Tag Archives: Temple football

10.02.14
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Throwback Thursday: Who’s No. 1?

Tavon Young in his high school days.

If he continues to play the way he’s been playing, perhaps the Temple Owls should abandon their plans of rotating No. 1 this season.

Tavon Young is playing like he wants to keep the honor for good. He reminds me of another young who used to roam centerfield for the Owls’ defense, Anthony Young (no relation). That Young played for coach Wayne Hardin and coach Bruce Arians and could make a jump on the ball like no DB I’ve seen before or since. He was like that guy you play pickup basketball with at the YMCA. You know, the guy who would always jump in front of a pass you think you are throwing to a wide open guy underneath the hoop.

Tavon Young is getting that reputation as a football ballhawk.

So for Throwback Thursday we’ll take you way back to Tavon Young’s high school days. When Temple signed him, there was a lot of excitement on North Broad Street and he’s lived up to the hype. He also wore No. 1 at Potomac High School. Another great Owl was also from Potomac, 1986 Heisman Trophy runner-up Paul Palmer but Paul played for rival Winston Churchill in that town.

Tavon Young today .…

09.27.14
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Finally, the Boise State of the East

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Two years into Al Golden’s rebuild of the Temple football program, someone walked up to him and asked him what he envisioned the Owls program could be in five years.

Golden thought about it for a moment and said: “I think we can be the Boise State of the East.”

Street near the Owls' hotel in downtown Hartford.

Street near the Owls’ hotel in downtown Hartford. Photo courtesy of the “real” Dave Gerson (aka, Owlified)

It’s only a little late, but Golden’s vision seems to be coming true under Matt Rhule, one of his apprentices. Consider this: The Owls’ 36-10 win at UConn on Saturday was every bit as dominating as Boise State’s 38-21 win at Uconn two weeks ago and even moreso.

The Owls were bigger, faster, stronger and played like a program who has eyes on a championship, all things Boise has done out west. There is still much left to do for this team to reach its potential. One of the things that made Golden’s good teams so effective was a punishing running game and the Owls have not been able to develop one four games into this season.

Does that mean we won’t see one?

I find that hard to believe because one of the things that Rhule should understand was successful running backs like Bernard Pierce and Matty Brown ran behind not only a big offensive line but a dynamic blocking fullback in Wyatt Benson (who still has a year of eligibility left if he’s in the neighborhood). Kenny Harper, in a part-time fullback role as a freshman, proved he’s every bit the blocker Benson was.

Marcus Satterfield, the current offensive coordinator, does not know that but Rhule does and he’s the CEO. The buck stops with him and if the Owls are finally going to develop a championship offense, they need a running game and the personnel is here to do it. Two weeks of tweaking to Tulsa are ahead and that would be a nice time to unveil one.

Video highlights:

Uconn fan reaction:

http://the-boneyard.com/threads/temple-game-thread.65397/

Uconn game story:

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-football-temple-0928-20140927-story.html

09.24.14
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Takeaways from Matt Rhule Press Conference

While winning has been, is and will always remain the No. 1 focus of any football program, we often forget the contributions of individuals to the program as a whole and that’s why Matt Rhule’s discussion of Ed Foley was the highlight of his most recent press conference.

There were just a handful of people who held Temple football together during some difficult times—Rhule himself being one in the transition to Steve Addazio—and Foley and Chuck Heater also played a big-time role in holding the program together just before the handoff to Rhule.

You need guys like that and that’s why recognizing Foley with the game ball on Saturday, two days after his father passed away, was a nice gesture. Also interesting was the fact that the entire Boston College football staff, led by Addazio, went to the funeral. Best wishes to coach Foley.

Other highlights from the press conference:

Those four fingers mean something at Temple. Often you see teams holding up the No. 4 at the start of the fourth quarter. Usually, it’s a meaningless gesture because everyone does it. Not at Temple because  it’s backed up by some pretty solid play in the fourth quarter this season. Must be a product of the conditioning program.

P.J. Not Happy. Even though he has a 64 percent completion rate and double the touchdowns to interceptions, P.J. Walker is unhappy with his QB play so far. That demonstrates the kind of standard P.J. wants to set at the position. We all know what P.J. can do. We have enough body of work. Still think he’s going to exceed his 20 TD passes of last year.

Derrick Thomas Could be the Breakout WR. According to Rhule, Thomas is close to making some explosive plays in the passing game. If he does, we can finally say, “Robbie Who?” Let’s hope he does. Here’s a preview of what is coming soon to a field near you (don’t worry about the stats, Bishop Maginn rarely passes the ball):

Sam Benjamin Punt Block Specialist. Looks like Benjamin has a knack to block punts, both in practice and in games. Temple hasn’t had one of those guys in a long, long time (a LB named Bruce Gordon also had that knack but that might have been 25 years ago). Now if we can only convince 7-foot basketball player Devonte Watson (he of the 97-inch wingspan and 41-inch vertical leap) to be the FG-block specialist, no one would ever be able to get a kick off against Temple.

Not Getting Over Navy. “And won’t for a long, long time,” Rhule said. That’s what I like to hear, a coach who stews over a loss as much (or more) than I do and I stew over every loss. Hopefully, coach Rhule talks to coach Wayne Hardin soon because he told both my and my friend, Fizzy Weinraub, an interesting and foolproof method to stop Navy’s triple option on Saturday.

09.23.14
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Will We Finally See a Few Play-Action Passes?

Nick Foles fakes it to Shady here and finds a window to Jeremy Maclin. The same would work if P.J. Harper starts using Kenny Harper's belly.

Nick Foles fakes it to Shady here and finds a window to Jordan Matthews. The same would work if P.J. Harper starts using Kenny Harper’s belly and finds, say, Jalen Fitzpatrick.

Watching the first three games, either in person or on TV, something occurred to me: I have not seen a true play-action pass this season.
Most of the Owls’ offense against both Navy and Vanderbilt consisted of flare passes left and right and deep passes into double-coverage. A true play-action pass, the kind that is the meat and potatoes of the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense (above), has been missing. To me, faking it into Kenny Harper’s belly, leaving Kenny in as an extra blocker, is a win-win for Temple. It causes the linebackers to crowd the line of scrimmage and respect the run and creates open passing windows for P.J. Walker. Those windows, particularly in the open area in the middle of the field 15-30 yards down field, have been slammed shut because Temple almost never shows a play-action look. Plus, Harper staying in as a blocker protects Temple’s most valuable commodity, P.J. Walker.

Troubling Temple Stats

 

Total Off. 3d down conv. Passing Off. Rushing Offense
95th nat/7th AAC 121 nat/10th AAC 89th nat/7th AAC 75th nat/10th AAC
 

Maybe I was missing something so I viewed the entire Delaware State replay (fast-forwarding through the commercial breaks).  I found one “semi” play-action, where P.J. faked in the general direction of a running back. It’s hard to sell a run that way. Gotta stick it in the runner’s belly and pull it out (see above, where that created a window for Nick Foles to hit Jordan Matthews). As it is now, P.J. has no windows to throw into and the results are not as pretty as they should be.
Also like to see one of the speedier Temple backs, say Jamie Gilmore, FOLLOW Harper through a hole. That way, he gets the benefit not only from offensive line blocks but from Harper’s dynamic blocking ability. If the Owls need the tough yardage inside, make the fake to Gilmore one way and give it to Harper up the middle.
Again, a win-win for Temple.

More play-action passing might not raise those national offensive stats, but as they say about a cold and chicken soup, it could not hurt.

and another example of how faking to Harper could help pry open a window for Fitzpatrick ....

and another example of how faking to Harper could help pry open a window for Fitzpatrick ….

09.19.14
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Best Result: Good Guys a Lot, Bad Guys a Little

Cincinati had to kick a field goal with 18 secods left here to beat Delaware Sttate, 23-7, in 2012.

Cincinnati had to kick a field goal with 58 seconds left here to beat Delaware State, 23-7, in 2012.

When people ask me about my favorite Temple football games of all time, a lot of them expect me to say the Navy game of 2009 and the New Mexico Bowl win of 2011 or the Garden State Bowl win of 1979.
Nah, I say. All fun games, but not in my top three.
My favorite Temple football game of all time was Temple 45, Delaware 0. A close second was Temple 31, Delaware 8—both at Delaware before capacity houses of over 20,000 fans. (I also enjoyed Temple 56, Uconn 7, at Franklin Field and the 56-28 and 49-7 wins over Rutgers.) At Veterans Stadium, when Delaware was the top-ranked team in Division II (now FCS) football, Temple beat Delaware 36-7 (see inset). I enjoyed that game very much. topranked
All of those schools liked to talk smack about Temple back in the day and it was especially gratifying when Temple did the talking back by pointing to the scoreboard.
You get my drift. When the good guys score a lot and the bad guys score a little, those are usually my favorite Temple football games.

Delaware State is Delaware Light.

Delaware State brings a new meaning to the term “bad guys” on Saturday, perhaps because they are as bad on the field (0-3) as they are in the community.

I’m expecting a big game from the good guys on Saturday, only because Temple needs to get some work done on offense. If it does do good work, the Owls should light up the scoreboard.

Or it could be like Cincinnati in 2012, which plodded to a 23-7 win over the same program.

Hopefully, it will be more like those Temple vs. Delaware scores above.

09.17.14
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Taking Care of Business

Matt Rhule’s press conference this week.

One of those little annoyances about Temple football is the inability to sustain a weekly highlight show in the Philadelphia market.

Penn State has one. Notre Dame has one. Even Rutgers has one. Temple, which has 155,000 of its 275,000 graduates still living in the Philadelphia TV market, does not–unless you are counting the Temple TV station (Channel 55 on Comcast) in Philadelphia. While tossing and turning and thinking about Fordham and Idaho at 4 a.m. this morning, I went through the channels looking for a replay of The Roosevelts (PBS, every night this week) and found Matt Rhule’s press conference instead.

Hopefully, the producers of that show will put a microphone in the crowd because you cannot hear a single question being posed.

Maybe if Temple goes to a bowl, the highlights’ show returns to Comcast next season.

That’s one order of business that needs to be taken care of and it won’t be accomplished without a big win over Delaware State. I’m not one of those Temple fans who writes “I’ll settle for a one-point win.” I’m settling for a big win–about 44-7 would be nice, 63-0 would be better.

I’m on record as saying Matt Rhule would be better for this program than Steve Addazio ever would have been, but he’s got to start doing some of the things that Daz made routine–including putting away these lesser opponents. When Daz arrived, the uni needed him to take care of business against Villanova and he did that twice by 42-7 and 41-10 scores. Against a service academy with strict academic admissions standards and a five-year post-graduate commitment, Army, Daz put up 63 points by throwing just five passes. Temple, with no such tight restrictions, should have been recruiting at a level for the past five years that made beating these service academies routine.

Rhule and the Owls need to take care of business starting Saturday.

Press Conference Notes: Somewhat surprised that we won’t be seeing Zaire Williams any time soon, but I hope that his problems are all injury related and he makes a big comeback …. doesn’t look like the Owl coaches took any time watching the Eagles’ game Monday night to see how the Eagles used 5-6, 170-pound Darren Sproles. Too bad because that’s the best way to use Khalif Herbin, who was drafted No. 1 by his teammates in the Cherry and White Day Draft. The kids know who can play and who can’t. Too bad the coaches don’t seem to know. My biggest fear is that for the second year in a row the most unique offensive talent for Temple will be lost on an island of inactivity. Call it Slot Receiver Island for Herbin; last year it was Tight End Island for Chris Coyer. It’s No-Man’s Land for Temple. Just like to see five … five .. Darren Sproles-like carries from scrimmage for Herbin on Saturday. If he does nothing, put him back in No Man’s Land … What are they afraid of? …. Good interview with Temple center Kyle Friend on Temple TV this week. They asked him about goals and he said winning every play should be the focus. Seems humble for the best center in the AAC and a great leader for the Owls to follow. .. looks like David Hood will get some carries this week. Owls need to find an explosive guy who can take it to the house at RB.