Tag Archives: Temple football

09.05.19
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A treat, a jump shot, and a color highlight new Temple players

People of a certain age remember the Rice A Roni jingle “the San Francisco treat” but few people ever remember a player from San Francisco making an impact as a football player at Temple.

Re’Mahn Davis is that one and only player.

The Frisco native had 90 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in a 56-12 win over Bucknell in the opener and may just be the running back who allows Isaiah Wright to concentrate on his wide receiver and special teams duties.

We shall see.

To me, there were a lot of impressive first-timers out there getting extensive action for the Owls but none more than a color (Jadan Blue), a jump shot pronounced MY JAY and a treat from San Francisco named Davis.

What we do know is that he was the most talked-about freshman by his older teammates since Bernard Pierce lugged the pigskin before the 2009 season. Pierce had a pretty good year then, rushing for 1,361 yards and 16 touchdowns. Still, Davis had the better opener this time because Pierce’s debut against Villanova was six carries for 44 yards.

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Jager Gardner took this handoff from P.J. Walker against SMU for 94 yards, the longest run from scrimmage in Temple football history

Going into the season, Temple coach Rod Carey pretty much indicated that Davis and veteran senior Jager Gardner were on the same level. Since Gardner scored a pair of touchdowns as well, that equality was borne out during the game.

There is still time for one to separate himself from the other and, in order to beat Maryland, one will have to.

Gardner was always seen as someone with enormous potential–he still holds the longest run from scrimmage (94 yards) in the Temple football history playbook–but has been never above pedestrian backing up guys like Jahad Thomas and Ryquell Armstead.

Maybe he will do that this year but the time clock for college running backs is usually this: If a true freshman and a senior are even, playing time usually goes to the younger player. Davis rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 78 yards and an additional score.

It’s been that way in the history of college football.

Gardner can change all that with a couple of long runs for touchdowns against Maryland but he is running out of time.

The fallback plan has always been Wright, who spent a full week in summer camp at the running back position. The hope is that plan will not have to be dusted off and used, but the reality is that Wright is a game-breaking talent and the Owls are plenty deep with game-breaking talent at wide receiver. Blue, who caught a pass from Frank Nutile against Villanova last year, had his first significant action since catching a pair of touchdown passes in the 2017 Cherry and White game with 10 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. He missed that fall season with an injury but could play a major role this season.

On defense, the guy who really impressed has a name perfectly suited for basketball, not football. Ifeany Maijeh (last name pronounced my jay) won the starting defensive tackle position against Karamo Dioubate and finished with five tackles, two for a loss and a sack. Dioubate–rated the No. 5 defensive end recruit in the nation coming out of high school–also had a sack.

Still, the same school of thought applies to the Maijeh/Dioubate competition as it does the Davis/Gardner one. If it’s close, the tie goes to the younger runner.

So the next couple of games are most crucial for the older guys who have to do something in the games to separate themselves.

That kind of competition can only help the team as a whole.

Saturday: Bye Weeks Clues

09.03.19
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Fizzy: The Bucknell Game

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Fizzy likes what he’s seen from coach Carey and staff so far.

Editor’s Note: Dave (Fizzy) Weinraub is one of the few ex-players we know at Temple who has actually played in a game against Bucknell. His review of the latest gridiron clash between the two schools follows.

By Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub

The day after Temple announced the hiring of Rod Carey, I got this message from a friend who lives in Boulder, Co.  “TEMPLE DID WHAT???”

Let me explain.

weinraub

Fizzy here at the Boca Raton Bowl with a few  friends

My friend Erik, in Boulder, was an alum of Northern Illinois University (NIU), and two of his college buddies still lived there and went to all their football games.  Erik would get a weekly message during football season from his buddies, who were not at all happy with Carey’s play calling.  Basically, they said he was a run-oriented guy who rarely did imaginative things.  Erik predicted I was going to go crazy watching and writing about Carey’s offense.  So all winter long, I was dreading Temple’s first game, expecting to see a boring offensive game plan that wouldn’t make use of all our inherent talent.

Just one more qualifier, please.  Long ago, a West Philly High student was asking me about my career.  When I got done a brief summary, he looked up and thoughtfully said, “Weinraub, you older than shit!”

That I am, and I’ve seen so many Philly football coaches at all levels, I couldn’t begin to list all their names.  In two weeks, I knew Andy Reid couldn’t call plays in the Pop Warner league.  I saw so many Temple coaches way over their heads and continually call time outs because they couldn’t get the plays in on time. Then, more often than not, run the ball up the middle. Many of these coaches didn’t make use of their talent and even had students carrying posters running up and down the sideline signaling in the plays.  Those coaches learned on-the-job and at our expense. Lots of times, Temple players won games despite their coaches.

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Well, that was then.  Yesterday, however, I was the most surprised fan at the LINC.  Yes, it was only an overwhelmed Bucknell team, but I saw a flawless offense.  There was no hesitation on play calls.  We started out throwing the ball and then mixed everything up continually.  The shovel pass for the first touchdown was a beautiful call.  Later, we went to an up-tempo, no-huddle scheme that rocked Bucknell’s defense.  And guess what?  After all my years of bitching, I saw an offense make excellent use of misdirections.  As promised, Carey got our all-American special teams player (Wright), the ball in every conceivable fashion.  I was thoroughly impressed because I saw an offense truly designed around the skills of our talented players.  Coach Carey and offensive coordinator Mike Uremovich, are to be congratulated.  The coaching staff showed how years of working together pay off.

I do have one coaching complaint. Can you explain to me why Russo and the first-team offense was on the field and risking injury into the fourth quarter?

The only player negatives revolve around Anthony Russo.  Many times, our outstanding quarterback looked directly at his primary receiver as soon as he got the snap.  Perhaps that had a hand in the pick-six interception?  Also, would someone please teach him how to slide?  (If we had a baseball team, that coach could do the job. Wait, maybe our baseball team is playing in our new 160 million dollar campus stadium. Duh!)

Today, I’m not going to get into the defense because I really want to see how they do against stiffer competition.  However, I believe it was only once they had to call a timeout to set the formation near our goal line.

To sum up, color me thrilled.  I hope yesterday wasn’t a mirage.

Thursday: The Newbies

Saturday: Things to Look for

 

 

 

09.01.19
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Bucknell: The Horse that had to be put down

As a recent horse racing aficionado, I’ve learned that I enjoy going to see the ponies for more than monetary reasons:

First and foremost, I don’t want to see any of the horses hurt so that’s my first and really only fervent hope.

Second, it would be nice to see my horse win. Third, I enjoy seeing great athletes compete against one another and the thoroughbreds are great athletes. With that in mind,  full disclosure: I had no interest in seeing a horse go down like I knew Bucknell would so I skipped the game and had better things to do on a Labor Day weekend. I did check the ESPN+ feed (at $4.99 ESPN+) is the best buy in sports. To me, the great thing about going to a sporting event is the competitiveness. I knew there would be no competitiveness here. Great athletes against so-so athletes do nothing to move the competitiveness meter.

My horse won against this claimer.

The other horse had to be put down.

I  knew it would happen. You knew it would happen.

It didn’t have to happen but the Temple administration allowed it to happen.

Same thing with the Maryland administration that allowed a 79-0 win over Howard to happen.

The season really starts in two weeks against Maryland and the Owls will have to establish a running game that they did not even try against Bucknell.

Or at least not enough.

Screenshot 2019-08-31 at 4.49.35 PM

That they can do it was established because this is the same offensive line that hammered Houston for 59 points a year ago and they have a promising freshman in Re’Mahn Davis and an improved senior in Jager Gardner to block for.

What they did against Bucknell is something that they should not be doing–at least twice giving an NFL prospect in Anthony Russo a chance to run in a run/pass option. I don’t know who designed those type of plays but those pages need to be ripped out of the playbook immediately if not sooner. First, as much as I love Anthony as my quarterback–and that’s at least as much love that I had for P.J. Walker–he is no threat to run. Second, if head coach Rod Carey gets my quarterback killed on a similar play, I will never forgive him.

Nor probably will any Owl fans.

Temple TUFF means establishing the run and throwing the pass off play-action.

What we saw on Saturday was a team trying to establish the run off the pass and that is ass-backward.

Hopefully, that’s something Carey saved for his back pocket against Maryland.

If not, the Owls probably won’t achieve their potential.

To me, as I wrote on Friday, beating this team 65-14 would have been just about right. Since it was “only” 56-12, there is a lot to work on in two weeks.

More than I thought because Howard is better than Bucknell.

Tuesday: Fizzy’s Corner

Thursday: The Newbies

Saturday: Things to Look For

 

 

 

 

08.30.19
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Game Day Minus-1: A Smelly Old Shoe

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Here’s the list of good things we can see the Owls do for the first time under Rod Carey tomorrow:

Hit people.

That’s it.

For the first time in my memory of Temple football and that’s, err, 40-plus years, we have gone through an entire spring and summer practice without anyone wearing Cherry or White getting hit.

That’s only a little exaggeration because although there have been some sleds hit and some people blocked, there hasn’t been a single tackle to the ground under Carey so far in any practice or scrimmage.

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You can flip Harrison Hand and Freddie Johnson on this list since Carey has indicated that Hand will probably start.

It was all done in the hope of limiting injuries, but it is a gamble nonetheless. In his first season at Temple, Bruce Arians had plenty of hitting before his first game–a 17-6 win over Syracuse at Franklin Field–but none the week before a 35-0 loss to Pitt.

“Dumb mistake by a rookie head coach,” Arians said.

After that game, the Owls had their most physical practice of the season and Arians never let the pedal off the hitting medal in his five years on the job.

Different strokes for different folks and college football’s rules for practicing have changed significantly since the 80s but we will see hitting Saturday (3 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field, ESPN+). At stake is the old shoe, which must be pretty smelly because it’s been in McGonigle Hall and Edberg-Olson Hall for over 50 years.

But back what happened after Arians had his own epiphany on hitting in practices.

The Owls went on to beat Pitt three of the next four seasons under Arians and have two winning seasons against what was then rated as a top-10 national schedule.

The Owls will learn pretty much nothing from the exercise as they enter the game as a 40-point favorite and I fully expect them to challenge the team’s 82 points scored in an 82-28 win over Bucknell in 1966. Last year, Bucknell lost to both Penn (34-17) and Villanova (49-7) and a professionally coached Temple team should exceed those numbers by a lot.

This is a professionally coached Temple team but they won’t get to 82, probably because Carey will probably do something creative like take three knees on the 1 a few times in the fourth quarter if the Lincoln Financial Field scoreboard is about to break.

In a game that probably should have never been scheduled, Temple 65, Bucknell 14.

At least the hitting should knock some rust off before Maryland.

We won’t find that out for sure until Sept. 14.

Sunday: Game Analysis

Wednesday: Most Impressive Rookies

08.26.19
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Game Week: The Bully in the China Shop

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I’ve been against our great university playing Bucknell in football.

Basketball, yes.

Football, no.

I was against it when it was first announced and urged several times for the university to swap the game out for a more appropriate foe.

squirrel

Yet, the game remained on the schedule and, as one editor of a Temple sports website likes to say, “it is what it is.”

It is the next game on the schedule and it must not only be won but dominated. With all of this talk about bullying in schools today, my school is forced into the role of a bully (by its own administration) and it is not a good look. This has all the makings of a body bag game and we haven’t seen that since eight Rutgers players were carted off the field in a 20-17 loss to Temple in Piscataway (2002). This one doesn’t figure to be anywhere near as competitive as that one was nor should it be. I know a lot of people will be bringing up Villanova but Villanova is able to recruit the kinds of athletes Bucknell is unable to recruit and Temple now, unlike then, has a competent head coach who has no history of losing to FCS teams.

I would enjoy much more a trip to Penn State and the hope for an upset there on Saturday than the knowledge that Temple is going to probably hurt someone pretty bad at home.

What does Temple gain from beating Bucknell, 82-28, in a repeat of the 1966 game? Other than a statue of a boot, nothing.

That, and the fact summer (by far the best of the four seasons IMHO) is over, is the bad news.

bucknell

The good news is that football season is back and that’s not a bad consolation. Seeing our beloved Owls in a rare August game is another bonus. 

If there is any other good news, we will finally get a chance to see Rod Carey’s Temple team hit someone–they still have tackling to the ground in college football, right?–and Owl fans will get to see if there is any rust by the lack of tackling in the spring and summer.

The important thing is getting ready for Maryland in a few weeks and beating Georgia Tech on the way to an AAC title run.

If all of those things happen and the Owls finish unbeaten, playing and beating Bucknell might be worth it but I doubt it.

Friday: Game Day Minus-1

Sunday: Game Analysis and a return to the three-post weekly schedule

 

08.24.19
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New BOT chair hints stadium “out of our control”

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The original Temple Stadium at Pickering and Cheltenham Aves.

What’s out of our control?

For Temple football, injuries to the offensive line or quarterback could turn a potential championship season into another mediocre bowl run.

That’s out of our control.

Yet, in a recent interview in the Temple News, new Temple University Board of Trustees chairman Mitchell Morgan hinted that something else also important to the future of the program was “out of our control” and that is a place to play.

This is what Morgan, a real estate developer who helped bring to fruition Morgan Hall (one of the best student residences in the country), had to say about an on-campus football stadium in a recent Temple News interview:

 

“It would be great to have an on-campus stadium,” he added. “But if it’s not in the cards, then we will find another place to play football, but it’s out of our control.”

Since everyone in the administration refuses to even comment on the stadium issue pretty much since last March’s (2018) disastrous meeting with the community at Mitten Hall, that statement is about as revealing as anything. Even athletic director Pat Kraft, in an interview with CBS radio’s Zach Gelb, pulled a Sargent Schultz when he said “I really don’t know anything” about where a stadium stands. New head coach Rod Carey hasn’t uttered a word about the proposed stadium, at least in print, and former coach Geoff Collins’ only statement was that he would help the university in any way he could. I doubt Manny Diaz even knew the uni was considering a stadium. Matt Rhule said he was in favor of a stadium “if done right” and Al Golden was the first coach to bring up how important building an on-campus stadium was back in 2006.

Those aren’t the top guys, though. Mitchell Morgan now is.

newstadium

The current proposed location at 15th and Norris seems to be a no-go for a stadium

” … but if it’s not in the cards, then we will find another place to play football, but it’s out of our control.”

That’s an important comment from the top guy because Temple currently has no place to play football next year and that’s troubling. The hope is that Jeffrey Lurie extends the Lincoln Financial Field lease, but that has not happened yet and both Franklin Field and Chester are unacceptable options, one where the Owls would not have control and the other where 18,000 seating is just too small for a team that averaged 28,765 fans last year.

The irony is that this really is in Temple’s control if it wanted to think big. The university already plays almost 100 intercollegiate events at its $22 million Olympic stadium complex at Broad and Masters and it would be able to shoe-horn a 35,000 seat stadium into that spot if it wanted. Those neighbors probably would trade six events a year for the 100 and moving the Olympic teams back to 15th and Norris would not require shutting down 15th Street, which is the major obstacle.

It’s a King Solomon-like solution that the university apparently does not want to pursue but it’s certainly one that is within its control.

Monday: Finally, Game Week Is Here

08.19.19
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Offensive Depth Chart: Weapons Everywhere

There’s been plenty of talk about the offensive weapons the other Lincoln Financial Field tenant, the Philadelphia Eagles, have and, while a case can be made that DeSean Jackson and Darren Sproles and Zach Ertz and Carson Wentz are formidable, the other permanent locker room down the hall is stacked as well.

In Isaiah Wright, the Temple Owls have one of the top 15 most exciting players in college football and can line him up everywhere and, in Anthony Russo, the Owls have–according to at least one expert–the No. 22 quarterback in college football.

Mix in tight ends Kenny Yeboah and David Martin-Robinson, wide receivers Jadan Blue and Branden Mack and a promising young running back named Re’Mahn Davis, and the Owls have all of the ingredients for offensive success this year in the weapons department.

No one knows what the offensive depth chart will look like when it’s released in about a week, but we can say for certainty that Anthony Russo will be the No. 1 quarterback and Toddy Centeio will be No. 2. Nos. 3 and 4 Trad Beatty and Kennique Bonner-Steward are also in the room with a new face, former St. Pius X (N.J.) quarterback Matt Vitale. It’s probably the deepest group since the Matty Baker/Lee Saltz days.

Running back is another story.

We don’t know who will be the running back yet but, from all reports out of camp, Davis has impressed. Is that enough to beat out veteran Jager Gardner, who has also had a good camp? That’s why this depth chart is so fascinating. Wright also worked a full week at RB, so he’s a fallback plan. Gardner is the best blocker of the group.

What is know is that the offensive line is set, which includes Rimington Award candidate Matt Hennessy at center, Jovahn Fair and Lansdale Catholic product Vince Picozzi at guard, and Isaac Moore and Adam Klein at tackle. That was pretty much last year’s starting until that shoved the ball down Houston’s throats to the tune of 59 points one of the few times offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude gave proper emphasis to the running game.

The second offensive line unit features a whole bunch of new names but, among them, the versatile Leon Pinto, who can play both guard and center, has stood out.

If any spot is going to benefit from the lack of real hitting in camp, it’s going to be that offensive line group but you’ve got to wonder if the lack of physicality is going to carry over into September games against Maryland and Georgia Tech.

It’s a gamble that head coach Rod Carey has taken before and is willing to take again. The proof will be in the taste of the pudding or whatever Temple fans taste at the post-game tailgates. Winning makes everything taste better.

Friday: Zamani’s Slideshow from the Season-Ticket Party

Saturday: What’s Out of Our Control?

08.17.19
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Russo Picks Temple to Win AAC East

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The biggest news coming out the last couple of days about Temple football was not on the practice field where the team is working hard for the season opener in less than two weeks but because a Russo picked Temple to win the AAC East.

And it wasn’t even Anthony Russo.

Ralph D. Russo (no relation), the Associated Press’ long-time college football beat writer, picked Temple to win the AAC East.

That’s good news.


The most long-awaited
depth chart in the history
of Temple football (there
hasn’t been one since the
2016 season finale) will
be released on Aug. 26

 

The bad news is that he also picked Memphis to win the overall title but, since we’re still five months away from that potential matchup, the Owls can have a lot to say about both getting to that game and winning it.

First things first.

Russo didn’t detail his reasoning but he probably thinks the Owls would beat Memphis (and UCF) at home, lose to Cincy on the road, but probably set themselves up for a home rematch against the revenge-minded Tigers and lose. History, though, proves that teams playing against revenge have won the title (UCF over Memphis last year, despite the Tigers losing the regular-season game, 31-30) so the Owls don’t have to follow that script.

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It won’t be long now

Meanwhile, the Owls are writing their own foreward (this one spelled with an ‘e’ in the middle) of what could be a remarkable 2019 story.

To me, all of these predictions could get blown up with a key injury here or there so the predictions are pretty much made with minimal injury impact in mind so building depth is an important ingredient and that’s just what the Owls are doing now.

The most long-awaited depth chart in the history of Temple football (there hasn’t been one since the 2016 season finale) will be released on Aug. 26, but while there is hitting at practices, there is no tackling so expect a lot of the proven tacklers last year on defense to rise to the top of the depth chart this season as well.

That means on defense expect last year’s starters at corner, Linwood Crump Jr., and Ty Mason to be trying to fight off Harrison Hand–who started four games for a Power 5 team (Baylor)–to keep their jobs.

At safety, reports from OwlsDaily.com that DaeSean Winston is lining up as starter is particularly impressive since he did not get as many reps as Benny Walls, the other safety starter. The fact that they are both holding off Penn State backup Ayron Monroe (who played in all 12 regular-season games for the Nittany Lions) probably is a good sign for the quality of the safety group.

The fact that the five current linebackers (Shaun Bradley, Chapelle Russell, Sam Franklin, William Kwenkeu and Isaiah Graham-Mobley) are the strength of the team has been pretty much common knowledge since the end of last season. Franklin’s value is that he can play any defensive position (end, LB and safety) and can be moved all over the field as needed. Owls will be hurt by graduation at that position in that only IGM is an underclassman.

Probably the two key ingredients to winning college football games are getting to the bad guys’ quarterback and keeping the bad guys off your quarterback and the Owls should have no problem doing that with a group that includes starting ends Quincy Roche and Zack Mesday and interior linemen Dan Archibong and Karamo Dioubate. Dana Levine, who started three games before getting injured, is also back at DE along with junior college transfer Nickolas Madourie–who had an eye-popping 17.5 sacks in one season as a JUCO.

This defense has the potential to shut a lot of people down and with the abandonment of Geoff Collins’ Mayhem scheme–which left gaping holes in an attempt to ramp up turnovers–should be more fundamentally sound.

Monday: Thoughts on The Offense

08.12.19
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Temple Football Headlines We’d Like To See

Go to the college football tab on Philly.com and up will pop the following recent headlines:

  • Penn State transfer Ayron Monroe looking to make his mark at Temple;
  • Jager Gardner and Kyle Dobbins early front-runners in Temple running back race;
  • Anthony Russo Ready to Face Microscope As Temple starting quarterback
  • Manny Diaz Explains Why He Bailed on Temple Football

All fine, good headlines examining interesting topics pertaining to the program. Still, here are some other headlines and outlines we’d like to see in the future:

New Temple Board of Trustees Chair Mitchell Morgan Compares Building of Stadium to Morgan Hall: Morgan, a Temple grad, took over for departed chairman Patrick J. O’Connor, a Villanova graduate. The real estate developer needs to articulate that building a stadium on Temple’s property is no different than building Morgan Hall and more of an economic benefit to the neighborhood than a dorm would be in that game-day jobs and other perks would be made first available to neighborhood residents that do not exist in development of other Temple properties.

Carey Calls Collins ‘Goofy’ When He Releases His Depth Chart: The long-awaited date for a depth chart will be Aug. 26. That will be the first Temple depth chart anyone has seen since the 2016 Military Bowl as Temple fans had to deal with an “above-the-line” vagueness under former head coach Geoff Collins. “Geoff was goofy with that and some other things,” Temple coach Rod Carey said. “You won’t find us holding money down signs on third down, for instance.”

Carey Abandons Running Back By Committee Approach: “I said, and you can’t print this, ‘fuck it, ‘ I have the best running back in the league in Isaiah Wright and I’m not going to screw this up by trying to put someone else back there.’ “

Temple’s Kraft: No More FCS Games: In a unique approach designed to boost sagging season ticket sales for the Bucknell opener, Temple athletic director Pat Kraft says this will be Owl fans last chance to see an FCS team. “We’re actively looking to replace Idaho with a Power 5 team next season,” Kraft said, “and we’re no longer going to be playing FCS foes so this will be Temple fans last chance to see us against one of these type teams. We really don’t care what other AAC teams are doing with their non-conference schedules. We’re going to advance the Temple brand by playing only FBS foes going forward.”

Saturday: Defensive Depth Chart Thoughts

Monday: Offensive Depth Chart Thoughts

Saturday (8/24): What’s Out of Our Control?

Monday: (8/26): The Bully in the China Shop

Saturday (8/31): Game Day

Sunday (9/2): Resuming Regular Season Post schedule (Sun-Wed-Sat)

08.10.19
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Strange Offseason For AAC Gives Some Hints to Future

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Very few teams in the American Conference, heck, college football, had a stranger postseason than Temple.

First, Geoff Collins announces how excited he was for his team to play Duke in the Independence Bowl then, the next day exits stage right for Atlanta and Georiga Tech.

Then, athletic director Pat Kraft announces a national search and settles on a guy whose dad was Mayor of Miami and then, not surprisingly, the kid leaves for Miami about 18 days later.

Then some normalcy returned in the form of a proven FBS winning head coach (52-30) in Rod Carey. Yet, spring practice was an extension of the strangeness as the Owls did not have a spring “game” for the first time and had virtually no hitting in those 15 practices that extended from mid-March through mid-April.

Temple is back to full hitting now in summer camp.

Just because Temple had a weird offseason doesn’t mean the rest of the conference was immune to the elements.

  • UCF, the favorite, replaced its Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback with a big name, Brandon Wimbush, from Notre Dame. Darriel Mack Jr., the backup who led UCF past Memphis in the title game broke his ankle in a non-football workout so it looks like this is Wimbush’s job to keep.  Wimbush began last season as Notre Dame’s starter and has a lot to prove after being benched after the third game of last season. He passed for only 719 yards and threw six interceptions as opposed to four touchdowns. In 2017, he passed for 1,870 yards with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions.
  • Houston did what some was unthinkable for a Group of 5 school, hiring a fairly successful Power 5 head coach, Dana Holgerson, to replace Major Applewhite. This could work.
  • Tulane’s Willie Fritz has committed to a hybrid triple-option–closer to what Paul Johnson did at Georgia Tech than what Ken Niumatalolo is doing with Navy–that features more downfield passing. It caused the league numerous problems the last year and his team figures to be even more improved this season.
  • UConn not only exited the league–it will compete as a lame-duck this season–but virtually committed football suicide by going independent. The Huskies need only to look a few miles North to Massachusetts to see what that holds for their future.
  • Meanwhile, Cincinnati has the most “stable” year as the Bearcats not only beat Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl, they got to keep their head coach, Luke Fickell, who was one of the final two candidates for the West Virginia job. They also have Temple at home in what should be one of the games of the year in the AAC and benefit from four-straight No. 1 AAC recruiting classes.

If Cincy doesn’t win the league this year, a lot of people will be surprised but that’s why they play the games.

Monday: 5 Temple Headlines We’d Like to See