bombs to slow edge receivers than commit to a more balanced approach.
Not asking here for a return to Dazball, but a more balanced offensive scheme appears to be in order.

Ft. Knox checking in ... which reminds us, if you like this blog, send a gold bar or even a small contribution via the pay pal link on the sidebar. Thanks.

Ft. Knox checking in … which reminds us, if you like this blog, send a gold bar or even a small contribution via the pay pal link on the sidebar. Thanks.

Use the run to set up the play-action pass, not keep attempting 50-yard bombs that are overthrown by 10 yards all of the time. Use Chris Coyer coming around the end and give him a run-pass option as part of the team’s regular Tennessee-Chattanooga offense. Every football organization in America, except maybe the braintrust at 10th and Diamond, knows the Wildcat offense never works anymore.
Do that, and you get better protection for your quarterbacks to hit those kind of throws.
The offense is at least fixable.
The defense is a disaster, but I expected that from a coordinator who gave up 44 points a game two years ago and 38 points a game last year. The definition of insanity is hiring a DC who gave up that many points in his last job and expecting him to do a better job in his next one.
We are now entering the middle of this story and, if the first few chapters are any indication, it’s not going to be a good end.
While the season is Breaking Bad, the story unfolding in it is nowhere near as compelling.

Related:

http://templefootballforever.blogspot.com/2013/01/meet-your-new-likely-coordinators.html