Tag Archives: Ryquell Armstead

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

08.26.15
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Running Game: Toughness Over Flash

When the Temple football coaches got together in the War Room at the E-O at the end of the season, the No. 1 topic had to have been to fix what was broken.

There can be no doubt it was the running game, the worst in the AAC and the chief reason the Owls had the worst third-down efficiency in the FBS. (The punt return game was also a disaster, but that was because the Owls decided early to use a possession receiver instead of an explosive return guy like Nate L. Smith to take back punts.)

Now, with 10 days left before Penn State, the solution appears to have been toughness over flash. Jahad Thomas, last year’s leading rusher, appears to have won the job despite strong challenges from Jager Gardner, David Hood and Ryquell Armstead. Four-star recruit T.J. Simmons also is in the mix, but someone will have to redshirt and he appears to be the odd man out.

One of the best ways to measure a player’s potential impact is comparing what that player did against similar competition.

While Simmons played perhaps against the best talent (Florida) and Gardner against the worst (Western North Carolina), Gardner’s numbers and size cannot be ignored. He might have lost the job by fumbling in a scrimmage, but if the Owls need explosiveness and flash at the position they do know where to go.

Thomas was nowhere near as dominating against some pretty good high school competition, but he’s obviously earned the coaching staff’s trust by his toughness. Would love to see the Owls attempt a more traditional running game by using Nick Sharga as a fullback to lead interference for Thomas and some of the other tailbacks and, since Sharga has gotten time as a fullback (in addition to linebacker and defensive end), that is possible—probably likely in goal-line situations.

Some red flags are involved in every player, with the possible exception of Armstead and Gardner.

Thomas does not seem to have the elite breakaway speed needed for the position. He was caught from behind in the Houston game.

Simmons had his best season as a freshman but has not played significantly since his junior year (nine games).

Of these players, Gardner’s size and speed and high school stats remind me most of Bernard Pierce and that’s the kind of player the Owls need at the position.

Player Ht./Wt. H.S. Best Year Games Yards Touchdowns
Jahad Thomas 5-10, 170 Sr. 13 889 15
Ryquell Armstead 5-10, 205 Sr. 11 1,488 18
T.J. Simmons 6-1, 195 Fr. 11 1,487 20
Jager Gardner 6-2, 205 Sr. 13 2,776 36
David Hood 5-9, 185 Sr. 12 1,651 21
12.26.14
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Dvoracek Would Help Unwrap Owls’ Running Game

See that block at the 11-second mark on Gray’s first TD? That was a blocking FULLBACK (No. 32). Until Temple also employs such a player, talk of a revived running game could be just that.

Do not know what Temple football coach Matt Rhule got under that Christmas tree on Thursday morning, but do know what he needs more than anything else.

A running game would have been nice to unwrap. A blocking fullback would have been nicer.

When you dead last, running the same kind of offense over and over again is the very definition of insanity.

When you dead last, running the same kind of offense over and over again is the very definition of insanity.

If there has been one constant about all of the bowl-winning teams this year, it’s that every one of them have had a 1,000-yard plus runner this season. I think it’s possible that one of the current players in the program can do that—most notably Jahad Thomas, Zaire Williams, Jabo Lee and Jamie Gilmore—but none of them have a chance to do it under the current offensive philosophy. Lee is coming off two years of inactivity and Williams one and Thomas became a forgotten man after running for 157 yards against Tulsa, so to expect any of them to do it would be too much. Gilmore is a third-down back and his ceiling is Matty Brown, but that’s a pretty good roof.
So that leaves one of the incoming guys. Maybe they can do it under a spread system with a rebuilt offensive line. Bernard Pierce proved that a true freshman can make an immediate impact as a runner, but Pierce had a blocking fullback like Wyatt Benson running interference for him in addition to a good offensive line.

Maybe there is a mystery running back yet to be recruited but, until then, these three guys have the best shot since they are current commits:

Rob Dvoracek could be the key to unlocking the Owls' running game in 2015.

Rob Dvoracek could be the key to unlocking the Owls’ running game in 2015.

Ryquell Armstead _ He certainly has the stats to match Bernard Pierce’s high school numbers from Glen Mills. Playing for Millville (N.J.), Armstead is exactly the same height (6-0) and weight (205) coming out of high school. Armstead ran for 341 yards and four touchdowns in Millville’s 44-40 win on Thanksgiving Day over rival Vineland and fellow Temple recruit Jeremiah Atoki. Like Pierce, Armstead holds a PR of 10.81 in the 100-meter dash. Pierce’s 10.8 won him a Pennsylvania indoor state championship. Interesting that Philly.com lists Armstead’s weight as 185 and his hometown Vineland paper lists him at 205. We’ll go with the hometown weight. Armstead finished with 1,488 yards and scored 18 touchdowns as a senior (Pierce had 2,005 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior).
Chapelle Cook _ He’s probably ticketed for a strong safety or linebacker position on defense, but can help the Owls’ running game if asked. He’s 6-2 and 215 and played a running quarterback on offense at Lakewood (N.J.), home of a Phillies Class A farm team. As a quarterback, he carried the ball 31 times for 197 yards in a loss to Rumson-Fair Haven.
Raekwon Gray _ At 5-8, 170, he’s more of a Matty Brown-type than a BP type but would you have not given a right arm for Matty Brown last season? Still do not know if this coaching staff would have been smart enough to figure out what it had in Matt Brown if he did stick around a few more years . I have my doubts based on what they did with Thomas after his 157-yard day. Gray’s best year came as a junior, when he averaged more than 8 yards per carry over 12 games. He finished with 2,295 yards and 30 touchdowns on 283 carries on his way to being named to the Consensus Maryland All-State team for Urbana High.

The key guy could be someone who is already here, like Rob Dvoracek. With a glutton of good linebackers, the Owls would be wise to move Rob to fullback, where he enjoyed great success at Parkland. As good a runner as he was–he had 347 yards and six touchdowns in a District 11 win over Allentown Central Catholic–he was even a better blocker. Rob is fully recovered from an infection and would be a big key to unlocking the Temple running game from a fullback position. Plus, you think Rob would not at least help solve Temple’s documented problems on 3d and 1, either as a short-yardage runner or blocker?

Hopefully, that’s one gift Matt Rhule decides to unwrap.

Related:

http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2013/7/3/4486792/college-football-fullback-trey-millard-spread-offense