5 Other Games of Interest to Owl Fans

The American Trophy heads to Memphis this week.

The thought just occurred to me that the top game of interest to Temple fans on Saturday, UMass at Notre Dame (covered in yesterday’s post), might be interrupted a few times. It is on one of the three major local channels at 3:30, right smack in the middle of the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia.

Geez, I hope Channel 10 has more respect for the region’s 1.4 million Catholics than that. When Notre Dame is on, they do not want any interruptions.

Just in case, though, keep the remote control handy. Here are the other Saturday games of interest to Temple fans (with earlier games added at the end).

Boston College's Alumni Stadium would be a nice model for TU to copy.

Boston College’s Alumni Stadium would be a nice model for TU to copy.

SATURDAY

Navy at UCONN (-8), noon, CBS Sports Network,

If Memphis does not win the AAC West, Navy will. Last week, I predicted Navy would beat East Carolina, 38-17. I was wrong. Navy won, 45-21.  Close enough. UConn was impressive in holding No. 18 Missouri to just nine points on the road, but that doesn’t erase giving up 15 to Villanova and 17 to Army. Navy should score 27 in this one and win, 27-14.

Northern Illinois at Boston College (-4), 1, ESPN3

This is only important because of Fraudazzio’s involvement with Boston College. Northern Illinois is coming off a 20-13 loss at Ohio State and BC is only favored because it is a P5 team at home. Anyone who watches BC can see that Addazio’s century-old approach to offense has not changed. Northern Illinois with the upset, 30-16. If the Owls do not make a BCS bowl, a matchup with BC in Yankee Stadium might make for a good storyline.

Virginia Tech at East Carolina (+7.5), 3:30, ABC or ESPN 2

ECU is probably a lot closer to the team that struggled to beat Towson and was blown out by Navy than the one that lost by a touchdown at Florida. Virginia Tech should win this won by about 20-10 on the road, slightly covering the spread. Right now, this is listed as an either/or game, but fans better hope this is on ESPN 2 because Channel 6 is going to be breaking in with Pope coverage every five minutes.

ECU's Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Let's hope the Owls come up with a better name, like The Apollo of Temple.

ECU’s Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Let’s hope the Owls come up with a better name, like The Apollo of Temple.

THURSDAY

Cincinnati at Memphis (-7), 7:30, ESPN

Probably the game of the year so far in the AAC pits West preseason favorite Memphis against East preseason favorite Cincinnati. Memphis blew out Kansas, scoring 55 points, but probably had a more impressive win at Bowling Green, 44-41, last week. That was more impressive because Bowling Green was coming off a 48-27 win at Maryland, the same Terps’ team that beat South Florida, 35-17, a week ago. Temple fans might like Cincy to get another loss to drive the Bearcats further down in the East standings, but would be also consoled by a Cincy win by knowing the Owls would be considered the defacto top dogs in the AAC. Gunner Kiel suffered a head injury and is day-to-day. Memphis wins this, 35-24.

FRIDAY

Boise State at Virginia (+2.5), 8, ESPN

Only important for Temple down the road because, if the Owls keep taking care of business, a Boise State team that lost only to BYU could be up against the Owls for a BCS bid. Unfortunately, I do not see Boise State losing this one. Boise State, 20-17.

Tomorrow: Fifteen Perfect Plays

Finally, the Boise State of the East

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

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

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

Street near the Owls' hotel in downtown Hartford.

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

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

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

Does that mean we won’t see one?

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

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

Video highlights:

Uconn fan reaction:

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

Uconn game story:

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

Will We Finally See a Few Play-Action Passes?

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

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

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

Troubling Temple Stats

 

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

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

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

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

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