Tag Archives: UCF football

11.24.17
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Fizzy’s Corner: UCF Impressive

Editor’s Note: Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub checked in with these thoughts on the Central Florida game on 10:10 a.m. of Thanksgiving Day. After watching high school football, stopping off to get some turkey, we got home Thursday night and saw this always welcome contribution. We hope Fizz checks in on his thoughts after the Owls (hopefully) beat Tulsa.

By Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub

 It was a pleasure to watch; the changing offensive sets, the motion drawing the defenders to where they were most vulnerable, the sequence of plays that made the defense think they knew what was coming, and the pass patterns of the receivers aimed at drawing attention away from an excellent running quarterback.  On defense, mostly everything was under control.  There was never any panic or broken assignments, and yardage was begrudgingly given up.  The pass defenders usually were looking at the QB when the ball was thrown, which resulted in four interceptions.  All-in-all, the best coached team I’ve seen all year, in person or on TV.

fizz

Of course, I’m talking about Central Florida and their coach Scott Frost, who will probably be making 5.5 million somewhere else next season.

On the Temple side, the score would have been closer had Frank Nutile not had the horrible day he did.  But Central Florida was one of the three teams I mentioned earlier in the season, that has more talent then we do.  Coupling that talent with outstanding coaching, made a formidable task.

A win next week gets us bowl eligible, for what that’s worth.  The best thing about playing a bowl game is it gives the team extra practice for next season.  It also gives us more TV exposure, which might help recruiting.  But not if we lay an egg like we did in the last two bowl games.

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE…

and may your bird be bigger than mine!

Tomorrow: Tulsa Preview

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11.17.17
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Final Tribute To the Seniors

 

 

 

How do you frame a portrait of goodbye to the seniors who have now a 50/50 shot to be the undisputed winning-est class in the history of Temple University?

You might include at least a little rain, symbolic teardrops from Heaven that come with the territory to bid a fond adieu to what has been the best four-year period for the school’s football fans.

triangle

That white triangle is where we will be on Saturday at 1

 

Include a mostly gray day against a worthy unbeaten foe, and finish it with a win. Celebrate with a lot of high fives and smiles in the parking lot afterward.

That would be the most fitting celebration of these wonderful young men who have given their all to Temple University.

They say to be the champs you’ve got to beat the champs and UCF hasn’t beaten these champs yet, and hopefully won’t.

When you break football down to its essence, it’s all about making plays and that’s what this group of seniors has done for the last four years and five in the peculiar case of defensive end Sharif Finch.

Temple at Central Florida

Keith Kirkwood: 1 second left

That might be as a place to start this tribute as any because Finch was here—believe it or not—as a starting linebacker in Matt Rhule’s FIRST season. He sacked the Rutgers’ quarterback and that appeared to end the game with a Temple win but called for what film later showed was a bogus personal foul and kept that game-winning drive alive. (Hell, Finch should have never been placed in that spot because Rhule eschewed the quarterback sneak behind two future NFL players—quarterback P.J. Walker following center Kyle Friend—on a fourth-and-three-inch call. Instead, Rhule inexplicably called a five-yard deep handoff to fullback Kenny Harper which was stopped for a five-yard loss. With RU having no timeouts left and Temple the ball on the RU 20 with 1:02 left, four inches would have ended that game with a kneel down or two.)

labolito

Nick Sharga watched by Bernard Pierce

Finch, now at DE, has been making plays for five years at Temple and four full ones and only two weeks ago was named the AAC Defensive Player of The Week for his effort in a 34-26 win over Navy.

In the play-making arena, fullback and linebacker Nick Sharga is right up there with the greatest playmakers in Temple football history.

Sharga was so much a part of the consecutive 10-win seasons that Rhule mentioned him (although not by name) in his introductory Baylor press conference. “We went to a pro-set at Temple because we had an NFL fullback,” Rhule said.

finch

Sharif Finch picks off Sackenberg.

Baylor might not, but Temple still has for at least the next two games. Sharga will go down as the most versatile player in Temple history because he was the best linebacker on the field in a 34-12 win over nationally-ranked Memphis in 2015 even though the national defensive player of the year, Tyler Matakevich, was lined up next to him that day.

Temple hasn’t nearly used Sharga as much as it should this year and its success going forward could depend on how much it uses this most valuable asset in the next two games.

Still, there is more to this class than Sharif and Nick, so shout outs must go to players like defensive back Cequan Jefferson, who chased after and recovered a loose ball on the kickoff against Cincinnati last season; wide receiver Adonis Jennings, who became a star he after transferring from Pitt; kicker Austin Jones, who had a Temple school-record 19-straight field goals broken (also, at the time, the best of any FBS kicker) against Memphis last year. That was the game what he was the victim of a cheap shot. Also gone will be punter Alex Starzyk, who has been solid since debuting in a 37-7 win at Vanderbilt in 2014.

Other goodbyes go to long-snapper Corey Lerch, who played for LaSalle High in the best high school league in America, the Philadelphia Catholic League. Long-snappers are like officials. If you don’t notice them, they are doing a great job and, since I did not notice Corey, the only thing I can say is: Great job, Corey.

americansked

Last year’s juniors were just as responsible for this as last year’s seniors were.

Keith Kirkwood, who made the most clutch catch in Temple history (against UCF) will be exiting stage left soon and that’s a pretty good memory to take to tailgates the next 50 years. Keith will never have to buy a brewski, that’s for sure.

Corners Artrel Foster and Mike Jones will also be missed. Foster was been steady and dependable while Jones was never the same player after being called for a bogus pass interference on a 50/50 interception that might have turned the Houston game around this year. It looks like that play took a lot of the natural aggressiveness out of Jones. They don’t call interference on 50/50 balls in the MEAC where Jones shined the last two seasons. Hopefully, he can leave Temple with a Pick 6 and a punt return to the house in the next few games.

Other seniors departing include linebacker Chris Smith, who is above the line for the first time this week, and offensive linemen Brian Carter, Leon Johnson and Cole Boozer. Carter was a defensive line starter in the 2014 game and gave up a solid career on that side of the ball to move to OL for the good of the team.

Defensive linemen Greg Webb and Julian Taylor will also be departing, homeboys and starters from each side of the river: Webb from Timber Creek (N.J.) and Taylor from Abington in Montgomery County.

There’s no crying in both baseball and Temple football, but if the skies open up and drop a symbolic tear or two on this senior day, that should be forgiven because it will be a sad day for all of us.

Sunday: Game Analysis

10.16.16
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Greatest. Win. Ever.

When I was just a kid, I got on a trolley, an EL and a bus to go to a Temple night game only because I begged my late Sainted father, a Villanova grad, and told him I would be OK.

(Previously, I had watched Temple only on television and fell in love with the football Owls.)

That night, Temple beat a ranked West Virginia, 39-36, before 14,000 in a 20,000-seat stadium thanks to two long punt returns by Paul Loughran.

On the way to the K bus, I heard the chant “We Want Nebraska!” (Nebraska, on that night was the No. 1 team in the country.)

That was the night I became a Temple fan for life, so much so that I turned down a full academic ride to be one of the first 24 males in a school of 1,300 females at Cabrini College so I could work my way through Temple.

That’s how much I loved Temple University in general and Temple football in particular. My male friends who know how much I also loved females told me that’s how crazy I was, but Cabrini also did not offer Journalism so I could rationalize my position that way.

For many years, I thought that was the greatest victory in Temple football history until last year when I saw the look of utter dejection on the faces of Penn State fans and joy on the Temple side and thought that was better.

Nothing, though, like last night when Temple football, in my mind, scored the greatest win in its history, 26-25, at Central Florida. First, in my 40-plus years of crazy Temple fandom, I do not remember winning a game on the final pass or a game by scoring a touchdown in the last second.

I have a pretty good memory and I do not think that is wrong.

Second, I do not remember one of my favorite Temple quarterbacks of all time going 4-for-4 on his final drive and eschewing a spike for a game-winning touchdown pass. My favorite Temple quarterbacks are, in order, Brian Broomell, Steve Joachim, Adam DiMichele, Doug Shobert and P.J. Walker.

I’m not saying they are the best, but they are certainly my favorites and one of my favs has been unduly criticized lately and I was so happy to see him shove it in his critics’ faces.

Walker was forced to throw from the pocket almost exclusively last night, despite us PLEADING with the coaches to roll him out for the last six weeks. Despite that, Walker found a way to get things done on the final drive.

To me, that’s not the only reason why this was the greatest win ever but because the program was at a crossroads before this game. Win, and the Owls still saw a path to the AAC championship; lose, and the Owls were staring at a 6-6 “type” season.

Look at it this way. Temple beat a team, UCF, that won at ECU, 47-29. ECU beat NC State, 33-30. NC State beat Notre Dame, 10-3. UCF took a Maryland team into overtime that beat Purdue, 50-7. It could not take Temple into overtime. Temple overcame a 25-7  lead and won on a literal last-second pass.

Not, mind you, a Hail Mary, but a last-second pass. For Temple, that’s as close as it has ever gotten and a the first repayment for all of the Hail Mary’s completed against the Owls.

Greatest Win Ever?

If the Owls turn this into an AAC title, it will be. For now, the measurables (25-7 deficit, last-second pass)  make it something that has never happened before and that has to be good enough.

Tuesday: The Path Forward

10.15.16
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Third Time A Charm?

Scott Frost has taken an 0-12 team with none of his players and succeeded. 

Just one night this season, it would be a perfectly welcome change to win without having to make excuses.

The Owls have played on two prior nights and there has been no wins to show for it, but plenty of excuses. Somehow the kids got blamed for the Army loss, even though the defensive scheme to stop the triple option was horrific because there was none. The Owls played good defense for the first half at Memphis and good offense for the second half but forgot to put a complete game together.

Greatness might not quit, but it certainly has brain farts in one loss and incomplete halves in the other under the bright lights.

Now the Owls play a third night game tonight (7:30 kickoff) at UCF and maybe the third night is a charm. Temple started as a night school and played plenty of night games in its football history, dating back to the 1940s, so the tradition of playing well at night should be there. At one time in the late 1960s and early 1970s, almost all of the home games were at night and were televised live in Philadelphia (Al Meltzer play-by-play, Charlie Swift color).

Night has spooked this version of the Owls and there is no better time to turn that around than tonight because the Owls find themselves in the revolting position of going 10-4 in one season and being a 3.5-point underdog to a team that finished 0-12 the same year.  UCF was impressive with a 47-29 win at East Carolina and a 30-24 loss to Maryland. Temple lost to an Army team that gave Buffalo its only win in a 1-4 season. Any way you cut it, that’s pretty bad.

What has been the difference?

Connecticut v Temple

Owls can pretty much forget about doing this again without a win tonight.

Certainly, UCF players are pretty much the same guys who went 0-12 a year ago and Temple, despite four big losses to the NFL, has MOST of its players back, too. Four key players leaving for the pros should not bring this kind of swing in the fortunes of the two programs, but it has because former Oregon offensive coordinator (and Nebraska quarterback) Scott Frost has been a coaching upgrade and, quite frankly, the Temple coaches have not done a very good job this year.

They have a better-than-average rollout quarterback in P.J. Walker who they insist on jamming into the square peg of being a Tom Brady type. He fits more nicely into the Russell Wilson hole. When will the Temple coaches ever learn? It better be tonight or the excuses might be the sacks Walker took dropping back or the tipped ball by a charging 6-foot-5 lineman that turned into a game-changing interception. Rolling out P.J. gives him better sightlines and a better chance at success.

Give the kid a chance.

Please.

On defense, the Owls have had problems with the occasional run being bust for long touchdowns against them despite having two proven defensive run-stoppers, Nick Sharga and Brian Carter, playing basically non-essential roles on offense. Will we see either or both players where there is a greater need for their skill set?  It would be nice to see that type of personnel fix at least tried, but do not hold your breath.

Greatness might not quit, but it also should not be too stubborn to resist adjustments that need to be made.

Maybe tonight, but opportunities for hope are running out.

Picks this weekend:

TOLEDO giving the 31 over visiting Bowling Green (BGSU lost, 77-3, to Memphis; Toledo beat Maine, 45-3, and Maine took UConn into OT)

UMASS getting 14.5 over visiting Louisiana Tech (UMass lost to Florida by only 24-7 and Mississippi State, 42-35, two teams better than LT)

PITT giving the three at Virginia (which lost to Richmond, 37-20)

WESTERN KENTUCKY getting the 2.5 at MTSU

Tomorrow: Game Analysis

10.13.16
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Owls Turn To Boomer Sooner Than Expected

Aaron Boumerhi now unexpectedly gets forced into the spotlight.

At opposite ends of the Commonwealth (yes, it’s a Commonwealth and not a state) of Pennsylvania reside the worst and best names for a starting kicker in the long and storied history of college football.

Pitt has a guy named Chris Blewitt (pronounced BLEW IT) as its placekicker.

Temple now has a guy named Aaron Boumerhi and it is the very best kicking name in the country because it is pronounced BOOMER-EYE.

boumerhi

                               Aaron Boumerhi’s community duty included helping his fellow students move into the dorms.

After starting kicker Austin Jones was the victim of a cheap shot in the middle of the field at Memphis (not called), he is out for the season and Boomer is your new kicker. All we know about Aaron is that he stroked one right down the middle for an extra point. While at Philipsburg-Osceola High, he did not have many chances for field goals but he later became a camp warrior, going to numerous kicking camps and scoring high enough to earn a shot at Temple.

Owls’ coach Matt Rhule speaks highly of him, saying at one time that he considered using Boomer as his kickoff guy this season because he has a “Brandon McManus” leg on kickoffs. We all know McManus, err, boomed many of this kickoffs not only through the end zone but once or twice into the seats in his four years at Temple and now is a NFL star.  Rhule “ruled” against it because he wanted to preserve Boumerhi’s redshirt so he could kick through the 2020 season.

The best-laid plans often go astray due to things coaches cannot control like cheap shots.

The bottom line on Boomer is that he’s got a good leg, but is he as accurate as Jones was? Probably not since Jones hit a NCAA-best 17 in a row before missing two at Memphis and, in reality, we don’t know if he’ll perform at a high level. His extra point was fine and, if the Owls can rely on him in that area and the short field goals that Jones made routinely, that is really all they can expect.

If however, he turns out to be another Brandon McManus, that will be a bonus no one expected. We should find out for sure before long.

Saturday: Game Day Preview

Sunday: Game Analysis 

10.17.15
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Game Day: What, Me Worry?

worry

On a worry scale of 1-10 with one being not worried and 10 being eight eaten fingernails, the UCF at Temple game has to rank at about as closest to one as any other Temple game in recent memory. The 5-0 Owls are on a serious roll and the 0-6 Knights are in free fall, playing in Philadelphia before a hostile crowd of 30,000 on a cold night.

pain

You know all about how Florida teams do in cold weather. We don’t know the actual record, but it took the Tampa Bay Buccaneers about 40 years to win a game in under 50-degree weather. The temperature at kickoff tonight should be 47 degrees, which reminds me to remind you to wear gloves. It was only eight or so years ago a tailgater named Lazygoat saw me wearing gloves on the first cold day of the season and begged for them.

Like a lot of Owl fans at the first cold home game of every season, he did not come prepared. He forgot, which would have made him a great AP Top 25 voter.  Since I did not have an extra pair, he spent the rest of the day blowing into his fingers. So let that be a warning.

A little nippy, but nothing Temple TUFF can't handle.

A little nippy, but nothing Temple TUFF can’t handle.

Another warning that the Owls would be wise to heed is to put this game away early because, if there was a lesson to be learned at UMass, it was allowing a team back into a game after going up 14-0 just serves to embolden them and give them some hope to get that first win. I’m sure the 12-1 UCF team that came into Philadelphia in 2013 did not lose any sleep the night before beating Temple. Nor did the 1998 Virginia Tech team (that finished 8-2 but lost, 28-24, to then 0-6 Temple).

George O’Leary, being the smart coach he is, really has only one option and that is to rip a few pages out of UMass head coach Mark Whipple’s book and load up the box to stop the run. At that point, the Owls can do one of two things—abandon the run (not recommended) or go two tight ends and a fullback and put more helmets on their helmets and knock them back off the ball (recommended). Then pick spots for play-action passes to Robby Anderson and Co.

If P.J. Walker has to throw 48 passes again instead of a more manageable 20-30, it could be a long night. That’s not Temple football. Temple football is running the ball, hitting play-action passes, playing tough defense and great special teams.

So, like 1998, upsets can happen and that knowledge should be enough to keep it from happening. That, and adhering to the principles of #LeaveNoDoubt, which means to play every game like it is a championship one.

deptchart

Tomorrow Afternoon: Complete Game Analysis

Monday: Photo Essay

10.06.15
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Tulane is Who We Thought They Are

It takes a village. HC is usually the day all of the regular tailgaters get replaced for the Prodigal Son fans.

It takes a village. HC is usually the day all of the regular tailgaters get relocated for the Prodigal Son fans.

Casual college football fans checking the Tulane vs. Central Florida score on Saturday afternoon probably had an initial reflex reaction that the host Green Wave, who visit Temple for Homecoming at high noon on Saturday, must be vastly improved this season.

Only those who followed the sport closely knew better, that Tulane’s 45-31 AAC win only served to illustrate how far things have fallen in Orlando for head coach George O’Leary, who is only two years from routing Power-5 representative Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl. The Knights are 0-5 and now are staring at a 0-12 season. As it stands now, they are a three-point favorite  over UConn at home on Saturday and, frankly, UConn has played better.  UCF has suffered embarrassing home losses to FIU and Furman, the latter being an FCS team.

Watch out for those tapers.

Watch out for those tapers.

That’s a penthouse-to-outhouse fall unrivaled in college football and probably means the end is near for O’Leary, 69, who has had an accomplished career but age has caught up to him. In addition, he’s had some bad luck. The Knights have played most of their first four games without their starting quarterback, center, best receiver and two best running backs. In all, eight potential offensive starters didn’t play in Saturday’s game against Tulane or the week prior against South Carolina.

UCF’s problems not only stem from injuries, but from O’Leary’s job situation. O’Leary was named UCF’s interim athletic director in June and there are rumors — but no announcement yet — that he will retire from coaching to become the full-time AD after the season. So the appearance is that O’Leary is mailing in the coaching part of his job. Even worse for UCF is that the coach has no experience as an athletic administrator and his possible future involvement as an AD probably will not help his presumably handpicked successor get off on the right foot.

When UCF beat Baylor, plenty of people were talking about the Knights as a possible selection for a Power 5 conference. Now nobody is, and the blame has to go to an aging coach who apparently has lost any enthusiasm for the coaching part of his job.

Tomorrow: Press Conference Highlights

Throwback Thursday: Huey Long’s Connection to Temple Football

Friday: Homecoming Attendance

Saturday: Game Day Preview, Updated Depth Charts

10.26.14
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Not P.J.’s Fault

All you have to do to determine the problem with the Temple offense is look at the last 43 incompletions P.J. Walker has thrown.

I have just finished watching them and there has been exactly one (1) Temple receiver open in the last 43 pass attempts that P.J. has missed. Granted, that was a bad overthrow but all of the other throws were tightly-contested ones with Temple’s receivers getting no separation. There is nobody open an alarming number of times in this ill-conceived offense. Nobody.

Would I pull a talented young quarterback for missing one pass?

No. This monstrosity is definitely not his fault.

Would I pull the scheme that created this mess?

Yes.



“We have to go back and look at
everything we’re doing ….”
_ Matt Rhule, Inquirer, Oct. 26, 2014

Really, you could see this train wreck coming three weeks ago in the Tulsa game. Tulsa is a terrible team and Temple’s receivers could get very little separation on even that porous defensive backfield. Walker had to thread the needle before getting pounded on a blitz to Jalen Fitzpatrick for a big touchdown in that one.

The problem is a solvable one and it’s a formula that has been outlined here before. Two backs, with Kenny Harper as a fullback leading the way for Jahad Thomas. The offensive line has not been blocking well but both tight end Colin Thompson and Harper are accomplished and effective blockers—even Rhule has said that—so sweeps to that side of the field probably would work a whole lot better than the head-scratching plays Temple is calling now.

Running Thomas behind Harper is like giving Thomas an extra pulling guard and, Lord knows, this offensive line could use that. Create shorter down-and-distance situations for Walker and have him throw when there is a tangible threat of a run. That way, Walker fakes to Thomas, freezes the linebackers and safeties, and opens those closed passing windows for guys like Fitzpatrick, John Christopher, Romond Deloatch, Keith Kirkwood and Thompson. More play-action and rolling the pocket could not hurt.

That’s the only way this Temple offense would ever work and it would be nice to see it at least tried before this season, like last one, goes right down the tubes.

10.24.14
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TU-UCF: Too Many Ifs and Buts

If Temple rolls the pocket and throws off play action, it will win. If it keeps asking P.J. to throw into tight windows, it will lose. Simple as that.

If Temple rolls the pocket and throws off play action, it will win. If it keeps asking P.J. to throw into tight windows, it will lose. Simple as that.

In one of my several side jobs, I write prediction stories for Rantsports.com on college football.

This week, I got a call from my editor asking for a prediction story for the UCF-Temple game.

“Can’t do it,” I said. “Too many ifs and buts.”

I took the Rutgers-Nebraska, Marshall-FAU and Penn State-Ohio State assignments instead.

CBS Sports Network is on Channel 854 Comcast.

CBS Sports Network is on Channel 854 Comcast.

If I had a better feel for Temple’s approach to the game, this would be an easy assignment. For example, the first play of the Houston game, I thought would be a perfect time for the reverse Jalen Fitzpatrick pass to Robbie, err, Keith Kirkwood. Hit Houston before it had a chance to get settled. Houston doesn’t know Temple’s top wide receiver was a Big 33 quarterback. There’s no law limiting trick plays to one a game, let alone one a year. Heck, Bruce Arians can tell you they work multiple times in a game. Two trick  plays—flea-flickers from Matty Baker to Mike Palys—both resulted in touchdowns for the Owls in a 45-28 win over Boston College in the 1988 season. They do work if you have the gonads to call them. Arians had the gonads.

To me, this is a game Temple can either a) win by blowout; b) win close; c) lose by blowout d) lose close.

That pretty much covers all the bases and why I would stay away from this game if I was a betting man.

  1. Win by blowout: Temple beat a Uconn team, 36-10, that Tulane could only beat 12-3 (7-3 for much of the game). Tulane hung with UCF most of the way in a 20-13 loss.
  2. Lose by blowout: Temple looked pretty clueless on offense in a 31-10 loss to Houston. UCF beat Houston, 17-12.
  3. Win close: If Temple can hang with Penn State Nov. 15 (and I think this year’s version of the Owls can), it can steal a win at the end of the game with UCF on a field goal just like Penn State did. How delicious would it be if freshman kicker Austin Jones, from Orlando, kicks the game-winning field goal in a stadium where he’s kicked many times? I’ll take it, though I’d prefer scenario No. 1.
  4. Lose close: With P.J. Walker being asked to throw into so many tight windows, that is the most likely path to not getting the most out of this talented kid’s ability. Hopefully, the Temple coaches will finally devise a system where he’s throwing most of his passes out of play-action and others on the roll, forcing LBs and safeties to honor the threat of the run and opening those passing windows. I really think the Temple coaches believe in “the process” and the only process I’ve seen so far is a lot of passes that call for P.J. to thread the needle. Not a good process.

Related:

http://www.rantsports.com/ncaa-football/2014/10/23/predicting-the-final-score-of-florida-atlantic-vs-marshall/

http://www.rantsports.com/ncaa-football/2014/10/23/predicting-the-final-score-of-rutgers-vs-nebraska/

http://www.rantsports.com/ncaa-football/2014/10/21/predicting-the-final-score-of-ohio-state-vs-penn-state/