Tag Archives: Temple football

10.16.15
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Omission of Owls by Top 25 Voter Illustrates Flaw in System

The lamest excuse in the history of mankind was made earlier this week by an ESPN Top 25 college football pollster helped illustrate the flaws in a system ripe for human error: “I forgot.”

The pollster, Travis Haney, was one of two voters who had 5-1 Penn State ranked above 5-0 Temple, even though the Owls not only handed the Nittany Lions their only loss of the season, but chose to have mercy by running out the clock in 27-10 win deep in PSU territory. The Owls scored the game’s final 27 points and had so much momentum going they could have added another score for 34-10 but chose to take three knees. Haney had Penn State ranked No. 25 and Temple unranked.

Even the PSU fans admitted as much afterward:

mercyrhule

If you can’t read this, click anywhere on the blue. To return to this page (after that), hit the “back” button on your browser.

That prompted this exchange on twitter:

Haney deserves as much credit as blame. He could have made up a more palatable excuse, but went with honestly. The other pollster, former Miami coach Butch Davis, was reached out to and did not respond. I would not be surprised if he forgot as well. He had Penn State ranked No. 23 and Temple unranked.

The problem with this example is that it probably happens all of the time and not just with the two men voting in an ESPN poll and it is an inherent flaw in a system that relies on human memory. When the committee gets together to pick the playoff teams, things like polls do have an impact—even if it is a psychological one. In this example, Temple was the most affected team but it could really happen to anyone else in any other poll. In the AP poll, Owls sit right now at No. 26, tops among “others receiving votes” and, based on Haney’s admission, they have to wonder if someone else who “forgot” them cost them a spot in the top 25 this week. The difference between 26th and 25th is enormous, because it means getting on the scoreboard crawl that runs across the bottom of TV screens for every game or getting ignored.

In a multi-million dollar business, or anything else really, the “I forgot” excuse should not fly.

10.15.15
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A Special Milestone for Tyler Matakevich

One more tackle to No. 400

One more tackle to No. 400

If Tyler Matakevich was playing baseball instead of football on Saturday night, they would stop the game and give him the ball for what he is about to do and, while it’s not a home run, it will be just as significant.

Instead, when Matakevich gets his next tackle, which will be his No. 400 career one, against visiting Central Florida, the AAC game will go on and the Temple football linebacker will have to settle for getting his just rewards at the end of the season. Four hundred is just a number, but add that to all of the other numbers Matakevich has been able to compile over both his career and this season and he is building enough currency to purchase some valuable hardware at the end of the season.

tackles

With just 10 tackles on Saturday, Tyler moves from No. 30 to No. 22 on the all-time list.

Sports are all about numbers, with different numbers meaning different things but some meaning everything. For Matakevich, it’s just one more tackle but it should move him one step closer to winning the Dick Butkus’ Award as the nation’s best linebacker. It certainly will cement his legacy as one of the greatest ever to play on the defensive side of the ball in college football. In college football, 400 tackles means just as much—if not more—than 500 or 600 home runs mean in major league baseball simply because the number of guys who have done both is approximately the same.

Already, Matakevich is the nation’s leading active career tackler in all five NCAA classifications (FBS, FCS and Divisions I-III) and what’s left for him is to add to it in his final season by getting some much-deserved hardware in addition to the Butkus’ Award. One of his top competitors for the trophy, Scooby Wright III of Arizona, has played only one game due to injury. Matakevich has to be considered at the head of this year’s linebacker class.

When it comes to numbers, few have been as impressive as Matakevich. He is the only active FBS player with 100 tackles in each of his last three seasons. This year, he is the only player among FBS teams to lead his team in tackles each game—remarkable on its own, but even more impressive in that his defense is the No. 13-ranked scoring defense in the country. With 44 tackles in five games, he is right on pace for 100 in 12 games and, with the way the unbeaten Owls are playing, they could easily have more games than the regular-season minimum. The Temple school record for tackles, by Steve Conjar (492) clearly is in sight and, should Matakevich reach it, only two players in the history of college football, Boston College’s Luke Kuechly (532) and Houston’s Marcus McGraw (510) will finish ahead of him.

With that career and with this season, that should be more than enough to get Matakevich long overdue recognition.

Tomorrow: Forgetting is Not An Excuse

Saturday: Game Day Preview

10.14.15
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Matt Rhule Weekly

To call what goes on early in the week at the E-O a news conference is really a misnomer, but that should be OK because, when the biggest news coming out of Tuesday’s Matt Rhule presser was that U.S. Senator Corey Booker and Drew Katz spoke to the team, that’s a sign that all is good in the Temple Owls’ football world.

ucf

Usually, the “news” coming out of these things is someone is hurt, but that did not happen on Tuesday. News conferences are like football officials. If you do not notice them, it’s good news. Even the “big” Temple news of the day–that Notre Dame is sold out–came long after the press conference was over.

Still, one of the many positive traits of Temple head coach Matt Rhule is that he brings a lot of enthusiasm to these things. Other than the obligatory praise for Central Florida, no small feat for an 0-6 team, here were some highlights:

Noticing The Wave:

Rhule noticed that the crowd did the wave “in the third quarter.” Kind of interesting that he knew what quarter the wave was done. He also gave a shout out to the students, who have done a spectacular job supporting the team.

On Ryquell Armstead’s two touchdowns:

“We got to see the big-play ability of Ryquell,” he said. (I thought that was interesting because it implied that Ryquell has been a consistent big-play guy in practice all along.)

On the defense:

“We’re a top 25 defense in nine categories,” Rhule said. “The defense is playing good football.” In the most important category, scoring defense, the team is ranked No. 13 in the country. Last year, it finished No. 4, but DC Phil Snow took responsibility for allowing 14 fourth-quarter points against Cincinnati by “playing too conservatively” and doesn’t expect the Owls to give up that many points in future games.

On the offense:

Rhule said the offense is (literally) 100 percent improved on third-down conversions. “We’re converting 44 percent on third down; last year we were 22 percent,” he said. (We looked it up. It was 23.8, but why quibble over 1.8 percent?)

On TE Kip Patton:

“Kip always knew he had a lot in terms of dynamic ability. Teaching him football; you know, he’s a basketball player. It was his decision. He made the decision to be a football player. You can just see the beginning of what he’s able to do.”

Tomorrow: A Special Milestone

10.11.15
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These Are the Good Old Days

When a group of guys get together like a lot of us have over the last 20 years or so of Temple tailgating, a lot of the talk invariably returns to the “good old days.”

Well, as Carly Simon once said, “these are the good old days” and the beauty of them is that all of the Temple family, old, young, middle-aged can experience the times together.

Right now, look around and savor them because those days are here and maybe it’s just a hunch but they are going to get better.

Without a doubt, the two greatest linebackers in Temple history.

Without a doubt, the two greatest linebackers in Temple history.

Tyler Matakevich stopped by our particular Temple tailgate yesterday and I told him he was a POS. I think he took it in the good humor it was meant to be because I still have all my teeth but it came because he said he stopped by another tailgate first. It was great to see the linebacker who is going to break Steve Conjar’s career tackle record breaking bread with Steve Conjar afterward and it could not happen to two nicer guys.

The character of Matakevich was on display for all to see not only yesterday and every game this season but more importantly earlier this week when Tyler and his teammates stopped by to say hello in an old folks’ home to a 97-year-old ex-Temple player, James Woodside, who was the last living Owl to have beaten Penn State. The visit was a beautiful thing to see and that video was much of the conversation.

“Tyler, I just wanted to say that video of you with Mr. Woodside was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen,” I said. “It brought a lot of us to the verge of tears.” After Tyler said thank you, John Belli had perhaps the best line of the day, delivered with impeccable timing.

“Tyler, that was because all of us are closer to his age than we are to yours,” Belli said.

Everybody laughed one of those hearty belly (or in this case, Belli) laughs reserved for one of those stories of old guys reliving their youth.

You can talk about the football part of yesterday, the 49-10 win and the great plays and the great job of the Temple fans all you want, but the character part of it is perhaps the reason why the football part of it is happening. This team has great senior leadership from Tyler Matakevich to Matt Ioannidis to Tavon Young and that leadership is leaving no doubt.

The talk turned to the next game, UCF.

“The best thing about Leave No Doubt is that every game is a championship game,” I told Tyler.

“Absolutely,” he said.

It is the reason why we have “the good old days” right now and the reason why we can expect more in the near future. Knowing the leadership on this team, it could not happen to a nicer group of guys.

They are taking the rest of us on one heckuva ride.

Monday: Photo Gallery.

10.10.15
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Game Day: 5 Things to Watch

homecoming

  1. Attendance

If the crowd looks slightly smaller than half-filled and it is announced at 31,000, there will be 31,000 people in the stands. Temple does not “fudge” figures. The number of fannies in the seats are the number of fannies in the seats, because the figure is solely taken from the number of tickets scanned at the gate and that goes directly to the press box. Thirty-one K is the figure to shoot for since the last five Temple homecoming crowds were slightly over 25K. If a 4-0 start with a win over PSU isn’t worth at least six more K fannies, then we do not know what to say.

deptchart

  1. Explosive passing game

Temple coach Matt Rhule said that the wide receiver group is about to make a big impact in terms of explosive downfield plays in the passing game. With Jahad Thomas setting them up by establishing the  running game, this could be the week. Tulane will cheat up the safeties and LBs to try to stop Thomas, then P.J. Walker will fake it into his belly and pull it out and Temple receivers will be running so free through the secondary, Walker will not know which one to pick out.

All systems are go for a beautiful day.

All systems are go for a beautiful day.

  1. The Tight End Pass

Kip Patton has shown flashes of brilliance so far and that trend should continue. A couple of plays that might work to Patton would be the old Chester Stewart rollout play to Evan Rodriguez and the old Chester Stewart jump pass to Steve Manieri in the back of the end zone. The problem is that Marcus Satterfield doesn’t know those plays. Matt Rhule, who originally drew them up, does. Hopefully, his headset works. (Note to Sat: The first play is where P.J. makes a quick fake to the running back, rolls two steps to his right and dumps an easy screen pass over the head of the DE to the TE; the second comes near the goal where P.J. jumps in the air and finds Kip at the back of the end zone.)

  1. Some Passes for Frank

We finally saw backup quarterback Frank Nutile (pronounced NEW-TILE) last week, but that was only to take three knees. Hopefully, the lead becomes large enough to get Frank some passes in case P.J.’s shoulder goes out later in the season.

  1. A Touchdown for Tavon

Tavon Young was a major playmaker for the Owls last year, scoring a touchdown on an interception against UConn and another on a fumble recovery against ECU. Something tells me he is going to jump a route an take one to the house against Tulane. Call it a strong hunch. Or just say he’s due.

Sunday: Complete Game Analysis

10.09.15
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Prodigal Son Day Should Answer Some Questions

On Saturday, we will pick up where we left off over a month ago.

If the medium is the message, as Marshall McLuhan once wrote, the message about the interest in Temple football right now among its Prodigal Son Alumni has been very telling over the past week.

prodigal

Homecoming Day is what I’ve always called “Prodigal Son Day” because that is the only game many alumni attend. The regular tailgaters get replaced, and the Prodigal Sons (and Daughters) get all of the good spots along tailgate row. The top bunk, if you will. The next week, we return to our regular tailgate programming with the regulars all back in their customary spots.

The challenge at Temple has always been to get those casual fans, what I would call the “soft core” Owl fans, off their couches and away from the TV remotes and potato chips and joining the “hard core” ones at the stadium. That’s why the media’s message this week, however subtle, is encouraging.

Words of the alma mater. Please memorize. Thanks.

In the above video (3:23) kids do an awesome rendition of the alma mater. Would be great if the crowd would  add their voices.

Two Temple alumni in the media, who have never mentioned Temple football glowingly in the past, banged the drum rather loudly for their Owls using some impressive platforms. First, renowned Philadelphia Eagles’ expert Ray Didinger said that “Temple should be unbeaten” going into the Notre Dame game and that he would not be surprised if P.J. Walker eventually becomes a NFL quarterback.  This is the same Ray Didinger who said two years ago on a Saturday morning program with co-host Glen Macnow that “I kind of wish Temple would drop a level and play Lafayette, Villanova and Delaware.” That was after a caller wanted to talk about Brandon McManus as an NFL kicker and Macnow said sternly, “I’m not talking about Temple football” before hanging up on the guy.

Didinger did not jump to the Owls’ defense then. He is now. Like all Prodigal Sons, he is welcome home. That’s why they call it Homecoming.

Last 4 Homecoming Games for Temple:

Year
Score
Opponent
Attendance
2014
Temple, 35-24
Tulsa
25,340
2013
Temple, 33-14
Army
25,533
2012
Temple, 37-28
South Florida
25,796
2011
Temple, 34-0
Buffalo
25,820

Beating Penn State and being 4-0 has changed a lot of long-held perceptions. David Murphy, the Channel 6 weather guy, always mentions the Chester pro soccer team, but never mentioned the Temple team that plays American football until Monday of this week and, every day, has talked up the Owls and Homecoming.

Baby steps, but what this media message means is that Homecoming—which never gets a crowd smaller than 25,000—should experience an uptick in attendance. Sources inside the ticket office said 21,000 tickets were sold as of late Thursday afternoon and also added that Homecoming crowds are traditionally the largest “walk-up” crowds of the season—anywhere from 7-10K—depending upon the weather. Murphy supplied the good weather so, conservatively, the estimate of the crowd should be around 31,000.

While we would all like to see more, a cautionary note is to remember what Wayne Hardin said. “We’d have to go unbeaten 10-straight years for us to sell out the stadium every week,” he said in the 1970s. He was right then and he’d probably be right now. To sell out half of it at 4-0 is saying something and that’s probably the most realistic goal.

Anything above that would be a pleasant surprise.

The fun resumes on Saturday ….

10.08.15
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Huey Long’s Only Temple Football Game

Huey Long trying to get a booth review before the invention of television.

Huey Long trying to get a booth review before the invention of television.

Most people remember Huey Long as the only dictator in the history of the United States.

Technically, though, he was a U.S. Senator from the state of Louisiana in the early-to-mid-30s. In a real sense, though, he was “coach” of the LSU football team that lost to Tulane, 14-13, in the last regular-season game of the 1934 season. (He had a puppet Governor installed and puppet head coach, but Long was on the sidelines, made the important decisions and often got into heated arguments with the refs.) Had the Tigers scored two more points, Long’s team would have gone up against one of the legendary college coaches of all time, Temple’s Pop Warner, in the 1934 Sugar Bowl.

Tulane beat Huey Long's LSU team to earn a shot at Temple.

Tulane beat Huey Long’s LSU team to earn a shot at Temple.

That near brush with Long has to rank as one of the strange circumstances surrounding Temple football history. As it was, Tulane, not LSU, was the southern representative in the 1934 Sugar Bowl and Long never had a chance to match wits with Warner. He was in the stands, though, at the Sugar Bowl, rooting for Tulane according to newspaper accounts of the day. The temperature for that game was in the mid-50s, a day after it reached 78 degrees in New Orleans.

Four months after Tulane’s 20-14 win, Long was assassinated. He was 42 and planning to challenge Franklin Delano Roosevelt for the Presidency. An Oscar-winning Best Picture, All the King’s Men, was made on his life in 1949 and it won the Best Actor Award for Broderick Crawford, who played Long.

10-4? (That’s a Highway Patrol reference.)

Now, the Owls and Tulane and even LSU have come full circle for the 2015 game. The Owls are a 15-point favorite and Sports Illustrated (in the form of Stewart Mandel) this week has projected them as the Group of 5 representatives in the Peach Bowl against LSU.

Leonard Fournette has no shot in the open field against No. 8.

Leonard Fournette has no shot in the open field against No. 8.

Pretty heady stuff for the Temple fans who will flock to Lincoln Financial Field for the most festive and optimistic Homecoming in, err, Temple Football Forever.  It points up how things can change in college football in such a short time because it was only two years ago that the Owls came into Homecoming 0-6 and came out 1-6 after beating Army.

Now they are about as near to the top of the college football world as the 1934 Owls were. Somewhere, Huey Long is looking down and taking it all in, probably ambivalently.

Or, maybe in his case, looking up.

Tomorrow: Some Informed Speculation on HC Attendance

Saturday: Game Day Preview With Updated Depth Charts

Sunday: Complete Game Analysis

10.07.15
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A Good Nervous

“I thought our fullbacks did a great job of setting the tone,” Matt Rhule at the 14:36 time stamp.

Anyone who has ever played the game at the high school level or above knows the feeling of being a little nervous before every game. Butterflies is really the best word I’ve heard for it and, although we did not hear Temple head coach Matt Rhule say that word he implied it at the most recent press conference.

“We’re nervous, but it’s a good nervous,” he said.

Can’t argue with the results because the “good nervous” has meant the school’s first 4-0 start since 1974, a season the team won their first six games. In order for the results to continue, it’s OK to have butterflies before Saturday’s Homecoming Game with Tulane (noon, Lincoln Financial Field).

“I thought our fullbacks did a great job of setting the tone.”

Once you get that first hit in, though, the butterflies go away and you just play ball and that’s what the Owls have to concentrate on against Tulane. They are a better team than Tulane, and probably a lot closer to the Duke team that hammered Tulane, 37-7, and the Georgia Tech team that abused Tulane, 65-10, than they are to Tulane right now and that should be enough.

Other highlights from the presser:

  • The Owls are playing a lot of players now. This is a very good thing because that means there is going to be a more seamless transition to next year because of the way Freddie Booth-Lloyd (who helps replace Matt Ioannidis) and Michael Dogbe (who probably replaces Nate D. Smith) are playing now. Heck, Nick Sharga—next year’s Tyler Matakevich—also had a good extended run.
  • Rhule said “the fullbacks set the tone.” Yes, he really said that. We’ve come a long way in a year.
  • The Owls are not quite as good as they are going to get. “We’re not quite there just yet,” Rhule said, “but we’re getting there.” Hopefully, where they are now is good enough to beat Tulane and UCF and they “get there” upon arrival in Greenville, N.C., where they put it all together in three weeks and stay “there” for the rest of the season.
  • The Owls have only forced two fumbles. This time last year they forced 10. Got to think the second guy in on every tackle is going to be punching that ball like it’s Chuck Wepner’s face.
  • The Tulsa game (last year’s Homecoming) was sloppy because the Owls tried to do too much.
  • It was good to establish the run. Jahad Thomas, after a minor hiccup against UMass, took some sugar and got rid of the hiccups against Charlotte, going for 106 yards and two touchdowns.
  • Sharga is Temple’s first significant two-way player since even before John Rienstra. “Rhino” came in for only a couple of downs on defense against BYU. Sharga played 11 snaps on offense, mostly early, and 14 more on defense, mostly late. “It’s a great story,” Rhule said.  Matt is right about that because I wasn’t born when Temple last had a significant two-way player, and that’s a long time ago.

One person Rhule did not mention was Nate L. Smith, a former Archbishop Wood and George Washington player, who scored a touchdown on a blocked punt and probably should have scored one on his interception. The only reason he did not was a teammate missed a very makeable block and allowed the Charlotte running back to make the tackle. Still, Smith showed the kind of running instincts in the open field and nose for the end zone that would make him a great option as a punt returner.

Got to think that missed block came up in one of Phil Snow’s film room sessions this week since the Owls want to maximize their scoring opportunities on defense.