Tag Archives: Matt Rhule

09.27.15
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Game Week Could Be Jager Gardner Week



“I’m sitting there
watching the cut-ups
in the offseason.
We have the ball on the
1-yard line and we’re
in five-wides running
quarterback draw.
My heart hurt.
That’s just
not what I am
and what I believe.
We’re going
to run the football.”
_ Matt Rhule,
April 28, 2015
 

While we have all been impressed by the greatness of Jahad Thomas, just about everyone knows it’s a long season in college football and the backups better be ready as well.

That’s one of the reasons why Charlotte, N.C., would be the perfect place for Jager Gardner to have his breakout game for the Temple Owls (7 p.m., Friday, CBS Sports Network). The other is that Gardner is from there, as his Owen High is only 116 miles West on Interstate 40 after a left turn from State Route 16.

Jager Gardner had a 70-yard touchdown run against the nation's No. 4 scoring defense in Temple's first scrimmage this summer.

Jager Gardner had a 70-yard touchdown run against the nation’s No. 4 scoring defense in Temple’s first scrimmage this summer.

As North Carolina goes, that’s a stone’s throw.

Another reason is that Temple head coach Matt Rhule has said repeatedly that, while Thomas had won the job fairly and squarely, there are a number of running backs right below him who “just as are capable of making explosive plays for us” and mentioned both Gardner and the pride of South Jersey, Ryquell Armstead. Watching Temple last week was like scratching your head and watching the Temple of yesteryear–literally, last year–and the number of times the Owls rolled out the three and four wides against a run defense that allowed 390 against Colorado was perplexing. You had to wonder if Matt Rhule forgot this quote: “I’m sitting there watching the cut-ups in the offseason. We have the ball on the 1-yard line and we’re in five-wides running quarterback draw. My heart hurt. That’s just not what I am and what I believe. We’re going to run the football.”

Oh yeah. Notre Dame torched that vaunted run defense for an additional 457 yards yesterday. For this Temple team to win, it must get back to establishing the run and passing off play-action. Period, end of story. It must get back to fulfilling the promise Rhule made on 4/28/15. Maybe getting more backs involved will help. After 67 yards, it could not hurt.

The last truly great back at Temple, Bernard Pierce, got only six carries and 44 yards in his first game as a true freshman against Villanova, but once he got into a game three weeks later at Eastern Michigan, he never gave up his spot. The same could happen for a guy like Gardner, whose high school stats were even more impressive than Pierce’s.

No one really knows if South Jersey or Pennsylvania football is better than North Carolina football or even North Jersey football, but the stats are stark.

rushing

As a senior playing for Elizabeth High, Thomas scored 15 touchdowns and had 889 rushing yards from scrimmage. As a senior playing for Owen (N.C.) High a year ago, Gardner had 2,776 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns from the line of scrimmage. North Jersey football might be real good, but it would be a stretch to say that it’s more than twice as good as North Carolina football. Armstead’s stats against similar competition were also good, scoring 18 touchdowns with 1,488 yards from scrimmage as a senior. He might be the Owls’ fastest back since Bernard Pierce, as both had the same exact time (10.8) in the 100-meter dash as seniors.

Either way, all three backs should be able to get extensive time for the Owls at Charlotte and, to quote a favorite saying from one of my fellow Owl writers, we’ll have to see how it plays out.

Tomorrow: (Mostly) Unseen Temple Photos

09.24.15
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Fifteen Perfect Plays=73 Points

Matt Rhule has a test coming up on Friday and Rick Stockstill has all the questions and answers right on that sheet.

Matt Rhule has a test coming up on Friday and Rick Stockstill has all the questions and answers right on that sheet.

Sometimes you get the process, sometimes the process gets you.

Or, as in the case of Temple head coach Matt Rhule, looking over the shoulder of Middle Tennessee State coach Rick Stockstill while studying for his next test should reveal a more perfect process.

statistics

Hopefully, when breaking down Charlotte for next Friday’s road game, Rhule and his staff will take note of what Stockstill did in the first quarter of a 73-14 win over the 49ers. It was a gift-wrapped process that the Owls would do well to borrow for the nationally televised game (Friday, Oct. 2, 7:30, CBS Sports Network).

The Owls have shown stubbornness for sticking with their own process instead of using one that worked against their opponents previously. It was shown in the UMass when Colorado, despite facing eight in the box, ran at will on the Minutemen by taking the inside runs outside and it accounted for 390 yards of rushing and a comfortable 48-14 win.

After watching a replay of the game, we counted only 15 plays used by MTSU the entire game. Most of the 73 points the Blue Raiders scored were set up by 15 perfect plays, but we will concentrate on the first two scores in a 42-7 first quarter. Both were seam routes to the tight end, right over the middle, the same kind of play Chris Coyer scored on at Memphis in 2013. Those two TE plays basically broke the game open and had the 49ers’ heads spinning, allowing the other 13 to work on a semi-regular basis. The other 13 were mostly variations of crossing passes over the middle, deep wheel routes, tight end screens, and pitches to the tailback on the edge.

Jordan Parker, a tailback, attacked the soft middle of the Charlotte defense for 140 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries. Parker also was effective on wheel routes out of the backfield—a play where the quarterback rolls to one side and hits the running back down the other.

player

The Owls have that wheel route in their playbook, as fans will remember P.J. Walker hit Jamie Gilmore in the hands with a perfect pass that would have been six against Memphis a year ago. They should dust it off for this game.

While UMass was susceptible to the run, Charlotte is the opposite—susceptible to the big play.

The beauty of those plays is the Owls have the athletes and the offense to execute them rather flawlessly.  Kip Patton is a guy who has the body of a tight end and the speed of a wide receiver and, if the 49ers had a problem covering tight end Terry Pettis, they are going to have more than their hands full with Patton. Establish the run on the first couple of plays, put the ball in the belly of the tailback, pull it out and then find Patton free over the seam. The 49ers have trouble covering the middle of the field and that’s an area the Owls should exploit. Pettis scored on touchdown receptions of 75 and 76 yards. Pettis’ 75-yard touchdown catch was the first of three one-play drives, also proving that the 49ers are susceptible to big plays. The Owls have plenty of those in their arsenal, too, and crossing patterns over the middle to Robby Anderson and Adonis Jennings should be open all night. MTSU wide receiver Ed’Marques Batties, a player with a similar skill set to Anderson, finished five receptions for 120 yards and three touchdowns and most of those were the result of deep crossing patterns over the middle.

Whatever Stockstill did, Temple should do. You cannot argue with 73 points.  When it is over, “Matt” can send Rick a thank-you card.

Tomorrow: AAC Football Night on ESPN

Saturday: College Football TV Guide

Sunday: Game Week Begins

Monday: Unpublished Temple Photos of Interest

sellout

09.11.15
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The Concept of a Letdown

There should be no such thing as a letdown in college football, but we all know it exists.

There should be no such thing as a letdown in college football, but we all know it exists.

One of the things I’ll never understand about college football is the concept of a letdown. A typical college player works like a madman for 353 days a year to perform 12 days a year and you would think the goal would be for optimum output just for those 12 days. In the other 353 days of the year, it’s OK to have a letdown.

The dozen game days are no time for a so-called letdown.

It should not be possible to have a letdown in college football. In baseball, basketball, with the preponderance of travel and sheer volumes of games, a “letdown” is understandable.

tuchart

Even though a letdown makes no sense given the minimum opportunities to demonstrate skills honed the other 353 days, letdowns inexplicably exist. History tells us that. A Temple team coming off a 38-7 high with a win at Maryland in 2011 followed that up with a 36-13 loss at home to Toledo the next week.  Very few people thought Toledo had more talent than Maryland. That was the same Maryland team that beat the real Miami, 32-24, in the previous week.

You could look at it two ways in that both Maryland had a letdown against Temple and Temple had a letdown against Toledo, but those were just two instances of what could be called letdowns and proof that they do exist.

Last year,  despite saying all of the right things, there can be no doubt Temple had a letdown against Navy. While Navy was good and ran a complicated style of offense,  Temple had much more talent. Before the game, coach Wayne Hardin took time to explain to me the simple way to beat a triple option team was to blitz a linebacker or a safety from the quarterback’s blind side because the Navy offense was designed to leave that side unprotected on pitches to one side. He said that more often than not the unprotected blitzer would be able to disrupt a pitch before it could be made.

fmembers

Temple never got the memo and never blitzed to Keenan Reynolds’ blind side even once. After a dominating 37-7 win over Vanderbilt, an embarrassing loss to Navy followed.

bmembers

You could call that a letdown, too.  No one can predict what is going to happen tomorrow night, but the facts as we know them are Temple is coming off what had to be both a physically and emotionally draining 27-10 win over Penn State. The ingredients for a so-called letdown are there.  The Owls are saying all of the right things about avoiding a letdown against Cincinnati tomorrow night but the Owls said the same things after Vanderbilt a year ago (see the above headline).

Hopefully, deeds will prove stronger than words this time.

Tomorrow: Cincinnati’s Defense

Sunday: Game Analysis

Monday: Photo Essay

09.08.15
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Arians’ Reaction to Win Was Classy

bruceandanthony1

When Bruce Arians led the Arizona Cardinals to a late-season upset of the Seattle Seahawks two years ago, it was the final loss of the season for the Seahawks on the way to winning the Super Bowl. The question for Arians then was a natural one as someone in the press room asked him if that was his biggest win as a head coach. Arians paused for a second and said, no, his biggest win as a head coach came at Temple when the Owls broke a 39-year losing streak to Pittsburgh in the 1984 season.

So, of all the congratulatory messages pouring into third-year Temple head coach Matt Rhule after a 27-10 upset of Penn State on Saturday, the one posted by Arians on his twitter page was priceless:

Rhule had one-upped Arians in the sense that he broke a longer streak over another in-state rival in Penn State (after a 74-year drought), so the two men have been in the same shoes at the same place. No one knew more what a win over Penn State could do for the Temple program than Arians, who said the first question asked of him at his first Temple press conference was, “Why does Temple even play football?” Like the presser after the Seattle game two years ago, Arians paused before a thoughtful response: “To beat Penn State.” Arians came close twice, losing to nationally-ranked Nittany Lions’ teams, 23-18, in 1983 and 27-25 to what would become an 11-1 PSU team in 1984, but never quite got over the hump.

Now that Rhule did, Arians used both twitter and the phone to express his satisfaction with the result. Rhule took the call and said, “Yes sir, thank you sir.” to a guy who was a young coach at Temple once, too. Rhule said he did not know what else to say to the NFL coach of the year. Then Rhule went out to the parking lot at Lincoln Financial Field and presented the game ball to another former Temple coach, College Football Hall of Fame member Wayne Hardin, who came close a few times against Penn State but, like Arians, could not get over the hump.

In the fraternity of college coaches, and the circle of life, all three coaches will now share a pretty neat memory forever because only those three fully understand the magnitude of the moment.

Tomorrow: Still Not Focusing on Cincinnati (but we are sure the team is)

09.04.15
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5 Things to Get Excited/Worry About Tomorrow

Watching Temple head coach Matt Rhule address the media one final time before tomorrow’s 3:30 p.m. showdown with Penn State, people in the media had to be struck by one thing he said about being worried the “moment would be too big” for “the kids.” He said he did not think so but just by bringing it up, the thought must have entered his mind. Nowhere in that statement did Rhule express a concern that the moment might be too big for his coaching staff.

The butterflies will be there one way or another tomorrow (3:30) at Lincoln Financial Field and we are both excited and worried about these five things.

sat

  1. Offensive Coaching

Excited About:  Recognition. Both head coach Matt Rhule and OC Marcus Satterfield seemed to say the right things about the fiasco that was the 2014 Temple offense. Rhule said that he would go back to Temple’s offensive brand, which had been running the ball with a high skill level tailback behind a lead-blocking fullback.

Worried About: Backtracking: Nothing that happened the first two years has indicated Satterfield is comfortable calling that kind of offense. It’s not what he ran while winning all of those FCS National Championships at Tennessee-Chattanooga. (Oh wait. He didn’t win any.) Now they are talking about dropping the fullback concept and going back to being “more multiple.” More multiple was the reason they were 126th and last in FBS third-down efficiency.

  1. Defense

ike

Excited About: Experience. All 11 starters from the nation’s fourth-best scoring defense return and all 11 guys are flat-out ballers who do not back away from anyone.

Worried About: Lack of Praise. We’re not talking about endorsements from the media here, but a guy in No. 50, Praise Martin-Oguike,  who provided the the Owls with a pair dynamite playmakers at DE with Nate D. Smith. Praise might be out and Nate is tough as they come, but will PSU attack the soft underbelly of the Owls’ defense with sweeps to the other side? James Franklin does not get paid $4.4 million a year to overlook those types of things. Also worried about them not rushing Christian Hackenberg, but I do not think they are stupid enough to take that same passive approach two years in a row.

gardner

  1. Running Game

Excited About: Jager Gardner and Ryquell Armstead. Those are two guys who give the Owls what they have not had since Bernard Pierce: A guy with the speed to take it to the house by merely turning the corner. Home run hitters is what they are.

Worried About: Caution. Jahad Thomas, the starter, does not seem to be a home run hitter but a guy who earned the job by having the fewest summer fumbles. Yet we’ve seen both Thomas (Houston game) and Zaire Williams (SMU) caught from behind and a premier Temple running back (Mike Busch, Tommy Sloan, Bobby Harris, Anthony Anderson, Zack Dixon, Kevin Duckett, Paul Palmer, Stacey Mack, Tanardo Sharps, Elmarko Jackson, Bernard Pierce, Matty Brown, and Montel Harris) simply does not get caught from behind. That is not what we do here at Temple. When we break into the open field, we turn it into six. Williams is now a LB. If Thomas breaks free, he must take it to the house to keep his job.

chat

  1. Tight Ends

Excited About: Colin Thompson. When was the last time Temple had a four-star recruit from the SEC (Florida) transfer here? Answer: Never. The guy has a four-star skill set: speed, size, blocking ability, great hands.

Worried About: Witness Protection. Evidently, no one told Rhule he was on the roster last year by the few times he was targeted. Why not use him the same way both Al Golden and Steve Addazio used Evan Rodriguez? Short little 5-yard waggle rollout passes to keep the rush off P.J. Walker, ala Chester Stewart at Maryland. Then toss an occasional jump pass in the back of the end zone, ala Stewart to Steve Manieri at the fake Miami a few years back. Both films are in the can at  the E-O. Rhule might be wise to dust them off one last time tonight.

hands

Even something this innocuous is an automatic 15-yard taunting penalty now.

  1. Robby Anderson

Excited About: Everything. This is a big time player who makes big-time plays against big-time teams. If, say, UCF was not a moment too big for him two years ago, Penn State will not be now. He’s got a 44-inch vertical leap, sub-4.5 speed, great hands and great moves in the open field.

Worried About: Rule changes. We’re not talking about Matt Rhule changes, but Anderson might not be aware of all the hand gestures that he made two years  ago after big catches—even innocent ones—are now automatic 15-yard penalties. He must be schooled to catch the ball, get to the end zone and simply give the ball back to Mr. Official without any histrionics. You would think Matt Rhule would have talked to him about this already, but one team in the TU-PSU game got a critical 15-yard penalty for a throat slash last year.

It was not Penn State.

08.31.15
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Thoughts on the Depth Chart

Temple wide receiver John Christopher (7) stiff-arms first-round NFL draft choice Byron Jones (16)

Temple wide receiver John Christopher (7) stiff-arms first-round NFL draft choice Byron Jones (16), whose world record in the broad jump could not stop this completion. Christopher earned one of the three starting WR spots.

Not very many surprises on the depth chart except for maybe the emergence of Ryquell Armstead at the running back position.

If there’s one thing the Owls have lacked since Montel Harris’ brief but meteoric appearance is straight-line speed and Armstead, who runs a 10.8 100-meter dash, certainly has that. A 10.8 would tie him as the fastest running back in Temple history. (Back when Paul Palmer played, the dashes were 100 yards.)

Armstead will not get caught from behind, let’s put it that way. He’s still behind Jahad Thomas on the depth chart. Maybe we’ll see Thomas, who got a No. 5 for toughness, lead blocking for Armstead. As they say about chicken soup and the cold, it couldn’t hurt.

Here’s the offensive depth chart:

LT 66 Dion Dawkins ……………………….(6-5, 318, Jr)
74 James McHale………………………(6-6, 300, r-Fr)
LG 75 Shahbaz Ahmed …………………..(6-3, 305, Sr)
70 Jovahn Fair…………………………..(6-3, 300, Fr)
C 79 Kyle Friend ………………………….(6-2, 305, Sr)
68 Brendan McGowan ………………(6-4, 300, r-Jr)
RG 55 Brian Carter …………………………(6-3, 309, r-So)
52 Eric Lofton …………………………..(6-5, 302, r-Sr)
67 Semaj Reed ………………………….(6-6, 305, r-So)
RT 53 Leon Johnson……………………….(6-6, 320, r-So)
77 Jaelin Robinson …………………….(6-6, 319, r-Fr)
TE 86 Colin Thompson……………………(6-4, 250, r-Jr)
80 Kip Patton ……………………………(6-4, 241, r-Fr)
WR 19 Robby Anderson …………………..(6-3, 190, r-Sr)
10 Samuel Benjamin …………………(6-0, 200, r-Jr)
17 Brandon Shippen ………………….(5-11, 191, Sr)
WR 84 Romond Deloatch …………………(6-4, 214, r-Jr)
88 Adonis Jennings ……………………6-3, 190, So)
87 Ventell Bryant ………………………(6-3, 181, r-Fr)
WR 7 John Christopher ………………….(5-11, 189, r-Sr)
15 Brodrick Yancy ……………………..(5-11, 187, So)
QB 11 P.J. Walker …………………………..(6-1, 200, Jr)
18 Frank Nutile …………………………(6-4, 219, r-Fr)
RB 5 Jahad Thomas ………………………(5-10, 180, Jr)
25 Ryquell Armstead………………….(5-11, 205, Fr)

You did not have to have the intelligence of Stephen Hawking to know it was going to be tough to break into the starting lineup on the defense, but I think Nate D. Smith is probably going to be the best pure pass rusher we’ve seen at Temple since Adrian Robinson. Speaking of Arob, great to see No. 43, Averee Robinson, break into the starting lineup.  Temple would is now doing what I thought it should do all along with him, go 5-2 and play him at nose to fully utilize the gap leverage of a three-time large school heavyweight state wrestling champion. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Tavon Young returning punts. (Even though he’s the backup, I hope he works his way into the lineup as the starting punt returner.) He could be the best punt returner at Temple since another Young, Anthony.

Here’s the Defensive Depth Chart: 

DE 35 Nate D. Smith……………………….(6-0, 236, r-Sr)
56 Sharif Finch ………………………….(6-4, 257, Jr)
DT 9 Matt Ioannidis ……………………..(6-4, 292, Sr)
99 Freddie Booth-Lloyd ……………..(6-1, 315, r-Fr)
NT 43 Averee Robinson ………………….(6-1, 285, Jr
72 Hershey Walton ……………………(6-4, 314, r-Sr))
DE 58 Haason Reddick ……………………(6-1, 225, r-Jr)
91 Jacob Martin ………………………..(6-3, 231, So)
WLB 8 Tyler Matakevich ………………….(6-1, 232, Sr)
22 Chapelle Russell……………………(6-1, 214, Fr)
MLB 41 Jarred Alwan ………………………..(6-1, 237, Jr)
90 Nick Sharga …………………………(6-2, 240, r-So)
SLB 2 Avery Williams ……………………..(5-10, 200, r-Jr)
OR 6 Stephaun Marshall ……………….(5-11, 203, r-Jr)
CB 3 Sean Chandler ……………………..(5-11, 185, So)
16 Artrel Foster ………………………..(6-0, 186, r-So)
CB 1 Tavon Young ………………………..(5-10, 180, Sr)
15 Nate Hairston……………………….(6-0, 193, r-Jr)
FS 21 Alex Wells ……………………………(6-0, 203, Sr)
13 Nate L. Smith ……………………….(6-1, 188, r-Jr)
SS 32 Will Hayes ……………………………(5-9, 192, r-Sr)
37 Boye Aromire……………………….(6-0, 206, r-Sr)

PK 29 Austin Jones ……………………….(5-10, 196, So)
95 Tyler Mayes ………………………..(6-2, 204, r-Sr)
P 43 Alex Starzyk…………………………(6-3, 213, So)
95 Tyler Mayes…………………………(6-2, 204, r-Sr)
KO 29 Austin Jones ……………………….(5-10, 196, So)
95 Tyler Mayes…………………………(6-2, 204, r-Sr)
H 20 Tom Bradway ………………………(5-10, 190, r-So)
7 John Christopher …………………(5-11, 189, r-Sr)
LS 59 Corey Lerch …………………………(5-10, 200, So)
57 Josh Lang…………………………….(6-2, 210, r-So)
PR 19 Robby Anderson…………………..(6-3, 190, r-Sr)
1 Tavon Young ………………………..(5-10, 180, Sr)
KOR 5 Jahad Thomas …………………….(5-10, 180, Jr)
88 Adonis Jennings ……………………6-3, 190, So)

08.30.15
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Five One Keys to the Game

The key on Saturday will be the Owls sending MORE guys than the Nits can block, not like last year when PSU could use two lineman to block every rusher

The key on Saturday will be the Owls sending MORE guys than the Nits can block, not like last year when PSU could use roughly two linemen to block every rusher. (Photos by Temple Super Fan Ted DeLapp)

What was reserved for this space originally was at least one person’s opinion of what the five keys to the game would be on Saturday against Penn State.

There were five darn good ideas, cooked up all summer, but I thought, “Geez, who am I kidding?” There really is only one key to the game and that key opens up the other four doors: Put Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg on his backside early and often. Make him uncomfortable, take him down a lot, hit him more, and come at him from all sides. Make him think he’s going to get hit early on every play and he will give the ball up.

The guy is relatively immobile and has a documented history of happy feet and Temple should take advantage of that little bit of intelligence.

IF Owls go to play action, as promised, those 2 safeties in the middle of the field will be much closer to the line of scrimmage, allowing Owl receivers to get the separation they didn't get last year.

IF Owls go to play action, as promised, those 2 safeties in the middle of the field will be much closer to the line of scrimmage, allowing Owl receivers to get the separation they didn’t get last year.

In the six games Penn State lost a year ago, Hackenberg was sacked at least four times in each one. In five of those games, Hackenberg had 14 of his 15 interceptions and seven of his nine lost fumbles. Northwestern, coached superbly by Pat Fitzgerald, figured that out in a 29-6 win at State College, sacking Hackenberg only four times, but hitting him an additional 19. Temple fans would like to have 19 sacks and four hits, but they will gladly have what Northwestern had a year ago. This was the same Northwestern team that lost to Northern Illinois earlier the same season.

The Owls took the opposite approach a  year ago, more times than not dropping eight and rushing three. The Owls cannot afford to play that passively on Saturday.

Fitzpatrick is fighting an uphill battle at the Chicago-area school because the Wildcats have Ivy League type academic restrictions and those have limited his talent pool. What Stanford is to the Pac-12 and Vandy to the SEC, that’s what Northwestern is to the Big 10.  In addition, Northwestern has by far the smallest fan base in the conference. He can coach my team any day of the week, though. Northwestern might have had a losing season, but not because the team is ill-prepared or doesn’t game plan well.

Temple’s coaches could learn a lot from examining the Northwestern film. Let’s hope they dissected it like a frog in biology class.

08.27.15
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Room for Improvement

When Temple head coach Matt Rhule talks about “room for improvement” and includes the coaching aspect of it, that has got to be a heartening sign.

In the 2-10 first season, there was not a whole lot of coaching responsibility being taken other than, after the loss to Fordham, Rhule saying that the loss was embarrassing and “it will get fixed.” Two weeks to get ready for a worse foe, Idaho, and it did not get fixed.

The lack of experience of the Temple coaching staff, especially offensively, reared its ugly head that first year and the numbers after halftime were so stark they could not have been ignored.

Halftime Adjustments?

Game First Half Points Second Half Points
Notre Dame 6 0
Houston 13 0
Cincinnati 20 0
UConn 21 0

All we can say is wow.

Things got only a little better last year, but not much in losses to teams the Owls should have been more competitive with, like Houston and UCF.

Those things have got to improve.

We’ll find out against Penn State. I have the feeling that the Owls match up physically well, but a 6-3 game got out of control a year ago after halftime and you have to wonder what went on in both locker rooms during the intermission. Penn State made the adjustments and Temple did not.

Another thing that cannot be denied is the Owls’ lack of previous winning experience among the current  Owls’ staff.

Coach Team Before TU Last Record

Before TU

 Position

With

Team
Matt

Rhule, HC

 NY Giants 9-7 Asst. OL
Phil

Snow, DC

 Eastern Mich. 2-10 DC
Marcus

Satterfield, OC

 Tenn.-Chatt. 6-5 OC
Glenn

Thomas

QBs

 Atlanta

Falcons

 6-10 QBs
Ed

Foley, STs

 Fordham 7-15

(2 yrs.)

 HC

Penn State has a head coach, James Franklin, who won nine games against a largely SEC schedule before he came to State College. He’s not getting paid $5 million a year because he’s a chump.

So far, Rhule has said all the right things about establishing a running game behind a two-back, two tight end system but, in recent days, he backed off the two backs and said the Owls might not use a fullback. Hopefully, that’s a ruse because we’d like to see, say, Jager Gardner following a lead block by, say, Nick Sharga behind Kyle Friend or Dion Dawkins.

Just once.

On the first play of the modern series with Penn State, coach Wayne Hardin tried a similar off-tackle play with world class sprinter Bob Harris following a crushing lead block by fullback Tom Duff through the hole. Seventy-six yards and 3.2 seconds later, Temple led, 7-0. That’s Temple TUFF. That’s Temple football right there. Harris behind Duff; Paul Palmer behind Shelley Poole; Kevin Duckett behind Mark Bright; Bernard Pierce behind Wyatt Benson and Montel Harris behind Kenny Harper.

Trivia question: Who led Temple in average punt return last year (21.0) but only got one chance?

Trivia question: Who averaged 21 yards per punt return but only got one chance?

Rhule also said he was at a loss to find out why the team had such a poor return game post-Delaware State but it was his  decision to use a slow possession receiver as the principle punt returner all season after Delaware State.

Duh?

Nate L. Smith, who is not a slow possession receiver, got one chance for a punt return last year and he returned it for 21 yards against Memphis. Smith is only the leading punt returner in Pennsylvania schoolboy history.

The leading punt returner in Pa. schoolboy history.

The leading punt returner in Pa. schoolboy history.

Sometimes, you wonder if these guys are looking at the same things we are but, again, there is room for improvement and personnel awareness is apparently one of those areas.

The running game to set up the play-action passing game and the punt return game are the two primary areas where the Owls have a lot of room for improvement.

The Penn State game will tell a lot about both. The Owls are physically there with Penn State. Mentally, it was another story a year ago. Losing a close game to Penn State will not cut it anymore. Establish the run with a tailback behind a lead fullback block, bring the safeties and the linebackers up to the line of scrimmage to respect the run game, then fake the ball into the belly of the tailback and go play-action. Under that scenario, P.J. Walker will have so many Temple receivers running free through the secondary he will not know which one to pick out. If he doesn’t get hurt taking back a punt first, Robby Anderson will be one of them.

Get ‘er done. It’s not rocket science.

One week and one day.

08.24.15
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Twelve days and counting

Every year something happens at Temple football camp that makes fans take a step back or at least raise an eyebrow or two.

Twelve days and counting to Penn State and these developments fall into that category:

  • Frank Nutile has supplanted Logan Marchi as the No. 2 quarterback. This is interesting only in that Marchi’s game has been compared to “Johnny Manziel Lite.” Nutile appears to be the better play-action quarterback and that is why he is moving up. P.J. Walker appears to have his mojo back and is the clear No. 1.
  • Play-action will go through the tight ends, not the fullbacks. The Owls probably will not have a fullback, so their additional blocker at the point of attack will be an extra tight end. The plan, a sound one in concept, is to establish the run with that extra blocker on the OL, then fake into the belly of a tailback to bring the LBs and safeties up to the line. Hopefully, that creates separation for big-play receivers like Robby Anderson and Adonis Jennings.
  • Averee Robinson is running with the ones. With Matt Ioannidis, Nate D. Smith, Jacob Martin and Michael Dogbe on the line, Robinson has worked his way into the top unit. Wearing No. 43, I look for Robinson—who had five sacks in the 2014 spring game—to have a big season. It’s vitally important that the Owls put Christian Hackenberg on his ass early and often and I expect Robinson to play a big part in that  game plan.
  • There is one and only one question I’d like to ask Matt Rhule in one of those pressers: What is wrong with putting the very elusive duo of Nate L. Smith and Kareem Ali Jr. back there to handle punts over exposing your No. 1 offensive threat to extra unnecessary hits? Love the toughness and reliable hands John Christopher brings, but his 2.0-yards-per-punt-return was a wasted year on what has been traditionally a very positive play at Temple . Smith averaged 21 yards per return a year ago, but only got one chance. That’s extremely puzzling.
  • Matt Rhule does not appear to trust the freshman RBs. The fact that Jahad Thomas is running with the ones as the tailback has to be OK from the standpoint that putting the ball on the ground is going to be unacceptable. Thomas has a lower ceiling than T.J. Simmons or Jager Gardner, but he is more dependable with the football and P.J. Walker trusts him. If the Owls need explosiveness later on, expect Gardner to be the go-to guy.

It’s less than two weeks and the Owls appear to be ready. Hopefully, Penn State will not know what hits them.