Tag Archives: Temple football

10.16.18
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Cross: Klecko Was the Best I’ve Ever Played Against

crossmeister

Randy Cross back in the day

Five takeaways from the Navy game:

In between former All-Pro Randy Cross pulling out the hairs on his head questioning both Temple football offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude’s personnel packages and play calls, he dropped this gem when a photo of Joe Klecko playing for Temple was displayed during CBS Sports Network’s broadcast of Temple at Navy on Oct. 13.

klecko

“In my 12 years in Pro Football, Joe Klecko was the single best player I’ve ever played against, any position,” Cross said. “In my mind, he should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and it’s kind of a travesty that’s he’s not. I mean, how many players in the NFL have made the pro bowl at three different positions (tackle, end, nose guard)? I would venture to say none.”

Cross’ Temple Connection

In the interest of full disclosure, Cross said: “I have a Temple connection. My niece went there and she’s a proud graduate.” Not because of that or because of the Klecko comment, but Cross–perhaps more than any other color commentator in recent years–did his homework on the Owls and a great job on the game itself.

Not very many UCLA graduates have a Temple connection and, in December, Cross will have two when Paul Palmer is inducted into the college football Hall of Fame. Cross was inducted into the same Hall of Fame in 2011.

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Freddy Booth-Lloyd’s Recovery

Seeing nose tackle Freddy Booth-Lloyd (err, Freddy Love) writhing on the ground in pain, it looked to me like he was done for the season. He was reaching down and holding his knee and it did not appear to be a cramp but something like a tear so to see him come back into the game and play like, well, Joe or Dan Klecko in completely bottling up the Navy dive play was a miracle. Maybe one of those Blue Angel jets gave him a quick ride to Lourdes but it was perhaps the most amazing recovery I’ve ever seen a Temple player make during a single game. He should make for a great Temperor should he not make the NFL.

russo

Anthony Russo Should Be 5-0

Through no fault of his own, Anthony Russo chalked up the L against Boston College. That’s a little like Harvey Haddix pitching a 12-inning perfect game in 1959 and losing, but that’s what he did. Russo was not perfect against BC, but one of his interceptions was delivered right between the numbers of a Temple player, who saw it bounce off his chest and then reached up and grabbed it with both hands only to see it bounce off those hands into the arms of a BC defender. Owls were driving for a sure score there with a 21-13 lead and 5:08 left in the half and that turned the game around. Toss in a perfectly thrown bomb that was dropped (by the same Temple receiver) and a horrendous coaching call on a third-and-two play and his teammate and offensive coordinator did him no favors. Here’s how impressive that would have been: No QB in the history of Temple has ever started 5-0 and that includes Maxwell Trophy-winner Steve Joachim and bowl-winning quarterback Chris Coyer, both 4-1 and 4-0, respectively. For a guy who really hasn’t played any meaningful downs in two years, that’s remarkable.

Navy Controversy

After watching the game, I went out to the local supermarket and was able to pick up the Navy post-game show on WBAL (1080 AM), Baltimore. All they did for a good 45 minutes after the game was talk about a “bad call” that “affected the outcome.” I’m thinking, “What bad call?” Evidently, they felt a block in the back a Navy player had on Freddy Love was erroneous but the replay of the game clearly showed the Navy player used both hands to push down on FBL’s back. None of the announcers had any problem with it and it just goes to show you two sets of fans can look at the same thing and come to different conclusions. That’s a call that had to be made, though.

Thursday: A Special Homecoming

Saturday: How Good is Vegas?

Sunday: Game Analysis

 

 

 

 

10.15.18
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Fizzy’s Corner: Could’ve, Would’ve, Should’ve

weinraub

Editor’s Note: Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub (pictured), a former Temple player and later a coach, educator, and writer, provides his expert perspective in this space every week.

By Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub

Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen of Temple University rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Armstead, Wright, Gardner, and Russo. They formed the crest of the Broad Street cyclone before which another fighting  Navy football team was swept over the precipice as spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread on the green plain below.

fizz

Wait, there’s something wrong.  The master horseman wasn’t there.  Armstead was on the sideline watching the drama unfold as he was too injured to play.  Why?  Well because Coach Collins allowed him to continue to play in a blowout the week before, even after an injury in the fourth quarter.  To make matters worse, the coach refuses to address either the injury or his mistake. Yesterday when asked, he shrugged and said, “We’ll keep getting better.”

It’s the measure of a man who admits his mistakes and apologizes.  Coach Collins needs to come out front.

Now, on to the game with Navy.  For those who think I’m beating a dead horse, let’s look at the first two offensive series yesterday.  Do you think we really wouldn’t have scored with a first and goal on the half-yard line if Ryquell was playing?  Do you think we’d have fumbled the ball right back again on the second series if the master horseman was riding?  That’s a possible fourteen points and could have put the game away, right away.  As we get ready to play three top 25 teams, we need our best running back to be healthy.

To borrow a word from Grantland Rice above, there were some bewildering offensive play calls as usual.  Play fakes on third and long, two up-the-guts after a first down incompletion (borrowed from Andy Reid), a punt on fourth and one from on the Navy side of the field, throwing from an empty backfield on second and short, and the fade that was intercepted in the end-zone with two minutes to play.

On the other hand, the draw play for a touchdown was a terrific call, and we continue to see Russo roll out and run a few keepers.  I’d really like to see him run some RPO’s.

It’s very tough to evaluate the defense when it’s playing against the triple option, as there are many theories out there.  Wayne Hardin once told me his theory was to over-shift the defensive line to the strong side. Some coaches will assign one linebacker to tackle the fullback, one to hit the QB, and one for the pitch.  As Navy doesn’t throw well, man-to-man pass coverage should suffice.  I’m thankful we got ahead just in time to force them to do that.

A win is a win.  However, in Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda Land, we are now 6 – 1.

Tomorrow: 5 Takeaways From the Game

Thursday: A Special Homecoming

Saturday: How good is Vegas?

Sunday: Game Analysis

10.14.18
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You Get What You Need

There’s no way Mick Jager could have been inspired to write “You can’t always get what you want” unless he would have stepped into the H.G. Wells’ Time Machine and watched Temple’s football game at Navy yesterday before going back to 1969.

If you are a Temple fan, you can’t always get what you want, but, at least yesterday, thanks mostly to the kids who tried all the time, they got what they needed.

A win.

That’s the bottom line but it’s not really all that mattered.

If this team is ever going to achieve the potential it both wants and needs, it is going to need fundamentally better coaching. We haven’t seen very much evidence of that in this 4-3 season. Seven and Oh talent, a 4-3 season because in part of what of the kind of head-scratching play-calling and personnel packages we witnessed on the first and penultimate drives of the game.

raynor

What I–and I suspect a great majority–of Temple fans wanted after the Owls got a first-and-goal at the 1 on the first drive of the game was to put a fullback in the game and pound Jager Gardner behind him for the easy six. Somehow, though, offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude got his 147th brain cramp of the year and put two defensive players–Freddy Booth-Lloyd and Dan Archibong–in the game and that pushed the ball back another five yards due to an illegal procedure penalty on the second play of that series. The first play was an unnecessary quarterback sneak. The First and goal from the 1 is no time for a sneak or exotic personnel packages. Asking defensive players to rush into the game and hear a snap count they are unfamiliar with is a recipe for disaster.

Disaster went down like sewer water yesterday.

It is high time to put Nitro in at fullback (his natural position) and giving the ball to Jager Gardner for the easy six. If Gardner doesn’t get it on first down, he almost assuredly does on second or third. Don’t try to be a rocket scientist when you know basic geometry–the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Memo to Patenaude: This SHOULD be Temple football on every first and goal. Do you think Matt Rhule ever cared what defense Cincy was in here?

But …. nooooooo … these guys are so stubborn they don’t want to use a traditional fullback behind a pretty good tailback.

Twilight Zone was revisited on the penultimate drive of the game, with 1:48 left and the Owls getting a first down at the 9. All the Owls had to do was put a fullback in the game and run Gardner behind him for three downs, using the clock, perhaps scoring. Instead, this genius from Coastal Carolina decides to throw a ball into the end zone, committing two unpardonable sins–stopping the clock and turning the ball over.

Less than two minutes left with a first down inside the 10 is not the time to get greedy.

Or stupid.

Speaking of stupid, the very smart announcing team–led by former All-Pro Randy Cross–was aghast (aghast, I tell you) about the Owls approach to running down the play clock which could be described in two words: Ignoring it. On just about every play, the Owls were snapping with 11-13 seconds left on the play clock, when they could have run that down to 2 or 3 seconds before snapping. Cross estimated that the Owls wasted “about a minute and 42 seconds” by snapping the ball early.

“What’s the rush?” Cross said.

Randy, meet Dave Patenaude, who seldom makes any sense.

The Owls got what they needed yesterday. To win a title that these kids deserve, they better start getting both what they need and what they want and that is an offensive coordinator who understands even the most basic elements of Football 101.

Monday: Fizzy’s Corner

Tuesday: What We’ve Learned

Thursday: A Special Homecoming

Saturday: How Good is Vegas?

Sunday: Game Analysis

10.13.18
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How Good is Temple? More Clues Today

todayuni

Today’s uni … maybe they are saving the Cherry helmets for Homecoming…Photo: Zamani Feelings

A very wise sage named Bill Parcells once famously said: “You are what your record is.”

Another wise sage named Lee Corso is just as famous for his catchphrase: “Not so fast, my friend.”

As far as how good this 2018 Temple football team is, we found out a little last night and will find out a lot more today. Certainly, the Parcells’ quote does not apply to this squad because it is 3-1 since a new quarterback took over for the one who went 0-2. This is a Lee Corso-type squad.

Not so fast, my friend. As presently constituted, this is no doubt a better team than what their record is (3-3, 2-0).

Exactly how much better is a question we should have a handle on by nightfall.

combos

We got a little glimpse last night when USF struggled to beat a Tulsa team Temple hammered (31-17). Even though USF is unbeaten and ranked No. 23, it also struggled against an ECU team Temple dismantled, 49-6. One comparative score could be misleading. Two is a trend. Should both Temple and USF play their best, got to like Temple’s chances in that game a few weeks down the road.

First, though, Navy is up (3:30 p.m. in Annapolis, CBS Sports Network).

No predictions on that game here because Navy is always good at home, where it beat a very good Memphis squad, 22-21, earlier this year. Temple fans are in a show-me mode today. Show me you are good by beating Navy.

Still, one other game today will give Owl fans a pretty good grip on where their team stands in the overall league picture because Houston travels to ECU as a 16-point favorite. I think that line is way too high and I would not be surprised if ECU pulls this out. In an upset, I’m picking the Pirates, 27-25. That would mean Temple is very, very good.

Here are the other five in this week’s six-pack:

Toledo 21, at Eastern Michigan 14 _ Toledo is just a much-better program and will cover the two-point spread.

Georgia Tech 35, Duke 31 _ Georgia Tech, not Army or Navy, has the No. 1 rushing offense in the country and, although I like both head coaches, I like GT’s Paul Johnson (former Navy coach) more. Georgia Tech covers the three-point spread.

Notre Dame 42, Pitt 14 _ Central Florida beat Pitt, 45-14, and Penn State beat them, 51-6. If the host Irish have designs on a four-team playoff, they need similar style points. Pretty hard to convince the committee to pick them over UCF and PSU with, say, a 29-22 win. So ND easily covers the 21-point spread.

Central Florida 29, at Memphis 20 _ Memphis has shown some chinks in the armor. UCF has not. Knights easily cover the 4.5-point spread.

Texas 54, Baylor 25 _ Sorry, Matt Rhule, Texas has found another gear since losing to Maryland and should cover the 14-point spread. Rhule is getting the Bears better with a 26-7 win over a Kansas team that destroyed Rutgers and another win over Kansas State, but the Longhorns are a different animal than a Jayhawk or a Wildcat.

Last week straight up: 4-2

Last week ATS: 2-4

Overall straight up: 11-6

Overall ATS: 8-10

Today’s TV Schedule:

tvlistings

10.11.18
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Temple-Navy: Creating Separation

separation

That guy closest to the Temple fans was Colin Thompson, all alone on this throwback pass from P.J. Walker against USF.

If there was anything Temple could take from the first six games of the season is not to take anything for granted.

As the Villanova debacle gets farther back in the rear-view mirror, the more devastating that train wreck looks (and it looked pretty bad when it happened). Dave Patenaude, who probably should have been fired the next morning as Temple offensive coordinator for putting up only nine offensive points against that squad, is still around so anything can happen. Patenaude has to know offensive coordinators with far lesser talent than Temple (Towson and Stony Brook) put up 45 and 29 points, respectively, against what head coach Geoff Collins then called a “clever defensive scheme.”

thompson

This is what I call separation, the end result of the photo at the top of this post.

It’s only clever if you can’t figure it out.

Since then, like last year, Temple made a quarterback change and, like last year, Temple is a completely different team since.

Really, the Owls should be 4-0 since Anthony Russo took over for Frank Nutile but aren’t because two of their eight-deep receiver rotation had the dropsies against Boston College. One of the drops robbed Russo of a beautifully thrown 80-yard touchdown bomb; the other bounced off the chest and then the hands of an Owl and into the hands of an Eagle. The Owls were almost certainly headed for a touchdown on both drives and that was the ballgame.

On Saturday, Temple’s game at Navy (3:30 p.m., CBS Sports) should be all about creating separation–not only in the league race against a respective foe from another division but the kind of separation that gets Temple receivers out of that traffic in the middle of the field and into making game-changing plays.

annapolis

Definitely a Cherry sweatshirt day

There are four things that can happen when the ball is in the air and three of them are bad–a drop, an incompletion, and an interception–but there are methods that can optimize the chances for good and minimize the chances for ill. Creating separation–which the Owls really haven’t done for Russo so far–is a must going forward. Too many of Russo’s throws are designed to throw into coverage and an Owl receiver has to make a spectacular catch to wrestle the ball away from a defender.

That’s playing with fire and Patenaude must find ways to put that fire out.

There are at least five (of many) good ways to do that:

First, establish the run. With an elite tailback like Ryquell Armstead (assuming he’s healthy), the Owls should control clock and yardage with gouging runs against a Navy defense that has been close to porous.

Second, help the tailback accomplish that goal. For reasons known only to Patenaude, he has eschewed the lead fullback block that would make things soooooo much easier for Armstead. However, he did show the blocking H-back look using the tight ends as lead blockers against Maryland, so maybe he only uses it for games played in that state. We can only hope.

directions

Best way to go is 301 through a small part of Delaware and a larger part of Maryland

Third, play-action. With the run established, deftly fake the ball into the belly of Armstead (or Jager Gardner), bring the linebackers and safeties up to the line of scrimmage in run support, and make the easy pass over their heads into Owl receivers running so free through the secondary that Russo won’t know which one to pick out.

Fourth, the pump fake. We’re talking about the type of play that Kenny Yeboah ran free for a touchdown against the Terps here. Russo pump fakes a quick out to Ventell Bryant, who sells the play with a 37-inch vertical leap, and both the safety and the corner go for him leaving the tight end (safety responsibility) running free down the sideline for an easy six. The fact that we’ve seen only one of these plays this season is a real head-scratcher.

Fifth, the throwback pass (see above): P.J. Walker had a throwback pass to tight end Colin Thompson that created a whole lot of separation in a touchdown against South Florida. Walker rolled right and looked in the right corner of the end zone before finding Thompson (far left in the top photo and all alone in the middle photo) for a score.

Easy peasy stuff. If Patenaude can’t figure it out for himself, maybe he should place a call to the offensive brain trusts at Towson and Stony Brook. They can draw it up and send him a fax within seconds.

Saturday: Predictions

Sunday: Game Analysis

10.09.18
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CBS Evening News Has Fine Reversal of Field on Jamal Speaks

By all accounts, Ballou (D.C.) High running back Jamal Speaks can stop on the dime and reverse field with the best of them.

Thanks to a similar reversal of field by a CBS Evening News producer named Tamara Fine, the Temple-bound Speaks had his story told on a bigger stage than even Action News with a piece to end the CBS Evening News on Thursday (above).

speakscbs

The routine for me this summer and recently until darkness crept in earlier than I wanted was to head to the local park for a jog after work, put the headphones on and listen to the last half-hour of the Mike Francesa Show (660 AM) and the half-hour of the CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor (simulcast on KYW, 1060 AM).

The last story on the show–usually by either Steve Hartman or Jim Alexrod–is an uplifting piece designed to put a smile on the viewer’s face before the news signs off. The Sept. 19th story was on a football player who was “legally” blind but scored a touchdown. The next day, I typed this email off to the CBS Evening News with a suggestion about using Jamal Speaks’ compelling story:

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Tamara Fine, the producer in charge of such stories, sent back this response
fineletter
At this point, I could have swallowed hard and forgotten about the whole thing but I thought, no, this is exactly the type of story that would make a good one to end the show:

fineresponseFortunately, after that, Fine had a reversal of field of her own and set the wheels in motion for this story to get the wider audience it deserves.

I particularly liked the last line of the story by reporter Axelrod: “Temple University did, giving him a football scholarship, and the rest of us a running back to root for in the seasons to come.”

Thursday: Navy Preview

10.08.18
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Fizzy’s Corner: Two backs at a time

Fizzy was five years away from starting for Temple’s football team when this was a No. 1 hit.

Editor’s Note: Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub provides a former Temple player’s perspective on the game here on a periodic basis. 

By Dave (Fizzy) Weinraub

(Sung to the tune of “Yes, I’m the Great Pretender,” by the Platters)

“We got our head coach from the SEC

but it’s surprising what he doesn’t see,

To his real shame, he let Armstead stay in the game

And now he can’t walk cause he’s lame.”

here

Hello, is there a damn ADULT on the field?  At half-time, a bunch of us were discussing how long Armstead should play in the second half.  The conclusion was one offensive series. But Collins let him play on and on. As a famous Eagle’s receiver once said, “For who?  For what?”   Then, in the fourth quarter, Armstead gets hurt on the field and has to come off.  You would think that would be a serious warning.  But no, Ryquell goes right back to the game and ends up on crutches.  Why the hell would you let your premier running back, who has a history of ankle problems, stay on the field for meaningless football?  And after the game, say, “He’s a tough young man and wanted to play.”  Are you kidding me?  You’d jeopardize the season for a one hundred yard game streak?  Are you nuts?  Are you the coach?

The Offense

Russo was spectacularly accurate, even on the first pass he threw to the ECU safety, completing 21 of 25 passes.  I’m not surprised, because this was the first game he really had a lot of time to look downfield.   The offensive line did a fantastic job, and Isaiah Wright cemented his status as a future NFL top pick, scoring every way possible.

In my dream, I see Gardner and Armstead in the backfield at the same time, running deceptive fakes and even triple options on occasion.  Then I see Wright coming from the slot to run misdirections and reverses.   After I come back from the bathroom and my dream continues, I see Wright actually throw the ball from the split formation where the two halves of the offense line up on different sides of the field.  Then I wake up and find I’m on the sixth floor of Conwell Hall, watching the Broad Street Offense again.

The Defense

Spectacular!

Conclusion

 

This team has terrific talent, maybe even enough to beat Houston and Central Florida.  But that can only happen if the coaching staff taps into my dream.  Because now, even though the play calling has improved with some rollouts and screens, they’re only running half an offense.

Tomorrow: Bigger than Action News

 

10.07.18
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Turning The Corner

Sometime this week, Phillies CEO Andy McPhail is going to sit down with manager Gabe Kapler at a dinner “so he can hear me drone on for two hours.”

McPhail’s complaint will be, he said, that the Phillies were “the most inconsistent team I’ve ever seen.”

If McPhail can spare three hours to walk across the street to see the hometown FBS college football team he might change his mind.

Lose embarrassingly to Villanova and Buffalo and beat Maryland, Tulsa and East Carolina. Suffer a self-inflicted wound at Boston College and lose that game.

greatnesspalmer

Photo by Temple Hall of Famer Paul Palmer

The difference between the Owls and the Phillies, though, is that Temple seems to be trending upward while the Phillies trended downward. At least that’s the hope here.

In the first two games, quarterback play had been shaky. Since Anthony Russo took the helm, though, the ship is steering in the right direction and no icebergs appear to be in sight.

Before the season started, I wrote that this was a nine-win team. I did not know whether the nine would come in the regular season or as a result of a bowl game.

Either way, I’ll take it but the Owls would have to either run the table in the regular season or suffer just one loss in it and win a bowl game. A week ago, it was crazy to think that. It still might be but, if the Owls play the way they did in a 49-6 win over East Carolina, they have a puncher’s chance.

Plenty of things to clean up.

They are going to have to keep running back Ryquell Armstead healthy and a step in that direction would be taking him out of the pass-rushing rotation. Armstead sprained his ankle in the second half but should be OK.

Russo showed what his stats could be (21 for 25, 254 yards, four touchdowns) if his receivers would stop dropping the ball, but you would still like to see offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude design plays that would allow the Owl receivers to get separation. One way to do it would be play-action, but Temple doesn’t seem inclined to want to do that. Now, though, the windows are really tight and Russo has been able to thread the needle. That’s playing with fire, though, and there are all sorts of ways to get separation and give the quarterback a better downfield look. Another play that creates separation is the fake out to the wide receiver to draw two defenders and then find the tight end running free, which is what caused Kenny Yeboah to catch a long touchdown at Maryland.

That’s a game plan for another day, though.

This victory was especially sweet because it came against an East Carolina team that hammered North Carolina (41-19) and beat an Old Dominion team that topped Virginia Tech. The most impressive result for the Pirates (3-2), though, probably was a one-touchdown loss at unbeaten South Florida.

The Owls proved against Maryland and BC they have the physicality to play with anyone. On Saturday, they proved they can annihilate a good team.

It was a beautiful thing to watch and there is no better time than now to turn that corner and get this ship moving in the right direction. Next port of call is on the Chesapeake Bay in beautiful Annapolis on Saturday.

Monday: Fizzy’s Corner

Tuesday: Bigger Than Action News

 

10.05.18
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Temple-ECU: Fork in the road

Adam DiMichele

If Adam DiMichele called the plays, Temple would beat ECU, 48-14; Patenaude evens the playing field or might even give ECU an advantage.

Back in the day, before the great Johnny Carson died in 2005, the former Tonight Show Host had a very funny bit introducing late night movies as a character named Art Fern with a pretty blonde sidekick.

Well into the skit, Carson would give directions to the auto dealership which sponsored the movies and include “Slawson Cutoff” and “Fork in the road” as the landmarks.

updated

Well, in this Temple football season, we’ve reached a Fork in the Road for the Owls (Saturday, noon, Lincoln Financial Field).

Make the right turn, beat ECU, and the road could lead to the AAC championship game at Lincoln Financial Field in December or, at worst, a seven- or eight-win regular season. Lose to ECU, and there is a brick wall at the wrong turn and maybe another win or two. Owls need this one as a confidence-builder after offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude single-handedly blew a potential win at Boston College last week by not utilizing the unstoppable Ryquell Armstead, his best offensive weapon, on third-and-two.

Way to take the game out of the kids’ hands, Dave.


The fact that offensive
coordinators with lesser
talent at Towson and
Stony Brook got more
production out of their
kids against Villanova
than Patenaude did with
FAR better talent
is truly sickening

Makes one think about the way things would be with the current QB coach, Adam DiMichele, in charge. DiMichele–way more than Patenaude–understands that this group was recruited to run the ball behind an elite tailback following a great blocking fullback with two tight ends to establish the run game and set up play action.

Patenaude thinks he’s still back at Coastal Carolina where he wants to spread the field. That’s Coastal Carolina Soft, not Temple TUFF.

This game is far too important for Patenaude to be messing around with his pass-first, second and last system. Run the damn ball and pass only on play-action.  Beat ECU and the Owls go 2-0 in the AAC and control their own fate.

That’s how important this game is.

Fans should not make the mistake that because the Owls won last year’s game, 34-10, the Owls will automatically win this one at home. Lincoln Financial Field has not been a home-field advantage for the Owls this season. Rather, a house of horrors, losing to an FCS team and a MAC team. That FCS team has subsequently lost to both Towson (45-38) and Stony Brook (29-27). That MAC team got destroyed by Army, 42-13.

Not a terrific endorsement for the Temple football coaching staff. Nice job by Patenaude putting up nine offensive points against Nova and 22 offensive points against the worst run defense in the FBS the last two seasons. The fact that offensive coordinators with lesser talent at Towson and Stony Brook got more production out of their kids against Villanova than Patenaude did with FAR better talent is truly sickening.

Now that staff is at a crossroads. ECU is a team with a Villanova moment of its own, losing to in-state FCS rival North Carolina AT&T in the opener. It also has a Power 5 moment, beating in-state rival North Carolina. The Tar Heels turned around and beat another Power 5 team, Pitt, which beat another Power 5 team, Georgia Tech.

ECU also beat Old Dominion, a team which beat Virginia Tech. This is a better squad than Villanova, Buffalo or Tulsa and the Owls better buckle their chinstraps and Collins better be prepared to overturn Patenaude’s play calls.

Temple’s Power 5 moment was a 35-14 win at Maryland, but the Owls staff did not take the day as a teaching moment because the H-back blocking look that opened running lanes for Ryquell Armstead and passing lanes for Anthony Russo has not been shown before or since.

That’s a good look for the Owls and the personnel groups they have on offense, but does this staff even realize it?

We should find out tomorrow at, say, 3:30 p.m. Based on the other two Saturdays at home, I’m more hopeful than optimistic.

Hopeful that Patenaude oversleeps and misses the team bus and Temple TUFF Adam DiMichele is forced to call the plays.

Otherwise, about 60,000 nails belonging to 20,000 people are in jeopardy of being bitten off.

Saturday: Our For Amusement Only Picks

Sunday: Game Analysis

10.03.18
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5 Questions Pravda would never ask

Effective July 1, 2014, softball was dropped as an intercollegiate sport at Temple.

No worries, though, because it continues to be played on a club level at the school–namely, Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays–the days when head football coach Geoff Collins meets with the media. Saturdays after the game; Mondays at the AAC teleconference and Tuesdays at the weekly media luncheon.

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Those aren’t just softballs lobbed up at Collins (for an example, listen to the AAC teleconference above), those are high-arc jobs.

In a way, it’s understandable. Pravda would never ask Vladimir Putin why he killed so many journalists. That Pravda reporter would probably turn up missing the next week. Temple has a similar situation where other Temple employees pose as journalists and ask Collins questions and, while Collins wouldn’t kill them for asking these five questions, things could get a little uncomfortable around campus. Still, that should not stop someone like Marc Narducci or Shawn Pastor from asking so, as a public service, we provide these five questions in hopes of getting answers in the next few weeks if not days:

Question One

Q: Geoff, Temple won 20 games in two years largely using the fullback as a lead blocker for guys like Ryquell Armstead. Under you and Dave (Patenaude), the fullback is either not used at all as a blocker or at the most two or three times a game. What is the thought process behind that? What happened to the fullback at Temple and will the position here ever come back on a meaningful level?

Question Two

Q: Geoff, late in the game in BC territory and facing a situation where both ESPN announcers said was a two-down situation with only 2 yards to go (and practically everyone in the stadium thought would be a two-down situation), Temple decided to pass even though Armstead had four touchdowns and 171 yards and BC could not stop him. What was the thinking there or did Patenaude have one of his usual brain cramps and is there any way to get  a jug of Dasani water sent to the press box to avoid similar brain cramps in the future?

Question Three

Q: Geoff, using the tight ends in motion on almost every play as H-back blocks for Armstead seemed to work beautifully against Maryland, establishing the run and setting up play-action situations for Anthony Russo so he could have time to see the field and pick out wide receivers. Why haven’t we seen that look against anyone else?

Question Four

Q: Geoff, given Armstead’s history of injuries and value to the team as a tailback have you ever considered using Karamo Dioubate–the No. 11 DE recruit in the nation three years ago–outside as the situational pass-rusher instead?

Question Five

Q: Geoff, instead of having the guys who dropped passes all over the place against Tulsa–most notably Nos. 80 and 81–working on the jug guns afterward, did you consider benching them for BC so they wouldn’t get the same chance to drop passes all over the place in Boston? I mean, shouldn’t Ventell Bryant, Branden Mack, Sean Ryan and Isaiah Wright be able to handle all of those snaps?

I would love to be able to ask those questions but, during those teleconferences, a real job gets in the way. The one interaction I’ve had with Collins was to ask him to never take Nick Sharga off the field as a fullback and he said not to worry that Sharga would have even a more expanded role under him than he did under Matt Rhule.

Collins, of course, lied. There is a chance Geoff could lie again answering those questions but those are some fastballs that need to be swung at and, for some reason, no member of the fourth estate feels the need for speed.

Saturday: ECU Preview

Sunday: Game Analysis

Tuesday: Temple Football Forever and the National News