Temple Football Forever

How 'bout them OWLboys!

2009-11-07T01:04:00.022-05:00

Sorry the Miami recap is so late.
Something called a real job and sleep (too little of it) got in the way.
Back to game day.
If the three hours of Temple football aren't the fastest in all of sports, then the three hours of pre-game tailgating rate a close second.
In between, I almost tripped over a wire in a tent where a couple of great young alumni fans had a portable heater (it was really appreciated, by the way) but I showed the kind of balance that made me the Bernard Pierce (well, more like Shelley Poole) of my 125-pound Far Northeast traveling team back in the day.
(If I only had their speed ...)
And a good time was had by all ....
I saw a lot to like, less to dislike and, for the first time this season, I saw a head coach who showed me some cajones by making a move that had to be made.
All that said, I just want to say this:
How about 'dem OWLboys!
How about 'dat OWL Golden?
Some thumbs ups, some thumbs downs:
MARK D'ONOFRIO _ The last three years, I've become convinced that Mark D'Onofrio is the one of the best defensive coordinators in all of college football. If he isn't the best, he's the best no one knows about. No bigger MDO fan than me, but I think this bend-but-don't-break approach is absolute garbage. It killed us against Villanova. It almost got us killed against Fake Miami. I've been saying this all year and it bears repeating. Get to the g-damn quarterback. If you can't get there with four, send five. If you can't get there with five, send six. If you can't get there with six, send seven. If you can't get there with seven, send eight. Chances are almost 100 percent that you will get to the QB if you send eight. In the 2 percent event that you don't, I have confidence that Marquise Liverpool, Jacquain Jarrett and Dominique Harris are talented enough, athletic enough and fast enough to keep the damage in front of them.
AL GOLDEN _ Just an incredible ballsy move to pull the quarterback. You might ask what's so incredible about pulling the starting QB after a 5 for 17, 37 yards, 2 picks, 0 TDs? I say it is incredible. How many QBs have been pulled after winning six straight games? It says that a 5 for 17 and 2 picks is an unacceptable performance level and it sends a message to the rest of the team that everybody's performance is under review and that you must play to a high standard to keep your job.

LFF SECURITY _ Specifically, CSC Security, which holds a contract from LFF. A can of beer, smuggled in some some kids, "rolled" (or was placed, I prefer to think rolled) under the seat of an older lady sitting on the Temple side. She comes to the games every year. She never does nothing but cheer, but CSC security guards approached her, saw the can of beer under her seat, and asked her to leave. She refused to leave so they forcibly removed her to the protests of all around her. CSC guards would take no input from the crowd, they just acted as judge, jury and executioner. Big men, CSC. Kicking out an old lady. Temple should hunt that lady down and give her two free season tickets for next season.
MATT RHULE _ Nobody wants to give the ball to The Franchise more than I do, but 40 times a game? C'mon, Matt. What if he gets hurt? What's Plan B? Let's play off some effective BP runs by rolling out Chester and hitting talented guys like James Nixon, Evan Rodriguez, Steve Manieri, Joey Jones, Michael Campbell in that soft spot of both sidelines 15-20 yards down the field. Guess what? You make those throws and you might open up more stuff underneath for The Franchise. I bet you'll see him go 70 that much more when defenses don't know which shell the ball is under.
VAUGHN CHARLTON _ Yeah, you read that right, Vaughn Charlton. He's the captain of the team and the ultimate team player. What a superb job he did selling the fake FG and scoring the touchdown. Temple doesn't win that game without that play from Charlton. I love the fact that this kid took Chris Coyer under his wing in the early stages of summer ball and said, "He's just a tremendous quarterback. I'm looking forward to getting to know him." The two are roommates and, I assume, friends. If that's not leadership, I don't know what is.
THE FANS _ Although the crowd was 13,897, the fans were into it. The SEPTA strike killed the crowd from a couple of different levels. Our students rely on that mode to get to the games. Heck, a lot of our alumni do, too. Plus, the city was gridlocked for hours before the game. No one wanted to fight that traffic. (I did, and was stuck on I-95 for an hour.) Still, I got to the game with three hours to spare and made the pre-game tailgate. Once inside the stadium, thank God a talented young photographer, Ryan Porter (you've seen his work on this site), took the night off and ended up seated next to me. When I started a "Let's Go TEM-PLE" cheer he joined in and that got our entire section going. When I yelled (more than once but less than 40 times) "GIVE THE BALL TO THE FRANCHISE!" a couple of guys, complete strangers, joined in and yelled that with me. Then they came down to our row and joined me and Ryan with some full-throtted cheering the rest of the game. Other fans in different sections picked up their game, too. That's my dream. To not only get 40,000 into Temple games on a regular basis but to get them active and involved.
That's the Promised Land I see on the other side of the mountain for Temple football.
I hope I get there with you.

No excuses for Owl Nation now

2009-11-03T23:17:00.043-05:00

Owl Nation .... Photo courtesy of Owlsports.com

MAC sack leader Adrian Robinson
Temple-Miami
Thursday, Nov. 5
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Line: Temple by 17 1/2
Records: Owls 6-2, Miami 1-8
Radio: WHAT-AM, 1340
TV: None

Now that the Phillies have lost to the Yankees, there is no excuse for Owl Nation.

Show up and represent for one of the hottest college football teams in the country, YOUR Temple Owls.

Could there have been anything worse for Temple football than for the Owls to be playing a live game against the seventh game of the World Series in a town crazed for one of the participants on a cold night when the buses and subways aren't running?

That would have been a Doomsday Scenario for Temple attendance on the same level of a loss to Villanova.

Well, if you don't have a car, it might be tough to get to the Linc but the university is offering free bus rides to all interested students.

So there is no excuse whatsoever for the 10,000 students who live on campus.

It's time for the 260,000 living Temple alumni to get with the (football) program as well, since most of us have cars and can take up to five other people with us.

The football team has done their part and they are working hard to do more for our great university. They have goals far beyond what they have already accomplished.

You can help them by showing up Thursday night and showing that you care.

There are few teams playing Football Bowl Subdivision ball who need fans, a following, a crowd more than Temple does but too often crap out of the Owls' control conspires against them.

Now that the Owls are winning and the Phillies have lost, both Temple's on-and-off-field luck is changing for good.

Gosh, I certainly hope so.

Consider past happenings that have helped ruin the attendance:
The Catch That Was (but ruled wasn't) _ Bruce Francis caught a ball two years ago at UConn that would have boosted 2007 attendance immeasurably. Yet a Big East (yes, Big East) replay official ruled a catch wasn't a catch.
The Philadelphia Hurricane _ Hurricanes never hit Philadelphia, right? Wrong. The UConn rematch of 2008 was much ballyhooed and promoted with billboards. A crowd of close to 30,000 was expected but a legitimate Catergory One Hurricane (Hanna) rolled through Philadelphia just in time for a Saturday noon kickoff. On the nightly news 12 hours earlier, John Bolaris reported, "No, Temple won't be playing tomorrow. No way in this weather." Bolaris signed off before anyone could correct that boozo that football games are played in all kinds of weather. People turned off the TV and stayed away, many thinking there would not even be a game. The fact that 17,000 die-hards attended and cheered their butts off was remarkable.
The Hail Mary _ It's thrown hundreds of times and knocked down hundreds of times. One or two times every 40 or so years, somebody gets lucky. Buffalo got lucky. Temple attendance suffered the rest of the year.
The Navy fumble _ Everybody else takes a knee in the situation the Owls found themselves in last year in Annapolis. Temple decided to run a play instead, ala Miracle of the Meadowlands. So what happened? Miracle in Annapolis.
The Villanova Debacle _ I saw literally hundreds of people, guys I haven't seen in years, in the pre-game parking lot of this year's Sept. 3 game who told me how excited they were to be playing Villanova again. Almost to a man, all of them offered a caveat. "If we don't beat the crap out of this team, I won't be back," they said. "I mean it." I haven't seen a single one of them back since. That was an attendance-killer for the rest of the season, no matter what the Owls did after it. I was stunned at the depth of feeling going into the stadium and even more convinced that folks were serious about what they said when I walked out of the stadium that night. People felt that strongly about beating Villanova.
The Army Nor'easter _ Owls expected a huge crowd, about 25,000, for Homecoming against Army in October. Unfortunately, a Nor'easter picked Temple's Homecoming to ruin that day. Crowd would have been about 25K with nice weather. It turned out to be 14K and a lot of alumni just skipped Homecoming rather than deal with the wind, rain and cold.
Temple finally deserves to reap the rewards of being the biggest, most interesting, sports story in town.
Sorry to see the Phillies lose but the alternative would have been ugly for the Owls.
Now our fans can make it a beautiful night by doing nothing more strenuous than getting off their butts to get to the game and standing and cheering for three hours at the game.
It's not much to ask.

"Who's Paul Palmer?"

2009-10-31T23:31:00.016-04:00

The question was posed to a young Bernard Pierce in the locker room at Lincoln Financial Field a couple of weeks ago.

"Dude, do you realize you have a chance to break Paul Palmer's records?"
"Who's Paul Palmer?" Pierce said.
What some longtime Temple fans might see as blasphemy was really an innocent remark that illustrated, more than anything else, how young Bernard Pierce is.
The true freshman wasn't even born yet when the kid known as Boo-Boo was in a heated battle with Vinny Testaverde for the 1986 Heisman Trophy.

On Halloween, Bernard Pierce came dressed up as Paul Palmer.
Chances are, Pierce will get to know Boo-Boo well in the coming months and years as each record Palmer set falls.
Temple beats Villanova by AT LEAST 20 points with this sure-handed young superstar getting 20 or more carries, rather than the six he had in the opener.
You'd have to be Stevie Wonder not to see that.
Today, Pierce rushed for 267 yards and two spectacular touchdowns as the Owls overcame an anemic passing attack to beat Navy, 27-24, otherwise known as the best team on their schedule not named Penn State. He did a good impersonation of Paul Palmer on Halloween, becoming the first Owl runner since Boo-Boo to rush for over 200 yards in consecutive games.

Numbers don't lie
Bernard Pierce:
29 carries
267 yards
2 touchdowns
Vaughn Charlton:
5 for 17
37 yards
0 touchdowns
2 interceptions

The fact that the Owls could not throw the ball and hit open receivers (check the film, they were running open through the Navy secondary all day) only makes what Pierce did all that more impressive.
As the game went on, Navy's defense loaded up in the box to stop Pierce.
Didn't matter.
He was too quick, too strong, too fast.
The Owls' offensive line, which averages 310 pounds across the front, also deserves a lot of credit. They knocked Navy off the ball like bowling pins. There is a photo accompanying this story that shows Pierce running through a hole and the Temple line knocking Navy off the ball in the background.
There is still much work to be done for this Owls' team to reach its potential.
The passing game, which really has alternated between bad and worse (today was worse), needs to be fixed.
I've been saying that for eight weeks, but no one wants to fix it.
It's tempting to say leave well enough alone, but I won't join that crowd.
Why not make something real good better, if you can? Why not play off Pierce's runs by throwing touchdown passes to James Nixon, Michael Campbell, Steve Manieri and Evan Rodriguez?
Those guys are doing their jobs by getting open, just like Pierce does his job by punishing linebackers and running past safeties.
You've got to be able to get someone in there who can throw the ball effectively.
Some hard decisions about personnel are going to have to be made at that position.
To win the championship, the Owls need to make Pierce more of a weapon fixing the firing mechanism.
Who's Paul Palmer, yes, but another question could be:
Where's Matty Baker?

Mids give whole new meaning to term whistle-blower

2009-10-28T22:22:00.030-04:00

Mike Gerardi (14), the QB phenom of spring ball, cheers on Peanut Joseph during TD run.
By Mike Gibson
Nothing could be more fitting this year than Temple playing at Navy on Halloween.
Navy played a dirty trick on Temple and it could turn out to be an unexpected treat for the Owls come Saturday.
This year would have been the fourth year of a home-and-home contract with Temple.
Navy and Temple, both in good faith, signed a contract to honor two home and two away games.
Temple honored the final part of its road commitment with a trip to Navy last season.
Then the Owls threw a scare into Navy last season, leading, 27-7, in the fourth quarter before losing, 33-27, in overtime.
Navy's brass thought for a minute about the possibility of playing Temple in hostile Philadelphia in 2009, then placed a phone call to Temple.
"Err, you know that game we promised you? We're not coming."
Navy tore up the contract and would have paid Temple a $200,000 fee for breaking it, but that left the Owls in a bind. They had no team to replace Navy.
So Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw did the only thing he could do with an 18-inch battleship gun pointed squarely at his head:
Offer to play the game in Annapolis.
"Yeah, that's the ticket," Navy said.
Navy has a distinct advantage at home. The Middies have a fan who blows whistles when Navy ballcarriers are seemingly stopped, yet the fan never gets kicked out of the stadium and game officials feign deafness around him. He's the guy who blew a whistle three times while Temple defenders stopped a ballcarrier on fourth and goal, only to see the guy get off the ground and run into the end zone with the officials signaling touchdown and Temple coaches yelling, "what the fu*k?" The whistle caused Al Golden to run onto the field and scream to officials after the bogus score. Temple players stopped tackling the Navy guy for fear of being called for a penalty, only to see the Navy guy score after the whistle. He's the guy talked about in a response to this well-written post, page down to an answer by Navy72, on a Navy fan website. (He's a skinny guy with brown hair and a moustache, and last year parked his backside across the aisle from a group of Temple fans in the end zone. If you see him blow one whistle, please point him out to security this Saturday.)
Yet there is irony in this situation this year.

Getting the Owls out of here at this time can only help them do what they need to do, focus on the task at hand

The irony is that Navy might have done Temple an inadvertent favor.
I mean, did Navy know the World Series would be played in Philadelphia that day?
No.
The Phillies are playing that day in Philadelphia and the city is crazed right now.
Everything else in sports is an afterthought, even the Eagles.
All of the parking lots around both stadiums will be all Phillies red all day long.
Getting the Owls out of here at this time can only help them do what they need to do, focus on the task at hand. This is an important game between two teams who have won five straight games. The winner, especially if it's Temple, will get sorely needed recognition on a national scale.
It's was a dirty trick Navy played, no doubt.
If the Owls get a win, though, it will be a delicious treat.

The Best Thing on TV: Bernie's MAC Show

2009-10-24T22:44:00.020-04:00

"Give the ball to The Franchise, that's what I've been telling coach all along," Steve Manieri seems to be saying to Bernard Pierce.

Photo by Ryan Porter, Porterhouse Productions

By Mike Gibson

Mark Beier and the Toledo radio broadcast team threw some many bouquets in Temple's direction Saturday night, you didn't know which ones to catch and which ones to send to the niece's wedding.
Beier talked about the size and the fierceness of Temple's offensive line and the overall speed of the Temple defense.
Something Beier said in the fourth quarter of Temple's 40-24 win at Toledo really caught my ear, though.
"I haven't seen a running back of this caliber in the Mid-American Conference in a long, long time," said Beier, whose radio call also streams worldwide on a MAC access channel with video.
Color man Tom Duncan agreed.
Beier was, of course, talking about Temple freshman Bernard Pierce, whose amazing recovery from being carried off in a stretcher last week in the Army game is nothing more than Lourdes-like.

BP's numbers:
40 carries=game
212 yards=game
3 touchdowns=game
766 yards=season
9 TDs=season

Pierce rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns and now has 766 yards on 135 carries, despite getting only six carries against Villanova. Pierce now has a team-high nine touchdowns and already has bettered Paul Palmer's records for touchdowns (6) and yards (628) by a freshman.
Oh.
Did we mention Palmer finished as a runnerup to Vinny Testaverde for the 1986 Heisman?
Thought I'd mention that.
Temple has now won five straight games for the first time since 1979. The Owls (5-2, 4-0) are also in the MAC East driver's seat, affirming predictions by both the New York Times and CBS Sportsline prior to the season.
Meanwhile, the Toledo game was a tale of two stars with bum shoulders.
One could play. One didn't.
"It's doubtful," Temple coach Al Golden said when asked if Pierce would play Wednesday.
Five minutes later, in the same presser, Golden said: "I don't have any doubt, Aaron Opelt will be playing quarterback on Saturday night for Toledo."
Well, guess what happened?
Pierce's broken shoulder was fixed and Golden's doubt-meter was broken.
Or maybe Al was just playing possum.
Whatever, I don't think Toledo wins that game with Opelt AND Pierce playing.
Then again, I don't think Temple wins that game without Pierce.
That's how good Pierce was.
When you have a running back like Pierce, you can manage the game off him and that's what Temple quarterback Vaughn Charlton did so well on Saturday night.
Vaughn threw a nice touchdown pass that Michael Campbell caught, another ball that Michael Campbell probably should have caught for six (it would have been a really good catch, though) and another flair that went for another touchdown to Jason Harper, who only makes positive things happen every time his number is called.
Pierce went out for a blow late in the fourth quarter and they handed the ball to Lamar McPherson, who promptly went down on the same kind of play Pierce was falling forward for eight yards a pop.
"You can see the difference between Pierce and everybody else," Beier said.
Whatever they rubbed on his shoulders this week, must've worked.
I wonder if they got the bottle overnighted from France.
Whatever, it was the Elixer the Owls needed and one they will have to keep in the medicine shelf the rest of the way.

Toledo: Heart tells me win; gut tells me, err, win

2009-10-23T11:20:00.020-04:00

The best pass defense is putting Opelt on his ass all night long.
By Mike Gibson
I got one of those campus-wides alerts from Temple University security the other day.
It warned students "not to get too rowdy" in their celebrations after big wins.
For a second, maybe even a minute, I thought they were talking about the Temple University football team's four-game winning streak and some anticipated poll-climbing by exhuberant students after win No. 5.
Then I thought about the Phillies.

Temple vs. Toledo
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: The Glass Bowl
Records: Temple 4-2, Toledo 4-3
Line: Toledo favored by 2 1/2
TV: MAC All-Access
Radio: WPHT-AM, 1210

Oh, never mind, I thought.
We've got a long way to go. I'd love to see Temple students identify with their fellow Temple students (playing for them, by the way) than with a group of 25 professionals playing for an entire region.
Maybe that's just me.
But it will take more than a four-game winning streak, or even a fiver, for that to happen.
The worse part is that I don't see a five-game winning streak in this team.
I've got this nasty feeling in my gut and have had it for a few days.
The streak ends at No. 4, I fear.
It's part gut (I've been taking Pepto-Bismol for it, but to no avail) and part based on these realities as I see them:

Despite having great receivers all over the place, we've not been able to develop a passing game anyone fears or has reason to fear for six games;
We went 0 for 9 on third downs in the final three quarters against an EMU team that got torched for 56 the next week. Not good. Not good at all.
We have tight ends lining up in the backfield, when they should be where Pop Warner designed them to be _ on the line of scrimmage;
We have no fullback, either to serve as a lead blocker for the tailback or to protect our quarterback on blindside blitzes. We need a fullback and that's painfully obvious.
We face a quarterback, Aaron Opelt, whose specialty is picking secondaries apart if he has time.
We have not shown the gonads to pressure the quarterback on every down. We play a more bend-but-don't-break defense that plays into the hands of quarterbacks who have time to throw. The best pass defense is putting the QB on his backside. You can't see open receivers if you are running for your life.
The best running back we've had since Paul Palmer is hurt. He may be cleared to play, but he's still hurt.

This could be a 35-20 Toledo win, unless Temple fixes a non-existent passing game or blitzes from the opening toss.
That's what my gut tells me.
Of course, my hope is that Vaughn Charlton throws for 350, four touchdowns, no picks and that Bernard Pierce plays and picks up his usual buck twenty-five.
My gut has been wrong before, as recently as a couple of days ago.
Jimmy Rollins came to the plate.
"Game's over," I told a crowded newsroom, mostly due to my gut but thinking a little reverse Black Cat. "I've never seen this guy come up with a real big clutch hit in the playoffs."
Next pitch, gapper.
Let's hope the Owls prove my gut wrong again.
Now excuse me while I take two more Pepto-Bismols.

We've waited 24 years for a 4-game win streak

2009-10-18T00:18:00.018-04:00

Nice job on that sack, Big Mo (Muhammad Wilkerson).

By Mike Gibson
The year was 1985.
The top-rated television program was "The Cosby Show."
A gallon of gas was 69 cents.
The No. 1 song in the country on Oct. 17 was by a group from Norway, Ah-a, "Take on Me."
That day, the Temple University football team was coming off its fourth win in a row, a 45-16 thumping of William and Mary. That was after wins on the road against East Carolina (21-7) and Cincinnati (28-16) and a 14-13 win at home against Rutgers.
Temple has not won four straight.
Until now.
I was struck by something Al Golden said before all this winning stuff started happening four weeks ago.
"Once we start winning, it's going to continue for a long time," Golden said. "That's the way this thing is built."
It was a telling quote and an unforgettable one.
Four straight wins have now followed and this latest one probably is the most impressive from where I stand.
I'm getting used to this winning, but it doesn't mean I'm taking it for granted.
I saw a couple of people leaving on Saturday and I mentioned to my friend, "I'm not leaving early. I want to go over and sing the fight song with the team. I want to savor every last drop of this."

"Once we start winning, it's going to continue for a long time. That's the way this thing is built."

He understood where I was coming from.
I tasted the sewer water of losing for too long. Now I want to taste the sweet nectar of winning.
If Golden is right, and I have no reason to doubt him, I'm going to be hanging around for a lot of fight songs and I can't think of anything better.
Saturday Temple beat an Army team that beat an SEC team, Vanderbilt, last week.
Army is very well-coached by Rich Ellerson (although you couldn't tell it at times on Saturday) and the Cadets are going to beat a lot of teams.
In fact, I would not be surprised if the Cadets don't beat Rutgers at beautiful Michie Stadium on Friday night because they play a style of defense that all teams should play.
Blitz, blitz and more blitz.
They put eight in the box and they come after the quarterback, hoping the reward (turnovers) outweighs any risk.
I can't see Rutgers' quarterback Tom Savage, a true freshman, thriving against that defense at all.
I like the philosophy and the scheme.
I also like the fact that these wonderful kids who play football for Temple University perserved against it.
Was it a masterpiece?
No.

Post of The Week
Occassionally, we will see a post that blows us over with its logic and perception and we'll use it here. I found this one under a "Matt Rhule" thread on Owlscoop.com and I'm using it in its entirety.
First off, absolutely thrilled we won again. I have never seen 4 straight wins as a Temple fan, at least any that I can remember.
That said, Im going to temper my complaints and hope the future doesn't place so much pressure on our defense. I do not understand our offensive philosophy, if we even have one. I havent identified it other than we are absolutely terrific on short yardage. How many times have we seen Temple stalled on 4th and one/goal in our lifetimes. Not this year.

But what is up with the passing attack? There are simply too many athletes on this team to have such an anemic aerial attack. Particularly our 2nd half offense. Army thought so much of it they went for it on 4th and inches from their 25w 9 mins left? Wow, insanity imo.

I went back and looked at the drive chart. Temple didnt complete a single pass on 1st down yesterday. Why cant we incorporate more simple passes like slip screens and outs? Once again, we threw two deep balls, one was caught for a touchdown and one was missed for a wide open touchdown. Maybe a couple sacks were intended to be deep balls?

I also noticed there were at least two occassions when James Nixon was in single coverage and Army called a timeout. Teams fear that guy but guess how many balls he caught yesterday? Im also happy to see our RS'd highly touted WR recruit Vaughn Carraway makes such an excellent decoy. Maybe Rhule has a thing about two guys with the same name handling the ball. I'd sure hate to see this wonderful season derailed...

Go Owls
MH55

The Owls have to get better on offense. They have to get better protection for Vaughn Charlton. They have to have somebody (whether it be Joey Jones, Lamar McPherson, Kee-ayre Griffin or even Ahkeem Smith) step up and do a reasonable impersonation of Bernard Pierce for a game or two.
They have to get a clutch player like Jason Harper more involved and team leaders like him and Steve Manieri are going to have to keep making great plays like they did on Saturday. (Man, I was sooooooo happy to see Jason Harper reach the end zone for the first of what I hope is many times this season.)
Still, they can't be leaving plays on the field like they have been during this four-game winning streak.
They get so few opportunities to make plays, they've got to cash in when they have them. They can't be dropping long bombs from Chester Stewart or Vaughn Charlton anymore.
The Owls are coming up against a stretch of teams with quarterbacks, like Aaron Opelt of Toledo, who can make plays and put up a whole lot of points.
They are going to get into a track meet (think EMU last year) with one of these teams and the offense must be ready to win a game or two, like the defense has won these last four.
Nobody knows that more than Al Golden and company so while you and I can just hope the offense comes around, that'll be the focus this week. Tinkering with these great weapons, putting the gunpowder in and fiddling with the trigger.
It's a process, Golden likes to say, and it's all about getting better every day and having fun, too.
Like Wayne Hardin used to say, the only way to have fun in football is to win.
I'm having fun right now. It looked like the kids on the field were having fun, too.
I don't know where this road leads, but let's concentrate on both enjoying the journey and getting better every step of the way.
The quality of the journey is directly correlated to the getting better.

The word for Saturday: DEE-FENSE!

2009-10-15T13:35:00.023-04:00

It's Homecoming, so weather be damned, show up and cheer.

Good for football, bad for tailgating.

By Mike Gibson
You can use a couple of words to describe Saturday.
Homecoming is one of them.
Luck is another one, as in bad luck because the Owls drew the short straw from the weatherman for their Homecoming Day game.
Rain and cold come to mind.
So does mud, if it rains enough.
So does the under, as in over/under, which is 39.
So while all of those words are descriptive ones, defense is the operative word on Saturday.

My 5 plays against an 8-man front guaranteed to move the ball:
1. Bernard Pierce left, right and up the middle _ Not on every down, mind you. If it's not working on first down, pass on second. Don't put yourself and 3d and longs.
2. The Chester Stewart Throwback Pass _ When Chester Stewart comes into the game, use his specialized talent to throw the ball deep to James Nixon, suckering that 8-man front up to him and leaving Nixon 40 yards open behind the defense.
3. Five, not one, cracks at Nixon _ All on play-action, all after significant gains by Bernard Pierce. That's when you sell play-action, not on 3d and longs. Throwing the deep ball only once a game to Nixon is borderline criminal. He's good for at least two touchdowns a game if you throw him 3 to 5 deep balls.
4. The jump pass to the tight end _ It works near the goal line, ala Chester Stewart to Steve Manieri last season at Miami. Fake to Pierce, jump pass to an open Manieri or an open Evan Rodriguez.
5. Screen passes to third-down back Kee-Ayre Griffin _ Give KAG some room to roam against the Army secondary and loosen up that eight-man front from time to time.

Defense, as in DEE-FENSE.
Both Army and Temple have good defenses and the one that dominates on Saturday will win the game.
Whatever advantage the Owls have with speed on the edges (James Nixon and Jason Harper in the passing game and Bernard Pierce in the running game) figures to be negated by the cold, windy and muddy conditions.
The latest forecast is for a high of 47 degrees with wind and light rain.
If the rain is light enough, then maybe the field conditions will be acceptable.
Maybe Bernard Pierce will finally be able to break that long run and show that world class speed of his in the 100-meter dash.
Whatever, I don't see the two teams combining for 39 points and I don't see anything outside of a 13-6, 14-7, 17-7 game.
I hope I'm wrong and the Owls break out and Vaughn Charlton finally hits more than his seemingly self-imposed quota of connecting on only one long bomb a game.
I hope the Owls win 44-11, but I don't see it.
This is one of those strap-it-in-games, with a high emphasis on ball security and good execution on things like punt protection that come as second nature to 99 percent of the Division I teams out there.
One external thing that would help the Owls is a whole bunch of their fans participating and yelling DEE-FENSE, DEE-FENSE, for a full three hours in real time.
That's the catchword for Saturday.
If you are a Temple fan and you sit on your hands and stay silent, you give away the homefield advantage and that might be the difference in the game. At the end of the year, if the Owls are at six wins and lose this game, this will be the difference between a bowl or no bowl so let's do all we can to win this one.
That means players, coaches AND fans.
Don't be afraid to get up and yell DEE-FENSE all day.
Unless Bernard Pierce and or Vaughn Charlton have the ball, of course.

Temple's offense runs on BP (Bernard Pierce)

2009-10-13T23:54:00.016-04:00

Dickerson's high school film (above) and Pierce's high school film (below).

Pierce is a guy who was Pennsylvania state high school indoor champion in the 60-meter dash and then pulled the impressive double of of winning the state 100-meter dash ... that translates to one juke and plenty of 40-, 50- and 70-yard touchdown runs coming soon to a stadium near you

By Mike Gibson
As if Temple's football team didn't present the Mid-American Conference with enough problems early in the season, the league has looked up and found another unforseen one coming from Philadelphia.
Bernard Pierce, a 6-foot, 212-pound true freshman, has done something no other running back in the history of Temple football has done _ rush for over 100 yards in each of his first three full starts.
Before you dismiss that as a byproduct of history, that includes a Heisman Trophy runner-up in Paul Palmer, who was also an NFL first-round draft choice.
It includes a guy like Todd McNair, a pretty good running back in the NFL who is now an assistant coach at Southern Cal.
It includes a guy named Sherman Myers, from Coatesville, who scored four touchdowns on on the ground in a 1979 Temple 49-17 rout of Syracuse.
It also includes recent NFLers like Stacey Mack and Jason McKie.
There are plenty of good running backs who have played at the school.
None did what Bernard Pierce has done.
But then again none may be as good when all is said and done.
Pierce is a guy who was Pennsylvania state high school indoor champion in the 60-meter dash and then pulled the impressive double of of winning the state 100-meter dash in the spring season.That's scary enough against track guys.
Against football guys, it translates to one juke and plenty of 40-, 50- and 70-yard touchdown runs coming soon to a stadium near you.
"We thought he could be special," is the way Temple coach Al Golden describes it.
The Temple student rooting section, which sometimes numbers in the 10s of thousands, has taken to Pierce already.
"SAINT BERN-ARD," the students chant in unison.
So the inevitable question arises.
"Who does he remind you of?"
Not really any of the Temple backs, I thought.
Well, he really doesn't remind me all that much of Paul Palmer. Paul could break tackles, sure, but not as well as Bernard. What Bernard doesn't do as well as Paul is to make tacklers miss, with a little juke here and a jibe thbere, but it's still early.
Hmm. Who?
People who watched Temple practice in the summer came up with one name.
Eric Dickerson.
It's what I thought when I saw Pierce for the first time in the Villanova game.
Dickerson was the kind of guy who would approach the hole, take about a half-second to mull his options against the defense, then attack the weakest part of it.
So, I thought, that pretty much was Pierce, a modern-day Eric Dickerson.
I thought me and the other Temple fans were the only ones who thought that until I heard the Buffalo announcers.
"He kind of reminds you of Eric Dickerson," one of them said during the Owls' 37-13 win three weeks ago.
Then the Eastern Michigan announcer said the same thing.
"He runs like Eric Dickerson," he said.
That's all I needed to know.
We're all in agreement then.
There is a new Eric Dickerson and he runs the football for Temple University.
That has a nice ring (and a lot of truth) to it.

Cosby beats Letterman, but punt protection team is the only joke

2009-10-10T23:58:00.025-04:00

Owl fans sport wide smiles watching Bernard Pierce run.
Photos by Ryan Porter

"If that’s not the best defense, especially physically, we’ve played since I’ve been at Ball State, it’s right up there." _ Ball State head coach Stan Parrish

By Mike Gibson
Gotta give Stan Parrish some love.
He's not getting much in Muncie, Ind., these days, there's even a firestanparrish.com website.
Gotta give him some love for this quote today, though.
"If that's not the best defense, especially physically, we've played since I've been at Ball State, it's right up there," Parrish, the Ball State head coach said of Temple.
Temple beat Ball State on Saturday. A cynic would headline it: Cosby beats Letterman in Sexual Harassment Bowl on Breast Cancer Awareness Day.
I prefer to see it, though, as a flawed win for the Owls, a siren call for a tweek here and a tweek there to get this engine raady for the MAC race stretch run.
Even the Owls themselves hinted as much in their post-game remarks.
Consider these words by Owl linebacker Peanut Joseph.
"We have some goals, but we're nowhere close to them," the Owls' linebacker said after a 24-19 win over Ball State.
Nowhere but one small step. There are seven, maybe eight, more steps just like these.
Joseph is right.
Let's face it. The defense won this game. They deserve 11 game balls.
Then there's the flip side.
If the Owls keep playing like this on offense and special teams, they will be nowhere near close to getting those goals.
The good thing is that the problems are fixable.

Al Golden's To Do List:
1. Fix punt protection _ Tighten this up. It looks like the Owls don't even practice this stuff. Change the snapper, if necessary.
2. Fix the passing game _ Way too many plays are left on the field. Going to James Nixon only once a game is borderline criminal. Work Mike Gerardi or Chris Coyer in there one series per quarter, just to give them some experience in case Vaughn goes down and to change things up on offense. Don't worry about Coyer's redshirt. It's all hands on deck for this MAC championship. Whoever moves the team best, stays on the field.
3. Leave Mark D'Onofrio alone _ Coach D'Onofrio is certainly doing his job, which is to keep points off the board. The same cannot be said for special teams coach Al Golden or offensive coordinator Matt Rhule. Al should just say, "Hey, Mark, keep doing what you're doing, big guy. Nice blitz on that interception, by the way."

Temple hasn't shown in the past that it has trouble snapping or protecting.
Special teams coach Al Golden is going to have to put in a whole new scheme of punt protection, and maybe even a new snapper, in the next few days before the Army game.
Ball State evidently saw something in Temple's protection that dictated the Cardinals go after every punt.
That entire scheme must change because the Army coaches will see it, too.
One way to change it is not to have to punt at all.
Temple has to develop a viable passing game to complement Bernard "The Franchise" Pierce.
Pierce became the first freshman in Owl history to rush for over 100 yards in three straight games, getting a buck 25 and two touchdowns.
If the Owls can develop a passing game opponents respect, and it might include changing the passer or the receivers or both, look for Pierce to turn a few of those twisting and turning 8-, 9- and 10-yard runs into 70-yard touchdowns. This is a team with too many weapons to be scoring in the low 20s every game. Temple coaches must view the film and determine what the problem is and correct it. If it requires a change in scheme or a change in personnel, so be it. This is big-time college football and they should not be afraid to hurt anyone's feelings.
Winning ugly is still winning, but Saturday is Homecoming and a good Army team is coming to town before an expected Temple crowd of 25,000 plus.
Winning "beautiful" is the next goal and that means for all three phases to show up, not just the defense.
That would be the next step and it must be forward, not backward.

Time for Owls to blow that scoreboard up

2009-10-07T00:17:00.024-04:00

Vaughn Charlton has more weapons than an F-15 fighter pilot.

Troubling stats
Last 3 quarters against EMU: 0 for 9 on third downs, 2 for 6 passing, 3 yards

By Mike Gibson
It's got be good to be Temple quarterback Vaughn Charlton now.

He's got more weapons than an F-15 fighter pilot and the plane hasn't even gotten out of the hanger yet.

That's what they've been working on all week in the command center of Temple football, otherwise known as the Edberg-Olson Practice Complex, shining that Stealth jet and moving it out of the hanger for the final eight games of the season.

At least that's the drift I got when I checked Al Golden's Twitter page earlier this week.

Matt Shepard on EMU radio/TV:

Shepard: "It's going to be a pleasure watching this young man, Bernard Pierce, develop the next four years."
Color guy Rob Rubick: "More like a pain."
Rubick in the final moments of a 21-3 first quarter:
"You know, Eastern did score 17 against Michigan, so they can put points on the board."
Shepard: "Then again, right now, it looks as if Temple can beat Michigan."

"Today was a learning day for the team," Golden tweeted. "We must get better at what we do."
We've got too many guys who have the talent to put the ball in the end zone to be sputtering along like we are.
Our passing efficiency is not close to where it needs to be and Charlton would be the first to say that. The truth here is that Vaughn Charlton has had four games to show his stuff and, while he has shown flashes of greatness, flashes are not enough. Particularly troubling stats were these in the final three quarters: 0 for 9 on third downs, 2 for 3 passing, 3 yards. That comes off a game where he went 6 for 17 for 95 yards. You can't keep throwing the same guy out there after nine straight failed third-down conversions and expect a different result.
Charlton has got a lot of rope so far. There are two lefty all-state quarterbacks, Mike Gerardi (New Jersey) and Chris Coyer (Virginia) waiting in the wings and chomping at the bit to to fly this jet. These guys were high-achievers in high school, guys who have moved the ball and put touchdowns, not field goals, on the scoreboard all of their lives.
Saturday would be a perfect opportunity for Charlton to break out, for both his sake and the Owls.
So far this season, the inescapable thought was that Temple has too much talent on offense to be sputtering like this. Let's face it. Eastern Michigan is not Penn State, so zero for nine in third downs is unacceptable to me.
It should be unacceptable to Al Golden and Matt Rhule, too.
Temple has really too much talent to be shut down by Eastern Michigan after taking a 21-3 lead essentially after one quarter.
Temple has too much talent to go 6 for 17 for only 95 yards in the passing game against Buffalo.
The offensive scheme, to me, is all out of whack.

Long-term, I'd like to see a real fullback in there to not only get the fourth-and-ones but to help in pass protection and blitz pickup and someone for Bernard Pierce and others to follow through the hole

Long-term, I'd like to see a real fullback (think a bulked-up Blaze Copanegro) in there to not only get the fourth-and-ones but to help in pass protection and blitz pickup and someone for Bernard Pierce and others to follow through the hole. Think what Shelley Poole did for Paul Palmer, for instance.
Short-term, I'd like to see them axe the tight end in the backfield and put the tight end where he needs to be _ on the line of scrimmage. Two tight ends with Steve Manieri and Evan Rodriguez out there on running plays and two guys the defense needs to cover.
Here's what can be done now to turn this offense from a 20-point-a-game producer to a 30-plus ppg machine:
BERNARD PIERCE _ Keep feeding the franchise the ball, but not on obvious running downs. Mix it up a little bit. Run him on second-and-longs sometimes, pass on first down other times.
JAMES NIXON _ The guy regularly gets behind defenses. Don't throw him the play-action bomb once a game. Throw him the bomb AT LEAST five times a game. Nothing will loosen up the middle for Bernard Pierce runs more than the threat of throwing the play-action bomb to James Nixon.
EVAN RODRIGUEZ _ Why, in God's name, doesn't this guy get the ball 5-10 times a game 10-15 yards down the field where he can use his athletic ability for some impressive RAC (run after catch) yardage? How many tight ends in Division I ball today were terrific punt returners for his high school team? I know only of Evan Rodriguez. I love to see him with the ball in the open field and not these 5-yard out patterns they throw him.
JASON HARPER _ What a Warrior (with a capital W) this kid has been for our program. ... use him. He was a running back good enough to get over 100 yards against bowl bound UConn two years ago and he would cause defenses major headaches in the short passing game, bubble screens and the like. Try those plays with him. Give him a head of steam. He's still one of the fastest guys on the team. Harper can also go deep as he proved last year against Kent State and Eastern Michigan.
I'm sure Golden meant get better in all phases and so do I.
I'm sure Golden didn't like one guy calling for a fair catch when the other guy had a lane to run last week on a punt return.
I'm sure Golden didn't like one guy stepping in front of James Nixon on a kickoff return, one return after Nixon took one 93 to the house.
I'm sure Golden is not entralled with our pass rush or pass coverage, either.
We must get better in all those phases.
Offense, though, is one area where they know they have the athletes who should be turning scoreboards into adding machines soon.
Heck, they've got enough weapons to blow that scoreboard up if they use them the right way.
It's not too late.

Turnovers: You can either bemoan them or create them

2009-10-06T00:34:00.011-04:00

Temple's crowd is going to have to be loud, proud and pink.
Photo by Ryan Porter

There's a reason why football is the greatest game ever devised.
It's simple.
After years of watching the game closely, I've narrowed the keys to winning down to this:
1) Put the other guy's quarterback on his butt;
2) Keep your QB's jersey clean.
There you have it.

The Owls can correct that Saturday by pressuring Whitney's clone, Kelly Page, into turnovers. They can't do anything about Whitney now, but they can commit to putting a defensive game plan together this week designed to put Page on his backside.
The formula by which to do that is simple: If you can't get to him with five rushers, send six. If you can't get to him with six, send seven. If you can't get to him with seven, send eight.

Do both of those things and I guarantee a win every time.
Some might say win the turnover battle but, in my mind, doing Nos. 1 and 2 inevitably takes care of that more important statistic.
Do you hope for turnovers or do you go after them?
That's what brings me to Saturday's Mid-American Conference football game in Philadelphia (1 p.m.) between Ball State (0-5) and Temple (2-2).
Temple can learn a lot about Ball State quarterback Kelly Page by remembering Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney.
Like Whitney, who was a first-team all-state QB in Pennsylvania, Page was a highly-touted high school player.

Page was even more highly thought of than Whitney, a first-team all-state in Texas and ranked the No. 12 high school quarterback in the nation by ESPN.com and No. 25 in the nation by Rivals.com while playing quarterback for the storied Mesquite program.
What Temple did not do against Whitney was put him on his butt. If Chris Whitney is not on his backside every time he goes back to pass next year in the Mayor's Cup game, someone (Al Golden or Mark D'Onofrio) is not doing his job. Temple did not blitz Whitney and lost, 27-24, when the 'Cats QB dinked and dunked his way down the field against a prevent defense for the game-winning field goal.

What Temple did not do against Whitney was put him on his butt. If Chris Whitney is not on his backside every time he goes back to pass next year in the Mayor's Cup game, someone (Al Golden or Mark D'Onofrio) is not doing his job

It was a glaring error that cost the Owls a game they needed to have.
The Owls can correct that Saturday by pressuring Whitney's clone, Kelly Page, into turnovers. They can't do anything about Whitney now, but they can commit to putting a defensive game plan together this week designed to put Page on his backside.
The formula by which to do that is simple: If you can't get to him with five rushers, send six. If you can't get to him with six, send seven. If you can't get to him with seven, send eight.
Leave free safety Dominique Harris back there with Kevin Kroboth and Anthony Ferla to prevent against the deep stuff.
Chances are, though, if you send eight, Page will be on his backside.
Or better yet, blindly puts up a pass that gets intercepted.
You can either bemoan turnovers or create them.
Against Villanova's capable quarterback, the Owls bemoaned them.
Against Ball State's capable quarterback, the Owls should do whatever it takes to create them.

Temple 24, Eastern Michigan 12: I'll take it

2009-10-03T23:35:00.014-04:00

A crowd about this size watched at EMU Saturday.

I never want to hear anything about Temple's attendance again. Compared to Eastern Michigan and Kent State and some of these MAC teams, Temple is like the Red Sox in attracting fans.

By Mike Gibson
I entered this season not knowing if I'm more of a perfectionist or a bottom-line guy.
After Villanova, I decided I was a bottom-line guy.
I didn't care how we got it done, just get it done.
Get 'er done.
Win.
The perfectionist in me didn't like today's 24-12 win over Eastern Michigan.
When we had a first down on the other guy's 3 with a 24-6 lead, and you have a back who gained 180 yards and you abandon the run for a silly pass, that's just bad decision-making.
You run your horse behind your big offensive line a couple of times.
Chances are the guy's going to score.
Clint Eastwood the m-fers.
Step on the freaking guy's throat and say, "I've got four chances to blow your brains out with Bernard Pierce. Do you feel lucky? Well, do you?"
I'm about thisclose to pulling the red shirt off of Chris Coyer.
Thisclose.
We are getting no plays out of the quarterback position or at least not enough to win the amount of games we need to win.
I see true freshmen making plays all over the place at quarterback every Saturday. If we've got a playmaker on the bench, use him. We need more out of Vaughn. I'm going to chalk Saturday up to that 20 mph wind. At least I hope that's what the problem was, but we were 6 for 17 out of that position a week ago, too, with no wind.
Now get out of here, perfectionist.
WE WON!!!!!!
Since I blamed Al Golden for the Villanova loss (and I still do), I will be fair here.
AL GOLDEN WON, TOO!!!!
Good job, Al.
I'll take it.
The hardest thing to do is win in big-time college football.
I don't care if you are playing in The Big House in front of 106,000 people against Michigan or in front of 3,364 in The Little House in Ypsilanti.
That's right. Three-thousand, three hundred and sixty four.
That's the announced crowd.

Step on the freaking guy's throat and say, "I've got four chances to blow your brains out with Bernard Pierce. Do you feel lucky? Well, do you?"

Eastern Michigan couldn't fake it because the NCAA would be able to review the film and count them in about 10 minutes.
I never want to hear anything about Temple's attendance again.
Compared to Eastern Michigan and Kent State and some of these MAC teams, Temple is like the Red Sox in attracting fans.
Temple is in the upper echelon of attendance and will remain so if the system (i.e., consistent winning) remains in place.
I'd like to see all of our Prodigal Son fans return for the Ball State game this Saturday and the Army game in two weeks.
I know it won't happen, though, because the loss to Nova ruined our season from an attendance perspective. I don't agree with the fans who were so disgusted they told me they won't be back the rest of this year, but I can see that they didn't appreciate that Golden left them open for some needless ball-busting from total assholes for 12 months so I understand their position.
Still, this team deserves your and my support and it will need a significant home field advantage to beat Ball State and Army.
Ticket sales for the Army game among TEMPLE fans are brisk and Temple should draw at least 25,000 for that game.
Let's make it a fun house for us and a house of horrors for them.
That's the bottom line right there and since I've now become a fully committed bottom-line guy, that's really all that matters.

Wear Pink to the Next Home Game:

Watch the Temple-EMU game for free here

2009-10-03T01:03:00.010-04:00

A TEMPLE FOOTBALL PRAYER: Please, God, don't make me have to listen to these two guys, who'll be doing the game on WHAT-AM, 1340. (You are OK, Steve, it's Harry who drives me nuts.) And while you are at it, God, how about a 38-10 or 38-3 Owl win? Thanks, God. I'll cut you in for 10 percent of the $200 million, if I win tonight. You know I'm good for it. Amen.

I'm always wary of sites offering something for free, but here's one that caught my eye:
Watch the Temple vs. Eastern Michigan game here for free.
There's really no way to check this out, other than trying it at 1 p.m.
I figure, geez, what have I got to lose?
If the link doesn't work, I can follow plan a) The Eastern Michigan website ($5.95) or plan b) the MAC website.
Hey, if I was independently wealthy, I'd be there with the other 5,000 or so fans expected to be in attendance.

My Herman The German Picks
I have this guy in the neighborhood who hands out white betting slips every week. You must pick at least three games. The more games you pick the better your chances are of winning.
I call him "Herman The German" for no other reason than his name is Herman and he's German.
Or at least of German heritage.
Anyway, Herman offers me these things and I say, "Come back in Oct., when I know something about college football."
So Herman's back and now that some games are played, I know enough to make an educated guess.
So here are my "Herman the German" picks this week, HOME teams are in caps:
South Florida at SYRACUSE _ South Florida is the 6 1/2-point favorite and they'll cover despite being in the dome. South Florida, 28-14.
PURDUE vs. Northwestern _ Purdue is a 7-point favorite and Northwestern went down to the final play with Eastern Michigan. EMU lost to Army by double digits at home. Purdue, 31-17.
MINNESOTA vs. Wisconsin _ Even though Minnesota is at home and a 2 1/2-point favorite, Badgers are significantly better and should cover. Wisconsin, 27-20.
Toledo at BALL ST. _ Toledo hammered Colorado pretty good. Rockets should hammer Ball State, 28-10, and cover the 4 1/2-point spread.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS vs. Western Michigan _ Tim Hiller is a pretty good QB who should keep WMU within the 6 1/2-point spread. A late Garrett Barnas interception seals the deal for Huskies, 18-15. "I could have been the starting QB at Temple," Barnas tells reporters afterward. "But coach Golden is a pretty stubborn guy. At least I'm at a place where I'm appreciated."

But I have to work and the $200 million lottery doesn't happen until about seven hours after the game is over.
So I can't count on winning that.
Yet.
Gotta work, so I'm going to lug this old laptop to the nearest Panera Bread for my free wi-fi and hope to get my free Owls.
Just in case, I'll bring the credit card, too.
And, yeah, I'll stick a transitor radio in my bag as well just in case plans a, b and c don't work.
If I have to listen to Harry and Steve, I might as well bring Bambo shoots, Chinese Water torture equipment and some pliers to pull my own teeth.
All of those things are less painful than listening to an Owl game on the radio.

Week 5 MAC Bloggers Roundable

2009-10-01T16:12:00.006-04:00

By Mike Gibson
Every week I participate in the MAC bloggers' roundtable.
I always get the questions on Monday and submit my responses five minutes after opening my email, not because I'm all that anxious to answer the questions but because I know I'll forget otherwise.
This week, it was my honor (err, honor and duty) to ask the questions and I wanted to get the pulse of my fellow MAC members about the Temple Question which will come up before the MAC presidents, maybe by the end of the season.
I didn't answer any questions because it should be a violation for anyone to answer his own questions, but I did participate in the poll (I had Temple fourth, behind CMU, NIU and UT) and I won't divulge anyone else's votes but one member had Temple ranked two spots ahead of me.

My reasoning for not putting Temple higher is simple and reasonable: Give me a Temple win as impressive as NIU's over Purdue, CMu's over Michigan State and Toledo's over Colorado. Until the Owls can close the deal on Penn State or even Villanova, they don't deserve to be ranked among the elite.
At least not now.

So wthout further adieu, or even Freddy Adu, here are the questions and responses (more copying and pasting than should be asked of any human being, by the way):

1) What was the biggest surprise in your mind from Week 4? Was it Hofstra hanging at WMU or Boise State's domination of BGSU or Temple's win over Buffalo?

Let's Go Rockets: Hofstra keeping it competitive at WMU was a bigger surprise in week 4. It was a foregone conclusion that Boise would bring it to BGSU, and while at the beginning of the season we thought Buffalo would be strong, it's obvious in the first few weeks that they're just missing something (Sparks) so Temple's win isn't that surprising. The biggest surprise will be if Temple can keep the momentum throughout the remainder of the season.

Fire Up Chips: I was surprised how poised Ohio was in it's game against Tennessee. I don't know what was giving Frank such a steady hand in his playcalling as 90, 000 fans were bearing down on the Bobcats, but I think it's called experience....THAT, or the 40 of Mickey's he slammed in the bathroom at halftime. Hofstra was coming at WMU like they owed them money or something. It was like that scene in Pulp Fiction were Butch (Bruce Willis) stop at a red light and sees Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) walking across the street carrying a box of donuts.We'll Marcellus Wallace (Hofstra) went right after Butch (WMU). I don't know what WMU did to make Hofstra so mad...but Hofstra should have won that game. I am not sure how my Fightin' Dan LeFevour's were able to put the hurt so bad on Akron. Does't Akron have 4 ex-head coaches, including the ghost of Bear Bryant on their staff? I guess he wanted to coach in the greatest stadium ever constructed by human hands too.

Red and Black Attack (NIU): Ball State was a nice surprise scoring points against a tough Auburn team. My Huskies went ahead and laid an egg against the Idaho Vandals at home. I'm happy that it wasn't conference yet and Idaho looks to be one of those underrated teams this year. Or so I'm hoping.
Over The Pylon: The last game in that list, the Buffalo-Temple game wasn't surprising at all. Temple has a good football team which simply had a bad game against Villanova. Everyone acts like Buffalo is some world beater up there... newsflash... since Willy left they were a one trick pony in Starks who went down with an injury. Too bad for the Bulls fans... guess you'll have to cling dearly to the MAC Championship you were handed on a silver platter with a side of Cardinal fumblitis.

Falcon Blog: I guess Hofstra and WMU, but if hanging around is a surprise, I guess I was just as surprised that OU hung around Tennessee. Both games, obviously, concluded the way they were supposed to.
Rasor on the Zips: Two games stood out. I was surprised to see Ball State put up 30 at Auburn. I was also stunned to see Temple shellack Buffalo.
Red and Black Attack: Ball State was a nice surprise scoring points against a tough Auburn team. My Huskies went ahead and laid an egg against the Idaho Vandals at home. I'm happy that it wasn't conference yet and Idaho looks to be one of those underrated teams this year. Or so I'm hoping.

2) Temple's contract with the MAC runs out in 2011? How do you see it shaking out? Will Temple be dropped to get to 12 or will another team come in to get to 14?

Let's Go Rockets: Can't imagine Temple would get dropped since Philadelphia is a huge market for the MAC. We think it would be more likely that another team would be added to the MAC, rather than give up the potential revenue/talent in the Philadelphia market.
Fire Up Chips: They are a legacy and their name brings a whole another level of distinction to our conference. The other team we should invite...Hofstra. They are just so pumped up. Let em' play.
Over the Pylon: I doubt it will be dropped. I sort of hope that the MAC does get to 12, but I don't want to see Temple bounced. I would like to see Buffalo shown the door... not because I despise them, simply because they're too far away from any one else in the conference to make it an economical trip for us, and certainly not for all their road games. There's not a geographical rivalry like the rest of the MAC, and in listening to most of their fans they act like the MAC is far too small time for them. So I say let 'em go. You want to join the Big East? Great. Have fun in that wasteland.If they, much like the freshmen who never know when exactly to leave a keg party, refuse to leave, then let's scoop Army up. At least that's someone that can make Buffalo not seem so out of left field. But... I would much rather be at 12.
Falcon Blog: That's a really good question, one I had not thought of at all. My opinion is that Temple will stay in the MAC as long as they want to...which, I assume, they won't if they end up winning consistently. As for having an odd number of teams, it does qualify as one of the most asinine things I have ever heard of, and having an odd number of teams makes scheduling difficult to ridiculous. (Note that teams in the East do not play a complete round-robin schedule. And hey...do cross-over games count this year or not? I keep forgetting). But, having said that, we are existing and functioning with 13 teams (even if it is stupid) and I don't see us dropping Temple to get to an even number.
Rasor on the Zips: Temple has proven it's worthy of playing in the conference. I think the MAC loves the Philly market too much just to drop the Owls.

Red and Black Attack: I'm no MAC commish, but I'm more about addition than subtraction. How's Villanova looking this year?

3) For entertainment purposes only, some interesting early lines: Central Michigan favored by 9 at Buffalo, Temple favored by 4 1/2 at EMU, Toledo favored by 7 at Ball State, Cincy by 26 1/2 at Miami, Bowling Green by 2 1/2 over visiting Ohio, NIU by 6 1/2 over visiting WMU ... WHICH LINE JUMPED OUT AT YOU AS OUT OF WHACK AND WHY?

Let's Go Rockets: CMU favored by 9 at Buffalo jumped out to us first because CMU will win more convincingly than 9 points. If Toledo plays the kind of football we're capable of, it shouldn't be a problem to cover the 7 point spread. Ball State has had success against the Rockets in Muncie in the last few years, but that will change starting this Saturday. With Miami being so bad this year, Cincinnati by 26 1/2 is both expected and a pathetic MAC showing.

Fire Up Chips: Temple should destroy EMU. I talked to an EMU player who told me their O-line is decimated by injury. Rght now EMU has a manquin playing O-line. They just wheel him out, hit the parking break, and let the other team run around him in order to have 11 men on the field. The funny thing is, they are giving up less sacks per game with "Egbert E. Eagle" their newest paper machet recruit on the field, than last year, when they were asking a 210 pound true freshman to protect the QB.

Over The Pylon: Out of whack? CMU only getting 9. I would lay 19 were I betting. Everything else seems a bit ok, though the BG line and the Cincy line could be a whole hell of a lot higher and I'd still feel comfortable with them. Disclaimer: For anyone actually thinking of betting on MAC football... don't. Mail me 50% of what you were going to be and I will come punch you in the nose. It will hurt less, be less frustrating, and only cost you 50% of what your sure to lose bet would have. You're welcome.
Falcon Blog: Well, three jump out at me. I think 7 points is a lot to give Ball State at home. I know they are having a rough year, but they will win eventually, and Muncie has traditionally been a chamber of horrors for the Rockets, so that one might be a little out of whack. And, while I think NIU will beat WMU, it seems like 6.5 points is a little high. I know kicking the shit out of WMU has been the favorite pastime, but I would suggest their season has been a little better than people think, they are still dangerous--or at least as dangerous as Idaho, right? Finally, I like CMU by 19 or Buffalo. Or 29.

Rasor on the Zips: Toledo is laying 7 points on the road to the defending division champs. That is an awful lot.

Red and Black Attack: Toledo and Bowling Green both being favored on the road is very, very strange. I'll take the home dog in either of these situations. Especially the OU game.

4) Who is doing the best head coaching job in the league so far and why?

Let's Go Rockets: There's plenty of evidence to support the notion that Tim Beckman, at Toledo, is doing the best coaching job in the MAC so far this season. He has turned the program in a new direction and resurrected the entire offense - taking one that relied on bubble screens (constantly) with little success, and turning it into one that is #9 in the nation, mixes it up, and really guns it down field when neccesary. More than just that, he's instilled confidence back into the Rockets, on both sides of the ball and that leads to more dynamic plays and more efficiency on the field, in all facets of play. It's impossible to say where the rest of the season will go, but Beckman has helped changed the way the University and the way the fans view the football team and that is directly beneficial to the success of the team for the long term.
Fire Up Chips: Butch Jones is pretty serious about our football program and he has our kids firing on all cylinders right now. Our program is probably one of the hardest to survive mentally and physically in the country. Players leave all the time because they don't like how Coach Jones challenges them to be the best. But those who stay win a lot of games.
I of course will change my opinion when we lose a conference game and call on Jones to resign (kidding).
Over The Pylon: I think Tim Beckman, if only for the way they've played and how drastic that's been compared to years past. Toledo Tom was no genious, but with this sort of talent on the roster that he misused and didn't capitalize on, maybe he should have been fired way before when he was. A close second is Jerry Kill... if only because I am looking forward to the fun and festivities we're going to have at his expense when BSU and NIU get it on like donkey kong till the break of dawn.

Falcon Blog: I'm going to go with Jerry Kill, for two reasons. First, that team is bouncing right back and is playing very solid football. Second, I can't bring myself to say Tim Beckman.

Rasor on the Zips: While you can always point to Butch Jones, Tim Beckman has turned Toledo around for the time being.
Red and Black Attack: Butch Jones, and it's not even close. Every other coach in this league has already had their ups and downs or looked extremely shaky. BJ has been consistent and upset Michigan State. Would have thought about Coach Kill here had it not been for this past weekend's blunder.

5) Rate the MAC (1-13, poll results)
1) CMU ... all seven first-place votes;
2) NIU
3) UT
4) BGSU
5) TU
6) WMU
7) OU
8) UB
9) KSU
10) UA
11) Ball State
12) EMU
13) Miami

It's Our Time Now ... Let's Take This

2009-09-30T23:38:00.001-04:00

No words necessary. Let's just go get this title.

For the Owls, every game should be a Crusade

2009-09-30T01:22:00.015-04:00

Terrific photo of Steve Manieri and Temple's great fans.

Photos by Ryan Porter

By Mike Gibson
Message boards are a beautiful thing sometimes.
You can catch the pulse of a sports fan, or a sports community, by sitting down with a cup of coffee and paging down a list of threads.
Occasionally, something will catch your eye so you will click on it.
So it was with me on the day after Temple's biggest football victory in years, a 37-13 win over defending MAC champion Buffalo.
The thread said something about Temple's game at Eastern Michigan this Saturday being a "trap game."
The coffee spit out of my lips and all over the screen.
After I got the Windex out to clean everything off, I had to laugh.
"Trap game?" I thought, with all of the incredulity Jim Mora Sr. once said when someone asked him about playoffs.
It's still a classic response that lives on in a Coors Light commercial.
"Playoffs? Playoffs? Playoffs?" Mora said in three different tones of voice. "We'd be lucky to win a game."
"Trap game?" I thought.
Trap game? This is Temple a team dying for every shred of respect it can get. Every time Temple steps onto the field, it should treat it like a crusade, not a game.
I still think that.
I always thought the great thing about college football, at least on the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level was that there were only 12 games, 13 if you are lucky.
Call it the lucky 13th in this case.
Trap games and letdowns should be for some other sport.
Here we are in college football where you work 365 days a year, lift weights, run, practice, to play in 12 regular-season games a year.

Letdowns and trap games should not be part of the lexicon. Playing like a mad dog frothing at the mouth should be the norm not the exception, no matter who is lining up on the other side of the ball

You practice and game plan for six days a week just to play that game the seventh.
Letdowns and trap games should not be part of the lexicon. Playing like a mad dog frothing at the mouth should be the norm not the exception, no matter who is lining up on the other side of the ball.
Especially if you are Temple, a school that the day before it faced Buffalo was ranked in ESPN's Bottom 10. That's what the world thinks of you as a Temple football player. It's definitely not reality, but it is the perception.
It took awhile to acquire that perception so it won't change after one game, but it will after a body of work called a season and the reality of this season is that the Owls are running out of games to make the statement they need to make.
The players should be fed up and play the rest of the season with a huge chip on their shoulder.
I know the fans have had enough of that "Temple sucks" mantra.
Those Bottom 10 days were supposed to be over.
Eastern Michigan is the next game and that's why it is the most important one the Owls will ever play.
That's why it bodes the Owls well if they pretend they are not headed to the Little House to play Eastern Michigan but instead headed to the Big House down the road to play the real Michigan.
It's that important to Temple and its fan base to keep that momentum going this week and beat an opponent it is favored to beat. There's a great photo accompanying this story of Temple's fans watching Steve Manieri catch a pass in traffic against Buffalo, courtesy of Ryan Porter.
It reminds folks how hard it is to make plays to win in big-time college football and how hard it is to sustain the winning. That's why the focus should be on Eastern Michigan now.
The Buffalo win was just one game, one of many the Owls have to win from here on out to accomplish their goals.
If they have to pretend they are playing the Wolverines, so be it. A long winning streak starts by focusing on each task at hand, not looking ahead to the next one after that.
Eastern Michigan is the task at hand. THEN comes Ball State.
That's how this thing works.
Trap game?
Don't make me laugh.

Temple 37, MAC champs 13: The Video

2009-09-27T16:13:00.004-04:00

Temple 37, Buffalo 13. It is now OK to look, Ethel.

A can of whoop ass for everyone

2009-09-26T22:54:00.018-04:00

By Mike Gibson
I had to do a double take at the tailgate prior to the game.
Somebody was wearing a blue University of Buffalo T-shirt that said: "Buffalo Football: A Can of Whoop Ass."
For a second, I didn't know if he was referring to the Pitt game or the University of Central Florida game, both whoop-ass jobs.
Then I thought, oh, he meant Buffalo was going to whoop ass.
Never mind.
Sometimes you get the can and sometimes the can gets you.
Maybe the Owls will get to whoop ass, like Buffalo did last year, after Saturday's 37-13 Temple win.
One piece of advice to my fellow Temple fans: When we get good, and we will reach the Promised Land soon, never wear a shirt like that.
It's just bad Karma.
I thought the same thing when I read the pre-game prediction board on UBfan.com.
No one over there predicted the Owls would win. No one predicted a Buffalo win of less than 14 points.
Bad omen to get too cocky, especially against a Temple team many, including CBS Sportsline's Dennis Dodd and the New York Times, picked to detrone Buffalo in the MAC East.
You would have thought last year's Hail Mary pass would have taught them at least a little bit of respect for the Temple football program.
Whatever bad Karma pre-game, there was plenty of good Karma to go around at the post-game tailgate, thanks to what the Owls did the three hours it mattered on Saturday afternoon.
Some game balls:
The defense: When it came time to make a play, they made a play. They grew up big-time against Buffalo. From Peanut Joseph staying on his feet when he could have easily went down, to Andre Neblett staying with the ball or to Dominique Harris finally holding onto the ball, they are finding out that winners make plays. Let's hope the lesson carries to the final nine games of the season. Make that 10. Only two teams gained over 500 yards of total offense against this year's Pitt team. One was North Carolina State. The other was Buffalo. The Owls defense held one of those teams to 13 points.
Bernard Pierce: For all of Bernard Pierce's great runs, the greatest was this: A spinning run near the goal line for about seven yards. As Pierce came out of his spin, he wrapped the ball up and held onto it like it was gold. With both hands. That shows maturity beyond his teenage years. The Owls might have found the stud running back they were looking for since Todd McNair/Paul Palmer days.

James Nixon: This guy routinely ... and I mean routinely ... gets behind the defense. Nobody can cover him. That's what 4.3 speed will do for you and he doesn't labor at the speed. He does it in one easy motion with great vision. He's a weapon we should use more often.

Vaughn Charlton: This young man is finally realizing that he doesn't have to be Peyton Manning for the Owls to win eight, nine or 10 games. He just has to be Vaughn Charlton. Play within himself. Hit the short- and intermediate routes, keep those sticks moving and occasionally take a deep shot when you have the defense off-balance. Manage the game. Great clutch pass to Evan Rodriguez.
Yeah, he said it: "I have to hide in the city. I have to hide in the state. But at least I'm 1-0 in the MAC.’’ – Temple coach Al Golden.

Factoid of note: Cap Poklemba has made Lincoln Financial Field a house of horrors for MAC foes. Whipping the crowd into a frenzy over the last three years has paid off for both the former Owl kicker and the Owls. Temple is 7-2 against the MAC at LFF since 2007. Fifteen thousand active and involved fans is better than 50,000 fans who sit on their hands. There is still plenty of time to join the party, Owl fans _ unless you plan to sit on your hands. Only the party people on the dance floor, as they say.

Owl fans in a show-me state (of mind)

2009-09-24T10:42:00.031-04:00

By Mike Gibson
They might have stumbled out of their dorm rooms at 10 a.m., taken the 10-minute subway ride to the game in Philadelphia but the estimated 6,000 Temple students will be from Missouri for Saturday's game against Buffalo.
You can say the same for 5,000 or so Temple alums and maybe 4,000 "Joe Philly" types who have adopted Temple as their hometown college team. About 15,000 hardcore Temple fans will be there, about 15,000 softcore Temple fans have already said "why bother?" after the Sept. 3 debacle against Villanova.
This is about the hardcore fans, though.
Huh?
While they all may physically be in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, they definitely are in a Missouri state of mind.
You know, the "Show Me" state.
Almost 30,000 Temple fans, including about 12,000 students, left it all on the field against Villanova, screaming themselves hoarse, standing the entire game and generally providing by all accounts was a substantial home-field advantage against a school, Villanova, from the same town.
When they left the stadium, you could hear a lot of students _ Temple students who could have gone anywhere _ say, "same old Temple" after a 27-24 loss to Villanova.
Same old fumble up 10-0, going in for a 17-0 lead right after halftime.
Same old three interceptions.
Same old 24-14 fourth-quarter lead, followed by the same-old defeat on the last play of the game.
Temple coach Al Golden must have sensed the mood of the university community this week when he wrote this letter to the students:

Letter to the students
Thank you for your excitement and passion you displayed at our home opener versus Villanova.
The sea of Cherry and White on the Temple sideline and in the end zone was truly incredible and it marked the largest student attendance we’ve had since I’ve been head coach of the Owls. Your enthusiasm at our games truly does give us the best home-field advantage in the MAC.
I strongly encourage you to attend our first MAC game of the year this Saturday (9/26) at Noon versus Buffalo. Please see below for bus transportation and student ticket information. We need you in the seats this Saturday! Be loud & proud of your Football team and help us win a MAC Championship this season! Go Owls!
Al Golden, head football coach

Thank you for your excitement and passion you displayed at our home opener versus Villanova. The sea of Cherry and White on the Temple sideline and in the end zone was truly incredible and it marked the largest student attendance we’ve had since I’ve been head coach of the Owls. Your enthusiasm at our games truly does give us the best home-field advantage in the MAC. I strongly encourage you to attend our first MAC game of the year this Saturday (9/26) at Noon versus Buffalo. Please see below for bus transportation and student ticket information. We need you in the seats this Saturday! Be loud & proud of your Football team and help us win a MAC Championship this season! Go Owls!

- Al Golden, Head Football Coach
That indicates to me that the incredible disappointment in the overall Temple community over Villanova must have impacted Al to write the letter.
Students, alumni and fans can only take so much of same old Temple.
So those of us who can muster ourselves out of bed on Saturday morning, will get on the subway or head down I-95 and, while hoping things will be different in the noon showdown against MAC champion Buffalo, will be in a show-me mode.
Anybody who sits near me knows that I'm usually the first one off my feet (well, second to this guy), exhorting the crowd to get whipped up into a frenzy.
Not this week.
I'm going to sit there quietly and hope this team and most importantly coaching staff shows me enough to get excited about.
Show me some touchdowns.
Show me some big defensive stops.
THEN I might get off my feet.
I'll be there, but my mind will be 1,000 miles away.
Hopefully, a few long Temple touchdowns will snap me out of a Villanova-induced stupor.

Tim Riordan is now a Buffalo fan

2009-09-22T22:51:00.009-04:00

You might not be able to see it, but Tim Riordan is third from the left, first row, seated next to punter Sean Landetta.
I got an email the other day from a Tim Riordan and that got me thinking about Temple's Tim Riordan, who was one of my favorite Temple quarterbacks.
Tim was Wayne Hardin's last quarterback at Temple and Bruce Arians' first, so he spanned a couple of eras in back-to-back seasons.
Under Hardin, Riordan called an audible in the Carrier Dome that beat Syracuse, 23-18, in 1982. Down, 18-16, in the fourth quarter, Tim looked over to the Owls' sideline, gave a hand signal, patted his side, nodded to Hardin and Hardin calmly nodded yes. He then changed the play at the line of scrimmage and threw a fly pattern to tight end Scott Andrien that went for 44 yards and a TD. No histrionics, no confused looks to the sideline, no wasted timeouts, just a simple point and a simple nod. That was Temple football under Hardin. Supremely organized and efficient and constantly outsmarting the opposition.
That year, Riordan was the No. 7 passer in all of NCAA football. He still holds the Temple completion percentage record (63.9 percent) for one season.
In 1983, Riordan made just enough great plays to beat Syracuse, 17-6, in Arians' debut at Franklin Field.

"I'm not kidding myself. With Riordan in the game, maybe it's different."_Joe Paterno, after 1983 game against Temple

He went down with an injury early in the Owls' loss to Penn State, ironically enough by the same 23-18 score he beat Syracuse by, and Joe Paterno grudgingly admitted afterward that the outcome probably would have been different had Riordan not gotten hurt.
Riordan was a third-round choice of the Arizona Cardinals and eventually played quarterback for the Philadelphia Stars of the old USFL.
Now Tim Riordan is in Buffalo, a big-time University of Buffalo football fan running a blog called Bull Run, the guy who sent me an email. He's not OUR Tim Riordan, though, and not related to the former Temple quarterback. (Hey, if the REAL Tim Riordan wants to send me an email and tell me what he's up to, it's templefootballforever@gmail.com.)
Tim knows all things Buffalo football, so I tossed a few questions at him regarding Saturday's noon MAC East conference showdown.
While this Tim Riordan will be in the stands on the Buffalo side, what this Temple team needs most is OUR Tim Riordan. I wish Vaughn Charlton could throw the short to intermediate throws like Temple's Tim Riordan once could.
Vaughn does throw a better deep ball than Riordan, but what good does that do if you are only going to throw one deep ball a game?

No histrionics, no confused looks to the sideline, no wasted timeouts, just a simple point and a simple nod. That was Temple football under Hardin. Supremely organized and efficient and constantly outsmarting the opposition.

Instead, we're getting the other Tim Riordan in the stands for Saturday's game.
Welcome, Tim, and here are my questions and his responses:
1) What is the difference between the running styles of Mario Henry and Brandon Themilus vs. James Starks. Temple fans are very familiar with Starks, not so much the other guys.

Over the past two seasons Thermilus (83 yards) and Henry (165 yards) have done far more damage to Temple than Starks (46 yards).

Thermilus is a horse, he will punish the defensive front seven every time he touches the ball but on the odd run when he breaks into the open he is not fast enough to take it to the house. Thremilus also lacks the burst needed to get around the corner on better defenses.

Mario Henry has impressive speed, he can hit the corner but he lacks the power of Thermilus. He is not going to break too many fundamentally sound tackles.

Both backs have had trouble holding onto the ball this season.

I've always though of James Starks as the best parts of Henry and Thermilus. He had explosive speed yet was powerful enough to take it through the center of the line. Most of all he was good as a receiver out of the backfield.

2) How would you compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of Maynard and Willy?

Maynard has a much stronger arm, a lightning fast release, and is far more mobile in the pocket. Maynard is, physically, the better quarterback in just about every way. He can make some of the tight trows that would have been difficult for Drew.

Drew had better leadership skills on the field and I think he had the immeasurable ability to be the quarterback you needed in a pinch but much of that is owed to his three years under Turner Gill, Maynard may eventually get there as well.

Maynard lacks the touch to put the ball in just the right place, that was a luxury UB enjoyed last season. Maynard also has shown some questionable pocket presence, nothing sinful, just what you would expect from a first year starter.

3) How would you compare UTEP to Central Florida and which team did you think was better and why?

I would have to say UTEP played the better game, They were a holding call away from beating us and they did it without 4 turnovers and as many short fields in the second half.

4) Who are the playmakers (names and numbers) on defense for UB?

Our defensive backfield is talented, experienced, and hard hitting. #30 Mike Newton is, in my opinion, the best player on defense. Davonte Shannon, #7, is the other big name in the secondary. Both, I think, Are good enough to be drafted.

Justin Winters, #34, is having a good year at linebacker but other than that our defensive front seven is having a pretty weak season. UB has yet to put real pressure on a quarterback, or shut down a running game.

No Happy Ending in Happy Valley again

2009-09-19T22:56:00.027-04:00

Owls must swarm to the ball like this on every play against Buffalo.

My doctor has a Penn State mural that I have to look at when I go for my annual checkup.
It's one of Joe Paterno leading the football team down the main street at State College, presumably during a pep rally. If you haven't guessed by now, my doctor is a PSU grad.
We always have some small talk about the mural, then he asks me about Temple football.
He just shakes his head from side to side.

Al Golden's RX: WIN ... THE .. GAME!!!!!

It's THAT look, the one every Temple fan seems to get all the time, the "why bother" look.
"I don't think they are going to do it," he said, never referring to what it is but I know what he means.
I tell him with the right coach, Wayne Hardin, they did do it once and what was done before can be done again. Hardin won 80 games (and lost only 51) against a schedule tougher than the current MAC one the Owls play. I tell my doc another coach, Bruce Arians, went 6-5 against a schedule that was ranked No. 10 in the nation one year.
Both had far less tools to work with than Al Golden does now.
I tell him, with the right coach, that someday the Owls will be competitive with Penn State and by competitive I mean final score and a drive at the end of the game deciding it either way. I tell him it happened before against better Penn State teams. I tell him if Central Michigan can beat Michigan State, we will have our day against Penn State.
He just shakes his head and gives me that look.
That was my No. 1 goal going into today's game: Getting rid of THAT look forever.
It didn't happen because James Nixon dropped a ball he should have held onto and it didn't happen because we went for a trick play on 4th and 1 a couple of times when we could have run the ball and probably gotten the first downs.

The final score was 31-6, but add that touchdown Nixon should have had and add that touchdown or two we might have gotten except for those funky 4th and 1 calls and it could have been 31-20 or better.
I'm tired of adding imaginary points.
I want real ones now and a lot of them.
Could have, would have, that's what I'm tired of at this point.
This is Year Four of the Al Golden Regime. He's had four recruiting classes. There are no excuses now.
Other programs, like Toledo, Navy and Rutgers, have beaten PSU over the last 30 or so years.

How come Penn, a FREAKING Ivy League team, can hold Villanova to 14 points and we can't? I lay these first two games at the feet of the coaching staff.

Why not us?
Why not?
Just a guess, but probably because we look confused out there at times. How come the Penn State offense doesn't need to constantly look over to the sideline before they snap the ball? The Lions get a lot more done, too.
How come Penn, a FREAKING Ivy League team, can hold Villanova to 14 points and we can't?
I lay these first two games at the feet of the coaching staff.
They can't do anything about the fumbles or the dropped passes, but they can get this Keystone Cops look on offense fixed. They can blitz more on defense.
So while other Temple fans might have been encouraged by this latest outing, I wasn't.
I'm looking at a two-game body of work and what I see is Roseanne Barr-ugly. No amount of make-up is going to make that big fat pig look good.
Or this one: Oh and two is just that. Zero and two.
Temple fans deserve no less than a long winning streak starting this Saturday and could haves and should haves won't cut it anymore.
Al Golden's charge is simple and you can write this is big, bold letters: HE MUST WIN SEVEN OF HIS NEXT 10 GAMES. At least. I will take all 10, but I guess I'm more greedy than Al is. He would have had to win only six if not for the Villanova debacle, but that was his fault so he gets no Mulligan for that game. He must make it up down the line.
I don't want to write about should haves anymore.
I want to write about great touchdowns, lots of them, and great defensive stops, lots of them.
The talent is here.
In 10 weeks, we'll find out if the coaching is, too.
Five and six wins is just unacceptable anymore. Unacceptable.
Over these next 10 games we will find out if Al Golden is the right coach.
Winning, not coming close, not "enjoying the game" should be the only standard by which to judge him now.
It's Time.
Buffalo is the biggest game of the year... be there and make noise. If you don't have tickets, click here:

Hardin's Owls used to scare wits out of Nits

2009-09-16T00:04:00.033-04:00

By Mike Gibson
Back in the day is a phrase kids like to use about crazy things they heard of way back when.
Here's something really crazy: Temple and Penn State used to play great, great football games back in the day.
It's true.
Back in the day, doesn't seem so long ago to those of us in our 40s and 50s.
I suspect even 60s.
Back in the day, Temple used to play Penn State tough more often than not.
Believe it or not.
Back in the day, Joe Paterno wasn't so gracious in his praise of foes.
The crusty old Penn State coach has been known to lay it the praise on thick recently for some pretty thin opponents, like Coastal Carolina.
There was a day, though, when JoePa occasionally let loose with what he really felt and the day Penn State announced it was resuming its series with Temple was one of those.
"The guy who scheduled Temple must've been drunk," Paterno blurted out.
He was talking about his own athletic director.
Paterno didn't want to play a game where he had everything to lose and little to win and that's what he thought of Temple in those days. The Owls were good and posed a threat and they were an in-state opponent.
So a rivalry was born.
A couple of weeks later, Paterno and Temple coach Wayne Hardin posed for a publicity photo, arm-wrestling.
Eventually, Hardin would provide some of Paterno's hardest-fought wins.
One of those games was the first one in the resumption of the series, on Sept. 6, 1975, at Franklin Field.
Temple sold roughly 30,000 tickets to the game and Penn State sold 30,000.
"I don't want to be out pom-pomed in my own stadium," Hardin told then athletic director Ernie Casale, talking Casale into buying 30,000 pom-poms.
Hours before the game, Hardin and Casale and a few other helpers put the pom-poms on the rows of seats behind the Temple bench, all 30,000 of them.
On the first play from scrimmage, an Owl speedster named Bob Harris took a simple handoff to the right, darted into the line, found a hole and went 76 yards for a touchdown.

Our 5 Keys to the Shock the World
1. Keep your QB off his ass _ If you see a lot of draws and screens to set up a long bomb or two, that's a good sign of a well-designed offensive scheme.
2. Play mistake-free _ Easier said than done. When you tell a guy don't fumble, it puts the word fumble in his head. Don't fumble. Don't throw an interception.
3. Put the other QB on his ass _ Basically, send more guys than they can block. Challenge your extremely talented linebackers to make plays and send safeties, LBs and DEs from spots Penn State won't expect them. Keep blitzing blind side. Tell the blitzers to try to strip the ball as they arrive at the QB. If you can't get to Clark with five, send six. If you can't get to him with six, send seven and eight.
4. Get the ball to the playmakers _ That means if you hit James Nixon for another 75-yard bomb and find Michael Campbell on a jump ball in the end zone, don't forget that they are still on the team.
5. Play Neapolitan, not Vanilla _ Aggressive schemes often result in a plus-turnover ratios. It's risky, sure, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. If the Owls come out and play vanilla on both sides of the ball, they will be nothing but a snack to the Nits. If they bring pressure and force turnovers, they have a chance to cause major mid-day indigestion for 106,000 people.

Temple 7, Penn State 0.
The first play of Penn State-Temple since the 1952 game and it was a Temple touchdown.
To this day, it was the loudest roar I've ever heard from Temple fans.
Half the stadium on their feet, cheering and waving Cherry and White pom-poms and generally acting like crazed, happy, lunatics.
Half the stadium in Blue sitting in stunned silence.
It was a beautiful thing and, for a moment, you thought it would last all night and maybe years into the future.
Temple lost that game, 26-25, on a Rich Mauti 64-yard punt return with 27 seconds left. Temple gained 378 total yards to Penn State's 127 but still lost.
"That offensive line is the best we've ever faced," Paterno said of Temple that night.
Afterward, Hardin admittedly cried like a baby.

...a silent press box was interrupted by Penn State beat writer John Kunda of the Allentown Morning Call.
"Hardin's outcoaching Joe again," Kunda said. The press box erupted in laughter because they knew he was right ...

The next year, at Veterans Stadium, Temple trailed, 31-17, entering the fourth quarter, but behind a quarterback named Terry Gregory, the Owls scored twice on TD passes to close the gap to 31-30. Hardin eschewed the tie and went for the win. Gregory's two-point conversion pass was dropped.
"I don't go for ties," Hardin said.
"I have to give coach Hardin a lot of credit," Paterno said. "A tie would have been big for their program."
At the time the series was resumed, in 1974, Temple was in the middle of a 14-game winning streak, the longest in nation, longer than Nebraska or Oklahoma or Texas.
Only when Don Bitterlich, usually the most reliable of kickers, missed a chip-shot field goal on Nov. 2, 1974, did the Owls miss their chance for win No. 15. They lost that game at Cincinnati, 22-20, and then went on the road and lost to a very good Pitt team, 35-24.
The Owls finished up 1974 with a 35-21 win at West Virginia and a 17-7 win at Villanova before that Penn State opener in 1975. If you are counting, that's 16 Temple wins in 18 games.
On Sept. 1, 1978, Temple extended one of the best Penn State teams. Utitlizing his great punter, Casey Murphy, Hardin quick-kicked on half the third downs, pinning Penn State deep in its own territory for much of the game. Murphy would not only kick it long, but he was a master in the art of the coffin corner kick and would nail it inside the 5 most times.
Temple would send its punt team on the field, pull it off, then send it back again just in time to get the kick off.
On offense, Temple showed reverses, halfback passes, throwback passes to the quarterback and shovel passes to the fullback, plays rarely seen in those days but ones that kept Penn State's defense honest.
In the middle of all this, a silent press box was interrupted by Penn State beat writer John Kunda of the Allentown Morning Call.
"Hardin's outcoaching Joe again," Kunda said.
The press box erupted in laughter because they knew he was right.
The strategy worked until Penn State kicked a field goal with a minute left to win, 10-7.
In 1979, Hardin took his best team up to State College, led, 7-6, at halftime but lost, 22-7. A win and Temple would accept an invitation to the Liberty Bowl. A loss meant the Garden State Bowl.
That was the last of the good Hardin-Paterno matchups.
Bruce Arians would later lose to Paterno, 23-18, on Sept. 21, 1983 and, 27-25, on Sept. 14, 1985 but he never outsmarted Paterno.
Temple hasn't had a good game with Penn State since, at least in terms of the final score.
There are a lot of reasons for that, mostly laid at the feet of the Temple administration for some bad football hirings.
They once made a great hire in Hardin and he gave Temple fans a lot of thrills, especially on days when the Penn State game came around.
It's a shame a whole generation of Temple fans missed out on that party. Maybe Al Golden will hold an impromptu one Saturday afternoon.

If Temple beats PSU, season tickets will be sold out by Tuesday so buy yours now as a hedge fund:

Penn State Week: A puncher's chance

2009-09-14T10:21:00.011-04:00

By Mike Gibson
Playing Penn State, for this Temple fan, has been a little like playing the lottery.
I know I'm not going to win, but I plunk down my money anyway.
Little risk, great reward.
You can't win if you don't play.
Yet you pretty much know in your gut you're not going to win.
For most of the past 20 years, Temple didn't even have a puncher's chance.
Now the Owls have a puncher's chance.
Problem is, we're Tex Cobb and they are Muhammad Ali.
Cobb is a big-time Temple football fan and a frequent visitor to Temple tailgates over the last 15 years or so.
I chalked his Temple fandom up to 20 years of getting hit upside the head until I found out reading Dan Gross' column that Cobb recently graduated from Temple as a 50-something.
No truth to the rumor that Tex enrolled when he was 18.
One of the highlights of an otherwise uneventful life for me was having his beautiful wife come up to me at one of the tailgates and plant a big wet one on my lips. I looked over at Tex and was about to shrug my shoulders, but he smiled so I knew I was OK.
I say the Owls have a puncher's chance because if there's one thing Al Golden has done well over the last four years is bring up the talent level.
Not to Penn State's level, but certainly past the Syracuse and Akron's levels and I think the Nittany Lions will find that out Saturday.
Plus, as Joe Paterno has noted, Temple has no more fat guys so he's improved the team's conditioning.
As a point of reference, Akron fell to Temple, 27-6, in the final game of last season. The Zips fell to Penn State, 31-7, in the first game of this season. Last year, Akron beat Syracuse, 42-28.
Vaughn Charlton, for all of his faults, did throw for 318 yards and two touchdowns against perhaps the top FCS team in the nation and I think he's an upgrade over Greg Paulus, who did not pick up a football in four years.
Plus, Charlton already had his day against PSU two years ago, playing in front of 70,000 at Lincoln Financial Field. In that game, he threw one touchdown pass that was called back due to a phantom hold and had another touchdown pass dropped by a freshman tight end. I don't think he will be overwhelmed by the experience this time. He's capable of putting points on the board.
Vaughn is a smart guy, so I think he will avoid throwing the type of pass (timing patterns, mostly) that caused him to throw three interceptions against Villanova.
We can only hope those pages have been ripped from the playbook.
Defensively, Mark D'Onofrio's body of work outweighs some passive play-calling against Villanova. D'Onofrio doesn't look like a passive defensive guy to me and he got away from his DNA against Villanova.
Here's hoping he brings it against Penn State.
Think the A-gap blitz Trent Cole of the Eagles pulled off against the Carolina Panthers yesterday. I'd love to see Adrian Robinson line up in A-gap blitzes against Penn State. Move Robinson around. He's your best pass rusher.
Also, the Owls have four playmakers at linebacker. I'd like to see Amara Kamara spy Darryl Clark and turn the others loose on run and pass blitzes.
If the Owls play an aggressive scheme, both offensively and defensively, they have a puncher's chance to shock the world Saturday.
If they come out vanilla on both sides of the ball, it's just another ripped up ticket to State College.

Villanova loss: The Single Bullet FG Theory

2009-09-10T09:39:00.030-04:00

The Zapruder Film of Temple football. Don't look, Ethel.

I will always support the program, me and the 15,000 die-hards. But I won't sugarcoat the truth. I just won't.

I haven't been in the mood to post on any of the message boards recently.
I'm in deep mourning.
Thirty years of losing, then being sold that this year would be different, then losing to a 1AA team, will do that to an individual.
I don't think Al Golden understood the importance of this game to Temple, its current students, alumni and fan base.
I don't think Al Golden understood the intense dislike Temple people have for Villanova people.
I don't think Al Golden understood if you lose this game, you lose an entire fan base (at least the much larger soft part of it, countless thousands of people who could have pushed our average past 30K) for a whole season. That's shy of beating Penn State, which, after that latest brain cramp, is just not going to happen.
In many ways, this was a program-killer. When the story of this program is written, it could include a chapter on redemption, about a win in front of 106,000 people at Penn State that started something big or it could begin and end with five turnovers.
The Zapruder Film of Temple football could be that bullet-to-the-head field goal that we allowed by playing a prevent defense in the final seconds.
Call it The Single Field Goal Theory.
I will always support the program, me and the 15,000 die-hards.
But I won't sugarcoat the truth.
I just won't.
The plain truth is me and the 15,000 die-hards are not enough to keep it running.
We are running out of "next years" because decisions on things like conference affiliations are being made now and will largely be determined by attendance.
You need big wins to fuel the attendance engine.
You need to protect your own house.
Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Kent, Fake Miami, just ain't going to cut it.
Not in this market.
That's why the Villanova game was so important.
Play the game, Al, but win the game.
As Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo used to rant to Mike Francesa on WFAN when those two were the No. 1 tandem in all of talk radio, "Win The Game, Mikey ... WIN ... THE ... GAME!!!"
Win the game, Al.
WIN ... THE ... GAME!
OK, I understand about the minus-4 turnover ratio. I understand all of that.
But Al Golden could have done things proactively to turn that stat around.
That's why I'll never understand why our linebackers weren't unleashed on Villanova. Blitz left, blitz right, blitz up the middle.

There is no doubt in my mind if the blitz was a big part of our defensive package, we would have been able to put Whitney down 10 times and not just five. We might have jarred a couple of balls loose in Villanova territory. We might have scored a defensive touchdown or two.

Every one of our linebackers is faster, significantly faster, than Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney. There is no doubt in my mind if the blitz was a big part of our defensive package, we would have been able to put Whitney down 10 times and not just five. We might have jarred a couple of balls loose in Villanova territory. We might have scored a defensive touchdown or two.
We WOULD have won the game. There's no doubt in my mind.
Put him on his ass, hit him enough times, and watch that turnover ratio and field position swing in our favor.
This is not second-guessing. It's first-guessing.
Page down to a post or two below.
There it is in bold typeface with a gold background posted prior to the game: TEMPLE'S NO. 1 PRIORITY SHOULD BE GETTING TO THE QUARTERBACK. I guess I didn't make that big or bold enough.
I was buttonholed by an older gentleman, I'll call him Joe, on the way out.
He was walking with another older gentleman.
The other guy told him, "Don't worry, Joe. We've got 11 games left to play."
Joe was inconsolable.
"I don't care about those other games. This is the game I wanted to win. You can have all the Akrons and Northern Illinois you want. This is the game I wanted. I'm not coming back."
"I hear you, bro," I said.
"Then you understand," Joe said, nodding his head vigorously. "You understand."
Joe isn't alone.
The sad truth is that you can lose to Penn State, go 10-2 and win the MAC and a good chunk of Philadelphia will say, "Yeah, but they couldn't beat Villanova. The MAC sucks. Who cares?"
I care, but I doubt anyone other than the die-hards care and that's why this loss was a program-killer in many ways.
We've already lost our house.
All we have left is the car.
Anyone want to roll the dice for double-or-nothing with Penn State?

Plenty of good seats now available: