Joe Paterno and Temple

Joe Paterno and Wayne Hardin promote series.

By Mike Gibson
Every death is an incredibly sad thing, but I can't help but think Joe Paterno's passing on Sunday was sadder than most.
Paterno was faced with reporting a repugnant crime, something none of us ever even think about, and he went to someone who was effectively the head of the Penn State police department.
I thought he did his duty.
He could have done more and, in retrospect, he would have done more.
I don't think that should erase all of the wonderful things he did for Penn State in particular and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in general.
The true measure of a man is how many people whose lives he has touched in a positive way and I think Paterno more than met the measure.
I've never even been aware of a man who came into contact, directly or indirectly, through more Pennsylvanians than Joe Paterno.
My colleague at the Inquirer and fellow Temple News sports editor, Joe Juliano, often told me great stories of the "off-the-record" cocktail parties for Penn State beat writers. Paterno held them at his modest home a block or two away from Beaver Stadium. I wish I could tell you some of those stories, but off the record means off the record to me.
Even after the man's death.
Paterno would have a cocktail or two and loosen up, giving the reporters a more human side of the legend.
When it comes to Temple, I have my own Paterno story.
As I young Temple fan, I read an anecdote that appeared, ironically enough, in a Bill Conlin column in  in the Philadelphia Daily News about Temple signing a deal to play Penn State beginning in 1975.
"The guy who scheduled Temple must have been drunk," Conlin quoted Paterno as saying, referring to the PSU athletic director at the time.
Who knows, maybe Conlin both picked up the quote at one of those cocktail parties and violated a confidence mentioning the exchange.
I have a strong suspicion both of the above are correct.
Either way, the remark stirred enough of my fuel that I wrote Paterno a letter (back in those days we wrote handwritten letters), detailing how improved Temple was and that the Owls would be a worthy foe.
Paterno wrote me a letter back, also handwritten, and admitted to the quote but said he was first against the idea but, upon refection, thought the series would be a "great gift to our wonderful Philadelphia alumni."
(Originally, the plan was to play all of the games in Philadelphia but that changed when the first one ended in a 26-25 win for Penn State at Franklin Field in 1975.)
At the end of the letter, Paterno wrote:
"Good luck to Temple."
I wish I had saved it but, to the best of my knowledge, it was in a shoe box I lost in one of my many moves since.
Later, while working at the Doylestown Intelligencer, I fielded a call every Thursday morning from Paterno to Terry Nau, the sports editor of the Intel at that time. Nau and Paterno were friends from State College, where Nau was sports editor of the defunct daily the Pennsylvania Mirror.
I was floored when he first called.
"Hold on, Mr. Paterno," I said.
"Mike, it's Joe," Paterno said.
"OK, here's Terry."
On one of the calls, I mentioned to him that I wrote him a letter as a kid about the resumption of the Temple series and thanked him for his handwritten response.
He said he remembered. He might have just said that, but I chose to think he really did remember.
Love the guy, but always wanted to beat him just once to get back for the drunk comment.

Auburn gets a great OC in Scot Loeffler

Scot Loeffler's first press conference at Auburn starts at 0:30 timestamp.

If you are an Auburn football fan, you've got to be feeling pretty good today.

Heck, you might not know who Scot Loeffler is but, trust me, you've got to be feeling pretty good today.

The most unpopular guy on a struggling football offense is either the starting quarterback or the offensive coordinator.

Scot Loeffler was Temple's offensive coordinator for one season and all you need to know is that every Owl fan loved the guy and the plays he called.

That came one year after EVERYBODY hated the guy who preceded him, Matt Rhule. (Well, everybody loved the guy but hated the plays he called and the overall offensive scheme, which was bleeped up for want of a better term.)
Rhule's offense, broken into its most basic terms, was this:
First down _ Handoff to Bernard Pierce (or Matt Brown);
Second down _ Handoff to Bernard Pierce (or Matt Brown);
Third down _ Pass (usually resulting in a sack);
Fourth down _ Punt.
The second page of Matt Rhule's playbook is illustrated in the graphic here. All you need to know is that the graphic was made by the most precocious 17-year-old Owl fan ever. And there was not one long-time Owl fan sitting in the stands who disagreed with him. The only person I came across who supported Rhule was the father of a Rhule recruit and I run into a lot of Owl fans. Even more importantly, I know what I see and smell and it didn't pass the vision and smell test with Rhule.
Loeffler passed with flying colors.
For one year at least, Loeffler injected some imagination into the offense.

The Matt Rhule offense

Egad, passes on first down, a waggle to a talented tight end to open things up for an NFL running back.

Second down runs.

Touchdowns.

Who would have thought?

The Rhule Apologists  say it was because Al Golden was a micromanager.
I'm not buying it.
I sincerely hope that Addazio doesn't promote Rhule to his old job. Matt would be much more valuable in the role of special teams' head coach.
We need a new guy in charge of the offense.
Otherwise, it'll be Matty Brown left, Matty Brown right and an incomplete pass on third down.
That's not my idea of an offense.
Fortunately, it won't be that way for Auburn fans this fall. I expect Loeffler will see what the defense gives him and take it.
I also, sadly, fully expect Daz to hire Matt Rhule as his new offensive coordinator. Rhule's title was "co-offensive coordinator" this season if that's any clue.
My fervent hope is that he does not change that to sole offensive coordinator.
Daz, your move. Show me you are a better CEO than Al Golden.



This play will work with Alex Jackson next season, too.



Recruiting heads into the home stretch

Khalif Herbin is about two inches taller and 20 pounds heavier than Matty Brown. Otherwise, the two games are very similar as you can see here.




Khalif Herbin's 2011 rushing stats

College football has evolved in the last 20 years in a lot of ways I'm not all that excited about.
One of the ways is the BCS and the power that group of schools have over the other half of the schools who attempt to play FBS football.
It's not fair when six conferences get automatic bids into BCS games while the conferences on the outside looking in have to go without a loss even to be considered for a seat at the table.
Not fair at all.
It's particularly disconcerning that one of the few "good" rules curtailing that kind of power was overturned two years ago surrounding  bowl games. Back then, in the good old days, a 6-6 BCS team could not be considered for a bowl over a 7-5 team, no matter what conference you come from. Likewise, a 7-5 team over an 8-4 team and so on and so forth.
The BCS schools, naturally, got together to overturn that rule.
Not fair again.
Recruiting has evolved pretty much the same way.
Non-BCS staffs can work their asses off to assemble a recruiting class to be proud of, only to see the BCS vultures swipe in at the last minute and snatch some of their best recruits away.
Not fair again, but get the trend here?
So I take recruiting with a very large grain (make that boulder) of salt when it comes to Temple football.

As excited as I was for some of Al Golden's classes, I learned to wait until the ink is dry on the dotted line before assessing the harvest.
Golden spent five years here pushing that rock uphill and he did a pretty darn good job, even though Addazio flattened him with it when he "stole" Tyler Murphy away from Temple.
In those days, Addazio was pushing the rock downhill as Florida's top recruiter.
The closest I ever came to contacting a recruit came was when a top-flight one was considering Temple three years ago.
I heard he committed, but I wanted to make sure so I dashed off an email to a sports writer I knew in that state. I'll call him Doug because that's his name.
"Geez, his father was a boyhood friend of mine," Doug said, "why don't you ask him? Here's his phone number and his email."
"You sure it's OK?"
"Yeah, he's a good guy and a  straight-shooter."
My colleague Doug was right and the kid did sign at Temple after all and the father turned out to be a good guy from the get-go.
Still is.
That was the closest I came and still it didn't feel right, so I stay out of the process altogether now.
I believe all fans should do likewise, even in these days of instantaneous social media.
Generally speaking, though, I'll be a little more excited to see a tailback who can hit the home run like Bernard Pierce or a pass rusher who can put a quarterback on his ass like Adrian Robinson than I would recruits at, say, other positions.
That's the kind of immediate help Temple needs now.
Temple's got maybe the best quarterback in the league in Chris Coyer and the best tailback in Matty Brown, but I see a huge dropoff behind Brown that needs to be addressed with this class. If Montrell Dobbs or Khalif Herbin can get eligible and play right away, it has been addressed. If not, another home run hitter needs to be brought into the fold.
When it comes to recruiting individual players, I'm of the firm belief that  fans should be seen and not heard.
Not only does it border on NCAA violations, it's a big waste of time until Feb. 1.
That's the day when the faxes arrive with the signatures on the dotted line.
That's when I get excited.
The way the field is tilted so heavily against the non-BCS schools, the only thing you can do is root for Steve Addazio and company to bring in the best class possible.
Pushing that boulder uphill after years of rolling it downhill is a hard-enough task.

Two Owls on Fox Sports Network

Temple's photogenic and effective offensive line in the waning moments of Kent State game.

(thanks for the photos, Cyrus)

The mom/son firm of Kroboth, Tribue, Kroboth, Tribue.

This completely slipped my mind because I've always associated college all-star football games with Saturday afternoons after the BCS national title game but two Temple Owls, Kevin Kroboth and Wayne Tribue, are on the field now (1/16/12) in the Casino Del Sol All-Star game in Phoenix.
The game is being carried on Fox Sports Network is 722 (Comcast) in Philadelphia.
The game started at 9 p.m., Philadelphia time, and should be over by midnight. If you miss it Monday night, keep checking that Fox Sports Network channel. They will replay it at times this week.
It's on different channels if you have Verizon Fios, Direct TV and Dish TV.
Kroboth and Tribue kick off the "draft geek" season where everyone from Mel Kiper to the kid living in his mom's basement can make their own evaluations against that of the NFL experts.
Already, Temple tight end Evan Rodriguez is getting rave reviews for his play on the first day of practice at the East-West Shrine game in Tampa, Fla.
Right now, if I had to bet, Bernard Pierce and Evan Rodriguez will definitely be drafted and Adrian Robinson will go anywhere in that 4-6 range as an OLB.
Pierce is a third-rounder. ERod could go as high as fourth.
Derek Dennis, Wayne Tribue and Kee-ayre Griffin could also be drafted as well.
I see Kroboth as a seventh-rounder or a free agent and I'm sure Stephen Johnson will get a shot somewhere. Joey Jones and Rod Streater can play pro somewhere, be it in the NFL, CFL or Arena League.
That's what these all-star games are for to sort most of this out.
The nice thing is that they are easy to spot on Fox Sports Network as both are wearing the familar Temple T with their same college numbers, Kroboth wearing 37 and Tribue 69.
Here is a complete list of their East roster teammates. The roster was the only one I could find on the internet and had to take a photo of it, so it's a little blurry but you can still make out the names.

The Montrell Dobbs Show Debuts

Montville rival coach speaks in glowing terms of Montrell Dobbs.

"He's got to be the most in-shape athlete I've ever seen in any sport in the state."
_ Montville coach Tanner
Grove, speaking about
Ansonia's Montrell Dobbs

About this time last week, I was lamenting how Temple could lose a guy named Bernard to the NFL draft while a guy named Montee returned to Wisconsin for his senior year.
Never mind the guy named Montee was rated higher than Bernard in every statistical and other rating category and therefore had MORE to lose than Bernard by returning to college. Bernard Pierce is rated as a high third-round pick. Montee Ball would have gone in the first round.
Well, a lot has happened in a week.
A couple of days ago, Temple got a full Montee as in a Montrell.
We don't know if Temple's Montrell Dobbs will be as good or better than Bernard but, judging on their high school stats, Dobbs outperformed Pierce in a number of categories.
While Pierce's stats were impressive as a high school senior at Glen Mills (1,356 yards, 26 touchdowns), Dobbs' 45 touchdowns were literally off the charts (see accompanying chart).

Temple Football Fun Fact
Owls finished ahead of the University of Florida, Notre Dame and Miami (Fla.) in the final USA Top 25 poll. Owls had two votes, Notre Dame and Florida one and Miami zero (sorry, Al Golden).

We don't know how good a high school league Dobbs played in, but he followed that up with 1,227 yards and 21 touchdowns on a prep school level rated at about a JUCO level.
That's a pretty good level of football.
Add in the fact that Dobbs, like Pierce, is a 4.5-40 speedster and appears to have Paul Palmer-type durability (he even had a few games over 50 carries) and this just might be the best pickup of the Steve Addazio Era (and he's had a few good ones).
Dobbs told the Stamford Advocate that he's "real excited" about coming to Temple. The only person more excited about Montrell Dobbs coming to Temple is me because a top-flight running back should have been Temple's No. 1 priority in this class from the get-go and Dobbs fits the bill.
Since he's a partial qualifier, getting Dobbs on the field ASAP to play the same role Pierce played with Matty Brown now becomes urgent.


Montrell Dobbs' senior year transcript from Ansonia (Conn.) High.


Addazio appears to have addressed that  by having Dobbs enroll on Jan. 17 where he can work with Temple's excellent staff of academic advisors to come up to 4.5 speed in the classroom as well.
Al Golden once told me that the formula for winning in the MAC is pretty easy.
"Trust your eyes on most guys, but get five or six guys per class who were wanted by BCS schools," Golden said. "To win in the MAC, you've got to have BCS-level talent at the key positions."
When Temple ripped off that long winning streak in 2009 (stopped when Bernard Pierce got injured), I felt for the most part I was watching a BCS team play in a FCS league.
With Temple's recruiting advantages over the other MAC schools, that's the way it's got to be going forward.
Addazio seems to have gotten a lot of guys wanted by the Old Dominions and the Akrons, but is finally showing signs of getting guys wanted by the UConns.
Golden had a handful of guys offered (not just wanted) by BCS schools every year. Adrian Robinson was offered by Pitt. Kee-ayre Griffin was offered by Boston College. Kadeem Custis was offered by West Virginia. Evan Rodriguez actually played at West Virginia before transferring to Temple.
And those are just some examples.
Now Addazio has a marquee player offered by UConn.
By recruiting a quarterback who was wanted by Ohio State (which made an offer based on a visit) in Chris Coyer, Golden finally filled that key position and Temple fans finally saw the value of that scholarship this year.
Dobbs was wanted by UConn and signed with that school a year ago before going the prep school route.
Running back is a key position as well but, unlike quarterback, it is a position where impacts are made right away.
Montrell Dobbs has all the measurables to make an impact right away.
It should be a show worth watching.

"Get your popcorn ready. It's gonna be a show."
_T.O.
(ok, nuke the popcorn first and then come back and click on the video below.)



This is how you break all of Shady McCoy's rushing records at Milford Academy.

What can Daz do for Brown?

Bernard Pierce and Matty Brown react after Bill Bradshaw tells them about ordering gloves with the Temple T on the palm side.

Social scientists a lot smarter than I am give the three stages of grief as disbelief, disintegration and reintegration.
No doubt when you lose your favorite player from your favorite team as I did last week, there is an element of grief involved and I experienced all of those stages of grief in a relatively short time.
I'm in the reintegration stage, though, because while I grieve over Bernard Pierce's loss, Matty Brown has always been my second-favorite player.



No truth to the rumor that this is how the team reacted
when Daz said Spencer Reid was replacing Bernard Pierce.

Bernie and The Bug are gone as a team but the bug is still here. Yet he cannot carry the running game alone, just as Bernie could not carry the running game alone.
At the end of December, head coach Steve Addazio threw out these names as possible sidekicks to Brown next year:
Jalen Fitzpatrick, Darius Johnson, Kenny Harper and Spencer Reid.
Sorry, Steve, I'm not buying it.
Fitzpatrick was a quarterback in high school and never played running back before. Johnson was an undistinguished and pedestrian running back in the Philadelphia Public League, quite possibly the worst high school football league in the state of Pennsylvania. Reid was given a scholarship as a running back despite running a painfully slow 4.6 40, making him slower than two of the Owls' three starting linebackers last year. (Heck, I still think his dad could have afforded a full ride to Temple, saving that scholarship for, say, Ryan Brumfield.) Kenny Harper was better known as a safety in high school for Gainesville (Fla.) Buchholz and, quite frankly, did not EVEN REMOTELY show me any flashes of either Pierce or Brown on the limited number of carries he had at that position last year. I sincerely hope that when Justin Gildea moves from strong safety to free safety Harper will slide into the starting strong safety position next year. Both players could be All-MAC on defense right away.
Fitzpatrick would be perfect to slide into Joey Jones' slot receiver spot. Deon Miller returns as one starting wide receiver and the Owls can chose from a whole lot of good options at the other WR, including playmaker Ryan Alderman.
My No. 1 solution would be for Temple to go out and find a big-time stud JUCO running back who is ready to go both on the field and in the classroom. Someone who has Bernard Pierce's vision, speed, moves and quick burst to the outside.
Maybe that someone is Tiger Powell of Lake City, Fla.
Maybe it is someone else.
If Temple is not going to sign a big-time stud JUCO running back who is ready to go next year, there are better options available (some involve shuffling of personnel from offense to defense):

Brandon Peoples, Archbishop Wood _ It's tough to ask an incoming freshman to make an impact right away but Brandon has the right initials. Another BP had 268 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-24 win at Navy as a true freshman, so maybe Brandon can duplicate that effort. He's 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, though. Pierce is 6-1, 218. Peoples is not competing for the PIAA state 100-meter dash championship. At Peoples' age, Pierce won it.

Nate Smith, like BP, has a nose for the goal line.

Nate Smith, current starting linebacker candidate _ This is my personal choice on the current team to help out Matty Brown, leaving the two current linebacker starters in place. Smith has the size (6-0, 220) of Pierce and is just a tenth of a second slower than Pierce. As a senior at Highland Park (N.J.), he was unstoppable, rushing for 2,442 yards and 32 touchdowns. That's five more touchdowns than Bernard Pierce scored for Temple in this record-breaking year. Brother of former Philadelphia Eagle L.J. Smith so he's got very good bloodlines.  Nate has been a lifelong Owl, going from the Highland Park Owls to the Temple Owls.

Wyatt Benson (6-0, 215), current starting fullback _ Benson, a blocker extraordinaire, could play his current position and pick up five to 10 carries a game to take some of the rushing load off Brown and quarterback Chris Coyer. He finished his prep career at Haverford School (the Inter-Ac, unlike the Public, is a GREAT high school league) with 663 rushing yards, 217 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.

Ahkeem Smith, current starting linebacker _ Started out as a backup running back to both Pierce and Brown at Temple. As a senior at Bethlehem Liberty, was a superstar running back in a great Lehigh Valley League with 27 touchdowns and 1,837 yards in his senior year. Showed the current coaches his running ability by scoring a touchdown against Buffalo on a fake punt.

Blaze Caponegro, current starting linebacker _ The 2008 Shore Conference Player of the Year ran for 350 yards against Manasquan (yes, that was 350 yards in just one game), scoring five touchdowns. So he knows how to run the football.

BP is gone, but not forgotten

This great photo of BP's final home game turned out to be prophetic.
Photo by Mike Edwards

Section 121, Row 22, seat 1 just got a whole lot quieter today and the season is still nine months away.
Bernard Pierce declared for the NFL draft, according to the Associated Press late Thursday night.
The noise coming from that seat for the last three years was a loud "GIVE THE BALL TO THE FRANCHISE!" and The Franchise was Bernard Pierce.
Now the franchise will have to be Matty Brown.

"We're going to keep moving along. We're going to have a good football team. That's going to happen."
_ Steve Addazio

As much as I love Matty Brown's game, we saw all too well the limitations Brown had in the final two games of the 2010 season. With Pierce out injured and the box loaded, Brown was largely ineffective against Ohio and at Miami and the Owls lost their final two games.
Have things changed since?
We will find out soon enough.
I can't be as enthusiastic about giving the ball to Brown 25 times a game as I was adamant about giving the ball that much to Pierce.
So while I will be cheering for Brown like mad, he's going to have to show me he can get the short yardage consistently if the defense is crazy enough to load the box against a Chris Coyer-quarterbacked team.
Brown's competitiveness should carry the day, but I also think Addazio's No. 1 recruiting priority is to grab a guy with Pierce's size, speed, vision and burst to the outside.
Good luck with that, Steve.

Why is it that Matt Barkley comes back at USC, Montee Ball comes back at Wisconsin, Landry Jones comes back at Oklahoma and Temple gets screwed by losing Bernard Pierce? Can't the "little guy" ever catch a break?

Brown's competitiveness should carry the running game on most days. That and the knowledge Coyer gives the Owls an added running dimension they did not have in the past five years.
"I kind of understand Matt now," Addazio said. "He's an emotional, competitive guy. Sometimes I put my arm around him and make sure he keeps it in perspective.
"I think he's the best back in the conference next year."
I'm kind of disappointed in Pierce's decision because it is part and parcel of the "rich get richer" mentality that is prevalent in college football today.
Why is it that Matt Barkley comes back at USC, Montee Ball comes back at Wisconsin, Landry Jones comes back at Oklahoma and Temple gets screwed by losing Bernard Pierce?
Can't the "little guy" ever catch a break?
It makes me want to scream.
All of those guys had more to lose than Bernard by coming back and they STILL made the decision to return.
Addazio made clear that he laid it on the table for Pierce, telling him to come back if he's not a first-round draft choice and letting him know that those who advised him otherwise had agendas.
Pierce won't be a first-round pick, but he's not coming back.
"What I'm not going to do is try to impose my will, I'm not doing that," Addazio said. "I'll support his decision. Those are personal decisions. We're going to keep moving along. We're going to have a good football team. That's going to happen."
I think Addazio just might be right. Temple will have a good football team without Bernard Pierce, but my nagging thought is that it would have had a great one with him.
Win them all and it becomes a moot point, but that's a high bar to set for a 5-foot-5, 150-pound guy.

Eagles can only hope to be Temple TUFF

Steve Spagnuolo would be a Chuck Heater-type hiring for the Eagles and that's a  good thing.

On Sundays, I hang up my Temple garb, don the Eagles gear and head out to a local establishment to watch my second-favorite football team play.
I'm always promoting the Owls by word-of-mouth, though.
I never cease to be amazed by the outdated perceptions many Eagles' fans have of Temple football.
Watching the Eagles hammer the Jets, 45-19, an old guy sitting at the bar slid down his NFL title game ticket, circa 1960.
I mentioned how stupid it was for Andy Reid to hire Juan Castillo, a lifetime offensive line coach, as defensive coordinator.
"It's pretty bad," I said out loud, "when the Temple defensive coordinator is so much better than the Eagles' defensive coordinator, it's not even funny."
Most of the bar seemed to know who Chuck Heater was and the kind of job he was doing at Temple and nodded in agreement.
Not all, but most.

Occasionally, he will throw in a "Temple TUFF, baby" at his press conferences. That's as exciting as a Reid press conference gets to me, but I appreciate it.

Certainly not the old guy.
"Temple?" he said. "Do they still draw 3,000 for their games?"
I had to bite my tongue to be nice to this guy.
"I guess you don't read the newspapers anymore," I said. "Try 30,000. They almost averaged 30,000 this year. You can look it up. You should go. Their games are a lot more exciting than the Eagles' games."
"I didn't know that," the man said, apologetically.
Perceptions are pretty hard to break down, but I'm doing it one person at a time.
That's why I took Jeffrey Lurie's press conference today as a good sign.
Andy Reid will be back. He can break down outdated perceptions of Temple football a lot faster than I can because he has a much larger platform.
Reid is a good head coach who is a friend of Temple football.
I think he made a mistake in hiring his buddy, Castillo, but Reid is a pretty loyal guy.
That's a good sign for Temple as well.
Occasionally, he will throw in a "Temple TUFF, baby" at his press conferences.
That's as exciting as a Reid press conference gets to me, but I appreciate it.
I hope Reid follows up by hiring a good defensive coordinator who will make the Eagles Temple TUFF on defense once again.
Steve Spagnuolo, who was just fired in St. Louis, would be a good fit for the Birds.
If Spagnuolo can do the same type of job as Heater, both teams should have double-digit wins next season and I'll be able once again to wear the green as proudly as I always do the Cherry and White.

Palmer would be flattered by Pierce comic book

The front and back covers of the Paul Palmer comic book.

This may or may not be a moot point, depending upon whether or not Bernard Pierce comes back for his senior year, but it's something I had to ask the other great Temple running back.
"Would you mind if Temple used the same comic book campaign for Bernard Pierce than it used for you?" I wrote him.
I just got the reply this morning.
"I'd be flattered," Paul Palmer said.
Heck, I know that Bernard has a tough call in the days ahead.
Not tough for me or Steve Addazio, but for him.

Paul Palmer (middle, between Vinny Testaverde and Brian
Bosworth) at Heisman awards: "I'd be flattered" by
a Bernard Pierce comic book. Notice all three are wearing
Temple-colored ties.

It's Addazio's opinion _ really, the general consensus out there _ that if you are not a sure-fired, stone-cold-lock for first-round pick in the draft, then you should come back and, in his words, "enjoy your senior year and get your degree."
That's reasonable. If there is money now (by comparison a paltry and not guaranteed amount), it only figures to double and triple next year and then it becomes guaranteed money as a No. 1.
I think, and Addazio seems to agree, that Bernard can raise his stock one or two rounds with another solid year at Temple.
And, who knows, if everything breaks right, catapult himself into a Heisman Trophy race.
These are things that are all weighing heavily on Bernard's mind right now, so maybe a little comic relief is in order.
As in comic book relief.
I came out in favor of this comic book as early as Bernard's sophomore year but Temple's promotions people went all high-tech on me with a Facebook page and a Bernard for Heisman website.
Nice, but sometimes the old ideas are the best ones.
Simply replace every Palmer image and stats with those of Pierce and you got yourself a damn good Heisman campaign for 2012 right there. The template and story board is right there. Replacing Palmer's life story and stats with Pierce's should be a snap.
The only missing element would be someone to draw the illustrations.
If the illustrator for that is dead, there's a sports anchor guy in Allentown named Troy Hein who wrote a children's book and has the best illustrator around. Hire that gal (her name is Kathryn Roman).
Heck, Temple would be stealing its own terrific idea and Palmer benefited from it to the tune of a second-place finish in the Heisman Trophy balloting of 1986. The Owls' promotion department send 1,050 comic books to 1,050 Heisman Trophy voters. It was the best $10,000 Temple spent on anything. It came back 10,000,000-fold (that's 10 million) in terms of viewers who saw Temple associated with good football while watching the Heisman Trophy ceremony on CBS-TV that year.
That (and a 1,866-yard season) got Palmer a seat at the table in between Miami's Vinny Testaverde (the eventual winner) and third-place finisher Brian Bosworth of Oklahoma.
It also might have helped Palmer get drafted in the first round.
I've watched every game of both careers and I happen to think Bernard is the better player (sorry, Paul). I usually (though not always) side with the older guys (nobody can tell me that Mo Wilkerson was better than either Joe or Dan Klecko), so that's saying something.
If Bernard comes back, he should get that comic book and whatever help Temple can offer him along the path to a Heisman and a first-round pick.

Addazio's sound advice for Bernard Pierce

One last time, Derek "Bonecrusher" Dennis leads the Diamond Marching Band in bowl-championship T for Temple U. Bernard Pierce will do that after the national title game next year (hopefully).

At this time of the year around the turn of the century (last one, not this one), a young girl named Virginia wrote a letter to a newspaper editor asking if there really was a Santa Claus.
What followed was about the best response to a letter to the editor in the history.

"I've always been a believer if you have a chance to be a first-round pick, that's great. But, if not, I think you come back and get your degree and enjoy your senior year and be a marquee player in the country and all the great things that go with it."

_ Steve Addazio

Steve Addazio isn't an editor, but he gave Bernard Pierce just as good response on whether or not he should enter the NFL draft.
The basic tenant of which was, yes, Bernard, there will be an NFL next year (and the year after that) and if you are not going to be a first-round pick THIS year, stay in school, get that degree, and possibly get guaranteed first-round money NEXT year.
I haven't seen one first-round projection this year, but I can easily envision it after a solid senior season for Bernard.
Here are some highlights from the Addazio press conference:
"I have (sat down with Bernard) and he's got to sit down with his family and evaluate the situation. Those are personal decisions and they've got to make them based off the facts.
"You put your stuff into the NFL and get feedback and let them process the information, that's all you can do. I've got friends in the league and give them feedback. You give him all the information that's factual and doesn't have an agenda to it.

Four of the estimated 6,000 TU fans in Owlbuquerque.
Thanks, CT, for the great photo

"I've always been a believer if you have a chance to be a first-round pick, that's great. But, if not, I think you come back and get your degree and enjoy your senior year and be a marquee player in the country and all the great things that go with it. I'm a guy who deals in facts. I'm not an agenda person. You want the facts, here's the facts. If you want my opinion, then here's my opinion. In this world we're in today, at times, there's a lot of different opinions that have agendas.
"All you can do is offer your help. Do I have all the answers? No. I have some experience in it. All you can do is offer your opinion."
On whether the decision to come out should be made on whether or not he's a first-round pick:
"Me, yeah. That's not just me. That's a pretty strong consensus out there. I mean, Stay in school. Get your degree. Play college football. You are supposed to be in college for four years.
"Guys came out of school early for one reason. The money got so grand in the first round ... I mean, that's why but not to just do it. The NFL is a rough business. Stay in college. Enjoy yourself as long as you can. Get your degree. It's all about getting your degree. Get your life set. Joy is fleeting. Knowledge is everlasting. Don't get away from those fundamentals."
Very profound.
Not exactly as profound as "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" but certainly "Yes, Bernard, there will be an NFL next year" rings just as deeply.
Heck, I've always written that Bernard is a first-round draft pick. I maintained that since his freshman year but that assumption was made on the basis of a four-year career.
If he stays for his senior year, he will be one just as certainly as  there is an  NFL.
Santa Claus?
I'll leave that question for the newspaper editors.

New Mexico Bowl: The Fifth Quarter

Steve Addazio either tells very funny jokes or heard one here.



Chuck Heater seems to be enjoying his time at Temple.

Sometimes during all of this talk about recruiting rankings, coaching changes, conference shifting and declaring early, we forget one thing.
Football is a game and it is supposed to be fun.
Thank you, Temple football team, for reminding us of that most important fact on Saturday afternoon.
I have to laugh when, after a big win, some reporter asks a head coach "what's next?" when the correct response would be, hey, how about enjoying this win a little bit first?
That's what I took away from Saturday.
Temple's 37-15 win over Wyoming was a tribute to the coaching staff and the players for all the hard work they put in pretty much over the last 365 days.
It was fun watching it unfurl for three hours on the field.
It was even more fun watching the fifth quarter, the celebration afterward.
Heck, the game was not in doubt so that quarter began a little early, with Rod Streater dunking head coach Steve Addazio with a gatoraid cooler filled with water.
"He's the realist coach there is, but I had to get him, though," Streater said.
Then came a dunking for another real good coach and overall great person, defensive coordinator Chuck Heater.


Morkeith Brown makes sure too many hands don't spoil the pot.

 Even assistant coach Matt Rhule got a water bottle full of cold shock. It wasn't a whole cooler, but Rhule isn't even a whole coordinator.
Addazio turned to Rhule and laughed.
This was all while the game was going on, but had been decided.
Afterward, it was even better.
Addazio said something only he and the team could hear and they roared laughing. I will use the next two weeks to find out what that was and, if it's clean (and I think it was), I will pass it along here.
There was 26-year-old Iraq war vet Morkeith Brown lifting the New Mexico Bowl Trophy, a Native American Clay Pot. Like the former tight end he was, the defensive end did not drop it.

Saturday's TV ratings in Philly market
Dallas/Tampa on NFL Net - 5.5 RTG 10 Share 8pm to 11pm
Temple/Wyoming on ESPN - 3.3 RTF 8 share 2pm - 530pm.
Flyers Hockey on Sportsnet - 1.8 RTG 5 share - 1pm to 330pm

Thank God.
It would have probably had to make the five-hour flight home in pieces.
There was no more appropriate guy to hoist the bowl trophy.
Brown was a leader from the day he walked into the Edberg-Olsen Football Complex and he was a leader until the day he walked off the field at the last time.
He will be missed, but the memories he and his teammates created will remain.
What's next is a question for another day and you can bet this staff is working on the answers right now.
I, for one, am not done basking in the glow of the fifth quarter.

"T"o"T"al Domination

"You think I'm going to miss playing in our first win over Penn State next year? No way
The pros can always wait. I'm having too much fun right now," The Franchise seems to be saying.

There was one defining moment for me in today's 37-15 Temple win over Wyoming and it is probably not one you will guess right away.
It was just a little picture, not the big one.
The Owls hoisting that New Mexico Bowl Clay Pot Trophy?
Yeah, good guess, but try again.

Rod Streater's touchdown catch of Chris Coyer's pass right before the half to make it 28-7?
Again, nice try.
Give up?
Ok.
I'll tell you.
It was head coach Steve Addazio grabbing Matty Brown in a bear hug in the first half.
That said it all for me.
If every Owl had a heart as big as the one in Matty Brown's body, Temple would be playing for the national championship on the second week of January instead of coming home with a New Mexico Bowl Trophy in the middle of December.
Brown was so upset coming out of the game after one play that he made it known.
Instead of yelling at him, Addazio took the moment to console him and tell him how much he was loved. Addazio wrapped him in a hug and walked him away, saying something gently in his ear that seemed to resonate with him.
That was an important moment for me and it should have been an important moment to every Owl fan.

A sweet T-shirt headed my way.

It was for this Owl fan.
We have the right guy leading this program and I for one hopes he stays for a long, long time and does not have the same kind of wandering eye the last guy had.
If  you are a Temple fan like me, this is one of the two greatest days of your life.
The other day came in 1979 when a fullback named Mark Bright ran over and through California for a 28-17 win in the Garden State Bowl.
This time, Total Domination came in the form of a 100-yard day by Bernard "The Franchise" Pierce and an offensive MVP trophy from quarterback Chris Coyer.
Of course, there was Chuck Heater's defense.
It was there all year and it will be there next year as well.
This is just the start of something big at Temple and, if The Franchise stays next year, it will be a very big and fun season for not only him but for all of us and maybe, just maybe, a January bowl win to cap it.
Meanwhile, we know we have a coach who is so tuned in he knows little picture can be just as important as the big one.

New Mexico Bowl: Final exam for Daz

Dave "Owlified" Gerson's excellent senior highlight video. If there is a "techie" out there who can remix the background music of this from the classical format to D.J. Khaled's "All I Do Is Win" on a loop than get back to me. Love the Ed Benkin call of Joe Jones' touchdown catch and don't love the Harry Donahue call on the Kee-ayre Griffin blocked field goal "running with it is Robinson. Johnson, rather" (which is pretty much a typical Harry Donahue call).

This is going to look awfully good at the E-O.

My good friend Fizzy and I were talking about Steve Addazio's first year as Temple's head coach after the final game of the regular season.
"I'm going to have to give him a C," Fiz said. "Not excellent. Not good. Satisfactory."
Fizzy is a former Temple football great and someone who spent the rest of his life giving out grades for a living as an esteemed educator.
I thought his grade of Daz was a fair one until that point.
I gave him an incomplete because you really can't give Steve Addazio a grade until he completes his finals.
That comes tomorrow (2 p.m., ESPN) in the New Mexico Bowl.
If Temple beats Wyoming to a pulp, 31-14, something on the order I expect it to, Addazio's grade improves to a B+, which is very good. If it's a 28-27 win, it drops to a B.
I could not in fairness give Addazio a B or an A on the basis of his first regular season because I thought he made some key errors in judgment that could have cost the Owls at least a couple of games:

Some that come to mind:

• Removing Mike Gerardi with a lead in the Penn State game. I thought Gerardi was following the "plan to win" until he was removed. The plan to beat Penn State was to avoid turnovers and make plays in the play-action passing game. Gerardi even threw the ball into the ground in the first half of the Penn State game, rather than make a turnover. When Chester Stewart was ineffective, Gerardi was reinserted and I really felt that the pressure went back to Gerardi to make a play in order to keep his job. The result was that he forced the ball into tight windows and Penn State picked him off twice.
• The failure to remove Stewart in the Toledo or Bowling Green games. Stewart was never held to the same high standard Gerardi was and he was allowed to remain in the game Toledo despite throwing two picks. Against Bowling Green, it was painfully apparent he could not move the team. As a result, two games got away from the Owls.
• Not recognizing the talent he had in Chris Coyer. Daz said he was "thisclose" to starting Coyer against Villanova. Had he done that, it's much more likely Temple would have gone 10-2 instead of 8-4. Heck, Villanova was the perfect game to get Coyer's feet wet. Owls would have beaten that sorry ass team, 42-7, with Stewart (suspended for that game), Gerardi, Coyer or Clinton Granger.

Now come the finals on Saturday before an ESPN national television audience.
Daz will ace his final with a 31-14 win and earn my B plus. He can't get an A because I really feel this is the most talented team of the last three years and Al Golden reached a minimum eight with slightly lesser talent.
If he wins this game, though, Daz will accomplish one of the big things he said he would do (see sidebar of this blog) which is to get the team in a bowl game and win it.
That's very good in my book and something Golden never did.
Heck, even a tough marker like Fizzy might be forced to redo his grade as well.

TFF's Bowl Party Special

Although I prefer Fight Temple Fight, my guess is that T for Temple U will be sung a few times at just about every bar in the Philadelphia area (and a few outside of it) this Saturday.

The Owls listen to some local hospitality in New Mexico.

If you are like me and your beloved Temple Owls are a little geographically west of your price range, you can do one of two things:
1) Stay at home, pace around the room, yell at the TV set and talk to yourself for three hours;
Or ...
2) Find a place where you can do the same with fellow Owl fans.
I chose the latter.
Instead of spending more than $1,000 on a road trip, I'm headed to Center City to spend about $980 less on Saturday afternoon.
I get a little bit of the experience of cheering for the Owls with fellow Temple fans, but none of the bills afterward. Heck, because it is a Saturday in December, even the metered parking is free.
I'd prefer to be at the stadium sharing the experience with my great fellow Owl fans, like I did in Section 121 all year, but Albuquerque is way above my pay scale.
I have a feeling, in this economy, a lot of my fellow Owl fans are in the same predicament. Temple vs. Wyoming football at 2 p.m. on Saturday on one TV (ESPN), followed by Temple vs. Texas in hoops at 2:30 on ESPN2. The plan now is to watch hoops during the football commercials.
As a service to those fans, we offer Temple Football Forever's Bowl party special today.
There are plenty of great places in the Philadelphia area to watch the game and we're going to offer you a few of our favorites today.
The key thing is that if there is one other Temple fan there, it's better than watching the game alone.
Philadelphia Center City:

A lot nicer inside than it looks from here.

Kelliann's, 15th and Spring Garden _ The first time I ever walked into this cozy little bar at my jaw dropped and it was not just because of the stunningly beautiful female patrons (there are plenty of those, by the way). It was after work and the Phillies were in the playoffs and the 56-inch HDTV offered the most spectacular picture I had ever seen to that point. (Since then, Parx Casino's cluster of 10 same-size TVs together behind one bar have beaten that. I don't like Parx because there's a guilty feeling being in a room with 10 spectacular TVs behind one bar when living in a world where kids are dying of hunger. Maybe it's just me.) At Kelliann's, Scott the bartender will turn the Temple game up as loud as you want. To say the men's room is a little small is an understatement. A regular-size phone booth is larger. Seriously. Don't go there is you plan to do No. 2. Otherwise, a great place to watch a Temple game.



The Field House, 12th and Filbert

Field House, 12th and Filbert _ This is the official Temple Bowl Party and I'm sorry I can't recommend it. The one time I went in there, I asked for the sound to be turned up to a Temple football game. I got flat-out turned down. Blasting in the background was the sound of a Wisconsin vs. Northwestern football game. It hissed me off so much some midwestern football game had sound and the hometown Temple Owls didn't, so I walked out as a matter of principle. Still, a good place to go because this will be one of the largest Temple crowds around and the open bar is only $15. If you don't mind not being able to hear the game (the sound is on for private parties, but the cheering and other background noise prevents you from hearing the announcers), this is the place to go.

South Philly Tap Room

The South Philadelphia Tap Room, 15th and Mifflin _ I've never been there, but I've heard nothing but good things about this place and the TVs there. From what I've been told, hearing the sound is no problem and the HDTVs are of very good quality. The place also gets rave reviews for its excellent selection of beers and quality of food. This would be like going to the Field House, but also having the added bonus of hearing the game. This one block west of Broad Street, next to St. Agnes Hospital so if the Owls give you a heart attack, you have a very good chance of surviving.
The Bishop's Collar, 23d and Fairmount _ A very Temple-friendly bar with good TVs and an old-time Temple football helmet behind the bar. Good chance there will be a lot of Temple students there.
Suburbs
If you are in Blue Bell, P.J. Whelihan's has hosted Temple parties in the past and most who went there walked away impressed. There is a new Chickie and Pete's on Route 611 in Warrington and that is always a good place to watch a game, as are the ones in South Philadelphia and the Far Northeast. Calloway's in Huntingdon Valley (County Line and Shoemaker Roads) has two outstanding HDTVs at the bar.
New Jersey
Don't know much about this state because, to me, the Delaware River might as well be the Atlantic Ocean. I know I was at the Pennsville, N.J. Applebee's once and asked for the sound of a Temple basketball game to be turned up (just enough to hear) and another waitress walked by and asked the bartender "what is that noise?" and made her turn it down. I never went back. If you have specific places you like in New Jersey, add them in the comment section below.

The Panache Restaurant in D.C.
is in the Golden Triangle downtown,
directly across from the Mayflower Hotel.

Other parties
D.C. _ There is a big FREE party scheduled for the Panache Restaurant, Downtown
1725 DeSales Street Northwest; Washington, DC 20036-4406; (Near Connecticut/Road Avenue NW).
Enjoy complementary heavy hors d'oeuvres and one free drink ticket (21 and over) courtesy of the Temple University Alumni Club of Washington D.C. Don't forget to wear your cherry and white and enter the free raffle. There is no need to pre-register.
Pittsburgh _ There will at least be two Owl fans at Pomodoro's in Wexford/Franklin Park. Ask for either Steel Owl or Pennsyltucky Owl. The place has lots of good beers and enough TVs to devote two to Temple (one for the football game and one for the hoops' game).

There are at least two cops on every corner in NYC. Love it.

New York City
Duke's Murray Hill (560 3d Street, between 37th and 38th Streets) will be the New York City party of choice for Temple fans. This is within easy stumbling distance of Penn Station, so you can take a train from Philly or Trenton, get totally blasted, get back on the same train and be sober by the time you arrive in Philadelphia. Just a thought. I love taking the train to New York City. I auditioned twice for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and just missed the cut both times. I recommend the train ride and the city, which has at least two cops on every corner, which is a very good thing.

Unstoppable force vs. very movable object

Wyoming has never seen anybody like Matty Brown, the Owls' No. 2 back.

And I'm sure Wyoming has never seen anything like No. 30.

Math professors would have a field day crunching the numbers produced by Wyoming and Temple this season.
Both teams finished 8-4.
Both teams had one marquee home game against a traditional  BCS powerhouse, with Wyoming getting blown out by Nebraska, 38-14, and Temple losing a heartbreaker against Penn State, 14-10.
Temple is ranked No. 7 in rushing offense and Wyoming No. 115 in rushing defense.
You can talk about all of those numbers all you want, but the numbers that strike me the most are 63-19 and 25-17.
Utah State, a team I feel has comparable talent to Temple (and I really think Temple has more talent) was able to beat Wyoming, 63-19. Air Force, a team locked in a life-and-death struggle with Army (before winning, 24-14), played a competitive game with Wyoming, losing, 25-17. Temple blew out Army, 42-14.
Of course, Wyoming fans can point to two numbers, 28-27, and 13-10.
Wyoming was able to beat Bowling Green, 28-27, and Temple lost to Bowling Green, 13-10.

Warmest TU Bowl
since 1934
Game-time temps:
1934: 62 degrees
1979: 40 degrees
2009: 11 degrees
2011: 43 degrees*
*forecasted

However, Temple was in the middle of a nighmarish quarterback situation at the time, when head coach Steve Addazio refused to remove Chester Stewart in that game despite a whole lot of three-and-outs and two injured running backs. Temple needed a quarterback who could make a play and finally found one in Chris Coyer, who can make a whole lot of plays. Stewart played admirably in relief vs. Kent State, but Coyer is a horse of a whole different fire department (to borrow a Bum Phillips' phrase).
With Coyer, Temple is able to maximize its running game by making explosive plays down the field on play-action passes.
To me, Saturday's game is quite simply Temple's unstoppable force (run game) vs. Wyoming's movable object (run defense).
The forecast right now calls for 43 degrees, snow showers possible but no storm, and that's good running weather.
I've crunched all of those numbers and variables and have come up with a sum total of 45.
Temple 31, Wyoming 14.
The over-under is 46.
I'd lay the 6 1/2 before taking the under.
I just hope none of the Owls drop the Native American Clay Pot, which is the very fragile trophy that goes to the winner and one I'm sure they'll be reaching for, ohh, about 5 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday.
Maybe they should put the hands' team in for the trophy-hoisting ceremony.

Wyoming-TU: The view from out West

Some interesting comments from the TV guys.

Todd Bowles is believed to be the first Temple grad ever named a head coach in the NFL and that came late this afternoon. Congratulations to Todd, the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

Chad Smith runs Wyoming Football Forever, a Temple Football Forever equivalent in a parallel universe.
Only kidding about the name, though.
Smith's blog is here, the 7220 report, and it covers all things Cowboy football.
With the Wyoming vs. Temple game only a few days away, we thought this would be a good time for a question exchange.
My questions are in white type and his answers are yellow below:

1) I wonder if you heard any more from Wyoming fans watching ESPN and noticed them laughing when our bowl came up and what was the reaction there?


Wyoming fans surely took notice of this and thought it was a slap in the face to both the Wyoming and Temple football programs. This type of reaction just reinforces the ESPN-ization of college football; that being if you are not a BCS school you basically no longer matter in college football. What makes this reaction even more bizarre is the fact that ESPN actually owns the New Mexico Bowl! So they were in fact mocking their own product. Great work “world wide leader”!



2) Sum up your personal off-the-field experiences from the New Mexico Bowl two years ago, both highlights and lowlights?



The New Mexico Bowl may be only five years old but I can assure you it is a first class operation. They know that they are low in the pecking order in terms of bowl prestige and history but have a goal of being the most hospitable bowl out there. They put on some great events with luncheons, dinners, a pep rally (with fireworks!) and the pre-game fan party outside the stadium. The activities and the southwestern food are all top class and made for an enjoyable experience. There weren’t really any lowlights in terms of experience the only negative thing is out of the Bowl’s control as the weather in Albuquerque isn’t all that warm this time of year.

This clay pot is the trophy the Owls hope to hoist Saturday.

3) What is it about Albuquerque, the town itself, that surprised you the most in 2009?



There wasn’t much that surprised me in 2009 because with the University of New Mexico being in the Mountain West, I’ve been to Albuquerque more than a few times for both football and basketball. The first time I went there I was surprised by two things. First, I thought the city was a little dirty (in a dusty type of way) but hey what city in the high desert isn’t? Secondly, I found there to be a wide variety of different things to do (shopping, museums, outdoor recreation etc.) and was something I did not expect. Most surprising to me was downtown Albuquerque although not big in size, there are some nice cafes, bars and restaurants along Central street. I think Temple fans will enjoy the city.



4) Is your freshman QB mostly a drop-back passer or a mobile quarterback who can throw?



Brett Smith is definitely not a pure drop back passer and he isn’t a run first type of quarterback either. I would say your moniker of a mobile quarterback who can throw is the best description. That is what has impressed me the most about him in his true freshman season. He is a very good runner but he always looks to throw first before running. Most QB’s with his skill set take off and run right away when things break down but Smith always keeps his head up and is looking for an open wide receiver down field first.



5) Who are the players on the Cowboys will might play on Sundays and who are the other players to watch by the numbers come Saturday?



There aren’t any sure fire NFL prospects on this team but the two players who have the best chance that I know NFL scouts are looking at are defensive back Tashaun Gipson (4) and defensive end Josh Biezuns (44). Gipson is a four year starter who is good at making plays on the ball. He started the first three years at cornerback but switched to safety halfway through this year to help the team. Biezuns is a little undersized at 6-2 and 245 pounds but he has a non-stop motor and is always near the ball which is amazing for a defensive lineman and could be a good fir in a 3-4 defense as a OLB. The two other key players temple fans should watch on defense are linebacker Brian Hendricks (8) who is a tackling machine in the middle and defensive tackle Gabe Knapton(52) who you will see lineup on the inside and outside of the defensive line. Offensively the playmakers are quarterback Brett Smith (16), running back Alvester Alexander (32) who is your classic one cut runner and true freshman wide receiver Josh Doctson (89) who has emerged as a speed threat on the outside.

One week to the New Mexico Bowl



Temple fans' home away from home in Albuquerque is the Owl Cafe, 10 minutes
from the team hotel.

Heck, it's one week to the New Mexico Bowl and back in August I was off in dreamland thinking it might be another month until the Temple Owls got on the field again by the time December rolled around.
You know, beat Penn State, beat Maryland and then run through the entire MAC to finish 12-0.
Then win the MAC title game to go 13-0.

"I ain't lettin' you go to the NFL because we're going
to be 14-0 next year with you," Deon Miller seems to
be telling Datboy Nard.

Then I woke up with a minute to go in the Penn State game.
Temple never found an answer to its quarterback woes until three games remained in the season (too late) so that dream was busted.
The only other things I needed was Penn State to win the Big 10 and Maryland to win the ACC.
Walla, national title game.
When Maryland opened up with a 32-24 win over Miami (Fla.), I thought that just might happen.
Heck, if UConn, a team that lost by two touchdowns to Temple last year, can really make it to the Fiesta Bowl after that, then I can dream of a national title shot for Temple.
Then they tanked it and Penn State got hit by the Jerry Sandusky scandal and that fell apart.
So no national championship game for Temple, shockingly. No cover of Sports Illustrated featuring Bernie and the Bug. No shot of  Steve Addazio giving Florida fans the finger.
There's always next year.
No Temple and LSU.
It'll be LSU and  Alabama instead.

By going 14-0, Addazio could have
given his Florida critics this finger.

Wyoming and Temple (Saturday, Dec. 17, ESPN, 2 p.m.) will kick off the bowl season instead and that game will be pretty much as important as the 34 other non-championship games.
If Temple wins, the Owls get to take a bowl trophy home for the first time in 32 years.
The Owls can win their own little championship before a sizeable crowd in New Mexico and on TV since they will be the only FBS football on television that afternoon.
I'm cautiously optimistic.
I think the Owls can win by following the Addazio plan (play great defense, run the football, make a difference on special teams and use the play-action pass for explosive gains downfield). I think defensive coordinator Chuck Heater will whip up a pass rush scheme that rattles Wyoming freshman quarterback Brett Smith. He won't let him sit back and pick the defense apart.
I think No. 20, Kee-ayre Griffin, will jump one route and get a pick six. He has that kind of athletic ability.
Wyoming, though, is not a team to be taken lightly and I don't think the Owls will.
Seeing the kids celebrate around the Gildan New Mexico Bowl trophy would be a great way to frame this season after starting with a Mayor's Cup trophy.
It wasn't the dream I started with, but it's the one I have now and it is within this team's grasp.
One week and three hours away.

A special message from Hooter follows:

Temple and the Big East in layman's terms

When I think of Temple's courtship of the Big East, I think of the classic romantic movie "Say Anything" starring John Cusack as Lloyd Dobbler and Iona Skye as Diane Court. John Mahoney is the overprotective and general sleazebag father.
In the iconic scene, Dobbler raises a boombox and plays Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" and Court eventually sees the two were meant to be together.
In the Temple football courting Big East version, playing the role of overprotective father and overall sleazebag is Villanova. Playing the role of the Mid-American Football Conference has been every other girl Dobbler has met up until that moment who paled in comparison to Court.
Temple was all set for a Big East invite in October until Villanova lobbied the other Catholic schools in that conference to keep Temple out.
In the movies, Temple's boombox moment would have been its football TV ratings (tops in the MAC and among the best in the nation, rising attendance figures in football and its world-class basketball program). Seeing all this potential in its backyard, the Big East would have rolled out of bed into Temple's arms.
Cut.
It's a wrap.
Applause.
In this Temple reality version of Say Anything, the dirty dad (Villanova) tells the daughter he'll cut her off if she's got anything to do with the new guy and she makes the incorrect decision of doing what her dad tells her to do and not following her heart.
She then goes all over the country looking for the perfect man, wishing she could find someone as perfect as the guy in her backyard with the boombox. She spents the rest of her life regretting that decision and withers off and dies. That pretty much sums up the Big East and Temple these days.
On Dec. 7, 2011, a day that will live in Big East infamy, the Big East traveled 3,000 miles to get the Temple of the West (Boise State) and a San Diego State football program that averages far less in attendance and TV ratings than the Owls do. Not to mention SMU and Houston, so we won't.
Temple has a world-class stadium, a football program that has averaged more than eight wins in each of the last three seasons, and is within easy driving distance of the original Big East footprint.
Sadly, the boombox moment appears to be over and this Big East girl does not want Temple. Time to move on to someone (Conference USA, perhaps) who will appreciate Temple and help the Owls realize their full potential. The other girls, the MAC, will understand.
If the Big East withers off and dies, and it will, that's their loss.

TU vs. Wyoming shows how much has changed

Laramie, Wyoming, the site of the last Temple vs. Wyoming game.

Turnovers costly for Owls
By Mike Bruton
LARAMIE, Wyo. (9/2/1990) — If Wyoming was expecting an embattled opponent haunted by last season's failures, it didn't find one in Temple yesterday. What it found was a most generous adversary.

Jerry Berndt's Owls had no intention of making things easy for the Cowboys and, in fact, made things rather rocky for them for nearly three quarters before succumbing to its own mistakes and losing, 38-23, before a crowd of 17,564.
The game at War Memorial Stadium was pockmarked by turnovers, but the Owls hatched six of the eight that occurred, their last three propelling the Cowboys to victory in this, the season opener for both teams.
Complete story from Sept. 2, 1990 editon of Inquirer is here for your edification.

As I write this, the temperature in Albuquerque, New Mexico is 12 degrees.
Here in Philadelphia, it's 62 degrees.
So much for warm-weather bowl destinations.
It could be worse.
According to an email I received from Wyoming, it was 21 degrees when the man started his car in the morning there on Monday.
That's minus-21.
Much can change in 10 or so days and hopefully that temperature inversion will.
College football is like the weather that way.
A short 20 years ago and Temple was playing Wyoming in an unlikely matchup in Laramie.
A lot has changed since:

• The Big East WANTED Temple;
• A high school head coach named Steve Addazio was in his second year working toward the first of three  state titles in Cheshire, Conn.;
• Temple had a good, professional, competent football announcer in Dave Sims;
• There was no BCS (and therefore no BS in college football);
• Teams actually had to have WINNING seasons to earn a bowl bid;

What hasn't changed are the precepts of the game itself.
The team that blocks and tackles the best and limits the turnovers usually wins the game.
Such was the case in 1990 when Temple dropped a 38-23 game in Laramie, based on turnovers.
In fact, Temple head coach Jerry Berndt used the term "ball security" way back then.
Some things never change.
Addazio's plan to win at Temple has the ball security issue right at the top of the sheet.
Limit turnovers, play great defense, run the ball, make a difference on special teams.
If Temple doesn't do anything crazy like turn the ball over 127 times (exaggerating for effect here), like it did the first time these two teams played, it should come away with its first bowl win since 1979.
That would give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, whatever the temperature is on Dec. 17.