Temple Football

Only one stat is needed to put the Temple Owls' struggles in a nutshell; a 48-177 record since 1989.

And you thought your team was experiencing a rough period.

Try being kicked out of your conference, going through a 20-game losing streak, and being the subject of every punchline regarding college football.

No worries, good things come to those who wait, right? Most Temple fans would argue that this rule does not apply to their Owls.

But if Mid-American Conference (MAC) football fans learned anything from Buffalo's championship run last season, they realized that a disastrous past does not mean a turnaround is out of reach. In a league that is usually the most wide open in college football, anything is possible.

Even a successful year for Temple—the antithesis of success.

For the first time in recent memory, Owl fans are looking forward towards the start of football in the month of September.

After a 5-7 season that left the Owls one win away from bowl eligibility, head coach Al Golden and his squad have a trip to Detroit on their minds. The quest starts Sept. 3 when the Owls battle crosstown rival Villanova.

Why all the excitement on the Philly campus?

The Owls improved tremendously last season, finishing one game behind Buffalo in the MAC East. If not for a game-winning, 35-yard pass from Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy to Naaman Roosevelt, the Owls would have had a shot against undefeated Ball State at the MAC Championship.

Temple returns 17 starters on offense and defense from last year's team, which had the best record since Temple's last winning team in 1990. They do lose some key components, including third round draft pick defensive tackle Terrance Knighton and quarterback Adam DiMichele, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.

But the Owls' defense will, once again, be one of the best in the MAC. They return the seven leading tacklers from last season including Junior Galette, who had seven sacks in eight games. Their starting linebackers and defensive backs are all back.

The offensive side of the ball is what will make or break the Owls in the fall. No one, not even Golden, knows who will lineup behind center. Quarterback Vaughn Charlton was named the starter after spring practices, but Chester Stewart had the better spring game.

Both players have starting experience and were so-so in their stints as starters. Charlton showed flashes in 2007 when he completed 56 percent of his passes, but wrapped up the season with a six for 25 performance against Western Michigan.

Stewart started four games last season after DiMichele suffered one of his many injuries. He got off to a rough start with three interceptions against Penn State but played well against Miami (OH), throwing for 178 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

Temple also needs to improve it's running game, which ranked last in the conference last season. Fortunately, they return their leading rushers from a season ago.

If the Owls can get consistent production from whoever their starting quarterback and running back are, they could very well win the MAC East. Add another solid recruiting class—the Owls have had the best recruiting classes in the MAC since joining the conference—to the mix and they could be much improved from last season's team.

If there was ever a year for success at Temple, this is it.

Golden hopes this is the year. The highest paid coach in the MAC has improved the talent at Temple but has failed to prove his worth as a solid gameday coach. His 10-26 record is unflattering and this will be his most experienced and talented team by far.

No backward steps are acceptable. Considering the Owls' past, going backwards is impossible.

Only successful strides are expected during the Fall of 2009.

There are games which are upsets and games which nothing seems to make sense, I would say that this installment in the Giant Killers series fits comfortably in both.

On October 17, 1998, Virginia Tech was thinking National Championship. They were 5-0 going into this game and were a 35 point favorite.

Temple entered the contest 0-26 all time in Big East road games and had lost 26 in a row to ranked opponents, most people simply gave the Owls no chance and the game was an afterthought.

The Owls played 20 freshmen in this game and were winless coming in as Virginia Tech was ranked 14th and were 5-0 sporting the 4th ranked defense in the country.

With the Hokies leading 17-0 near halftime, the game looked over as the Hokies had allowed just 30 points in their previous five games combined.

Temple third string QB, Freshman Devon Scott, making his first start, raliied the troops and before the game was over hit for two long TD's of 67 and 80 yards to bring the Owls close with the game winding down.

With 6:04 remaining, the unthinkable happened, Scott found the endzone once again, this time running to give Temple the lead 28-24.

Virginia Tech wasn't done yet. The Hokies mounted a furious charge and as the game wound down to it's final 19 seconds Virginia Tech had the ball on the Temple two yard line with a fourth down play.

The Hokies chance of a comeback and a National Title died as Tailback Lamont Pegues, who ended the day with 166 yards rushing, was stopped for a three yard loss.

To this day, this game is the biggest win in the history of Temple football and is always mentioned in college football's biggest upsets.

On October 17, 1998, if even for just that day, the Temple Owls were truly Giant Killers.

Visit Mitch anytime at The Sports Chat Place

Sometimes the reason one team beats another is so thin, so blurred, that it’s hard to notice.

The reason LSU beat Florida 28-24 Saturday night is because Jacob Hester always gave the Tigers an extra yard or two when stopped in the hole.

Why is that so important?

First, with Early Doucet injured, the Tigers didn’t have any real big play receiver to attack the Gators deep, or even to break short receptions into big gainers.

That meant LSU’s scoring drives had to be methodical. And methodical drives don’t work if you’re getting stopped for one yard on first down.

Instead, Hester would get hit and fall forward for three or four. Same thing on second and third down.

And when the Gator defense would hold strong and force a fourth down, there was Hester getting stopped behind the line—but continuing to move his feet to pick up enough inches for the first down.

With one final two-yard surge from Hester with 1:09 on the clock, LSU had come from 10 points down to beat the Gators.

Five times LSU went for it on fourth down. Five times they were successful. The fact they went for it on five separate occasions shows considerable confidence by Les Miles in his players—a confidence that coaxes tremendous energy and effort out of them.

How can you not bring all you have for a coach who believes you can succeed in every tough situation?

What's more, the fact they converted all five tries shows the Tigers are a team that executes perfectly in do-or-die situations. These intangibles are the reasons why LSU is the No. 1 team in the land.

Of course, it didn’t hurt to get a recovery after a Kestahn Moore fumble, or a gift interception after a Tim Tebow pass attempt hit Cornelius Ingram in the head and bounced into the arms of Kirston Pittman.

In fact, until those two turnovers, the Gators actually controlled the game. Tebow dictated the tempo with his running and short passing. The Gator offensive line controlled the Tigers front four, especially with Florida's Jim Tartt locking up preseason All-American Glenn Dorsey.

A more experienced Gator team would have known how to finish the game off with a win.

But instead the Tigers were the ones making big plays in the second half, the Tigers were the ones playing with transcendent confidence, and the Tigers were the ones gaining the extra yards they needed to pull away with a victory.




Before this weekend, Tennessee was sitting at 2-2, with neither of their wins coming against a halfway decent team.

It could’ve been that Phillip Fulmer had lost his edge as a coach. Or maybe it was simply that Tennessee had faced two of the best teams in the country, both on the road.

After finally getting a lesser opponent at home, the Vols put on a vintage Tennessee beatdown at the expense of Georgia.

Whether it was Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty gashing through holes or LeMarcus Coker catching a 56-yard touchdown pass on a reverse option, it was clear right from the start that Tennessee was going to have a very varied offense.

In fact, it was surprising how easily the Vols ground out yards against a very stingy Georgia defense. Tennessee put on a nine-minute drive on their first possession, filled with nothing but runs and short passes.

12 plays later, the Vols had a 7-0 lead.

With Georgia forced to step up into the box, Fulmer called a reverse for Lucas Taylor—only it wasn’t a reverse. Taylor stopped and threw to LeMarcus Coker, who was  running up the left sideline unguarded.

14-0, Tennessee.

A blocked punt on the next possession made it 21-0, and a 21-yard Arian Foster run on the following possession made it 28-0.

From there, the Vols could coast to a victory.

Tennessee's defense allowed only two first downs in the entire first half. With the Bulldogs unable to move the chains and reverse field position, it was easy for the Vols offense to dominate.

How did a 2-2 team make beating Georgia look so easy? Maybe Fulmer conjured up some magic from his past. Or maybe it’s simply the fact that facing Georgia at home is a tad bit easier than winning at California or Florida.




Missouri is easily the favorite to win the Big 12 North, but don’t forget how the Tigers have been prone to disappoint in the second half of the season.

Still, if the Tigers don’t lose to any team not named Oklahoma, they could end up in the BCS—especially if it comes down to a decision between Missouri and Illinois.

Remember that low-key Week One game where Missouri jumped out to a big lead and held on for the win against the Illini?

That game might determine the 10th BCS team.

After watching Illinois’ offense work against Wisconsin, maybe the Illini can punch their ticket to the BCS the old-fashioned way—by winning the Big Ten outright.

They only have two difficult games left: a home date with Michigan and a road game at Ohio State, which will probably be their undoing.

Still, a 10-2 record and second-place finish might be too much for the BCS bowls to ignore.

Ron Zook’s recruiting has brought a wealth of talent to Champaign. Unlike the coach's Florida squads, these young Illini aren’t collapsing against lesser teams or blowing huge leads in the fourth quarter.

Maybe it’s because the Illini have been the underdogs the last few years. Now that the country has taken notice, it will be interesting to see whether Zook again falls flat on his face.

Still, Illinois has been one of the season’s nicer surprises.

The nightmare continues for Louisville.

They only lost by nine to Utah, but the Utes dominated the game. If Ron Zook has been one of the season's positive coaching surprises, Steve Kragthorpe has been a shock in the other direction.

Except for their first few years in the Big East, the Cardinals have never had many elite defensive playmakers. Could it be that Bobby Petrino got lucky with a few defensive lineman like Amobi Okoye and Elvis Dumervill masking the Cardinals' defensive problems?

Utah has beaten Louisville on the road in a game that saw them up by 20 at one point. Utah has beaten UCLA at home by 38. Utah has lost on the road to a flaky Oregon State team by 17. Utah has been shut out on the road by UNLV 27-0. Utah has lost at home to Air Force by eight.

You try figuring this team out.

I liked Kentucky as a Top 15 team, but didn’t like them as a Top 10 team.

Their big wins were more ordinary than people wanted to admit, and their defense was one of the worst in the SEC. South Carolina only had 342 yards of total offense against them but was able to control the game, moving the sticks by going 6/13 on third downs.

Tennessee, Florida, and LSU still play at Kentucky, and the Wildcats have road dates remaining at Vanderbilt and Georgia. The 'Cats will definitely win one, probably two of those games, but they won't sniff the Top 10 for a while.

Maybe the Miami Hurricanes aren't really back. Maybe Texas A&M is just a really mediocre program right now.

Staying with Florida teams, the Florida State Seminoles have played really well this season, save for a bad first half against Clemson. Their defense is still stifling, and QB Xavier Lee has given the offense a nice shot in the arm.

The game I’m most excited to watch next season?

Forget LSU-Florida, USC-Cal, Ohio State-Michigan, and Texas-Oklahoma—I want to watch Northwestern and Michigan State!

I don’t think the two teams have ever played a boring game against each other.

The ACC is like a giant whirlpool. On one side of the pool you have success, on the other side you have disappointment, and in the middle you have a violent maelstrom, sucking teams into mediocrity.

Georgia Tech, Clemson, North Carolina, and Miami are right back in the middle of the pool, NC State and Duke are drowning in their end, while Maryland, Florida State, and Virginia are trying to break out.

If I had to pick one team to make it out of the ACC, it would be Virginia Tech. They’re the most consistent swimmers.

Temple got a 39-yard Jake Brownell field goal with nine seconds left to lift the Owls over Northern Illinois. Congratulations, Northern Illinois: You now might be the worst team in the country!

Sam Bradford had another ultra-efficient game, leading the Oklahoma Sooners to a win over Texas. If he was a senior, he’d be getting considerable Heisman attention, especially since nobody else wants to take the award and run away with it.

Virginia needed a 34-yard field goal with eight seconds left to escape Middle Tennessee State with a win. Virginia has an easier go of it against ACC teams than they do against Mountain West and Sun Belt teams.

Texas A&M has used smoke and mirrors to jump out to their 5-1 start. They now have a home date against Kansas sandwiched between trips to Nebraska, Texas Tech, Missouri, and Oklahoma, and they finish up facing Texas.

That 5-1 start might end up 5-7 in a hurry.

We gave too much credit to Rutgers based on one magical season.

The Scarlet Knights just haven’t been tough this year, and QB Mike Teel hasn’t taken the next step forward. He threw three picks in Rutgers’ loss to Cincinnati. The Bearcats also held Ray Rice to 94 yards on 34 carries.

Don’t look now, but that Cincinnati-South Florida game on November 3rd might be for the Big East title.

Purdue isn’t bad by any stretch, but when was the last time they were able to put up points against a good defense? The Boilermakers always get off to good starts by scheduling patsy nonconference teams...and then get smacked down by the "Big Boys" in the Big Ten.

People tricked themselves into saying Purdue would put up points against Ohio State because Ohio State hadn’t faced a good offense so far. That had some merit to it, but Washington and Northwestern aren’t terrible offensive clubs.

Plus, Ohio State had experience relying on their defense to make plays, because the Buckeyes were locked in tough battles with Akron and Washington. Purdue, meanwhile, was jumping out early against bad teams and calling their own shots.

If Ohio State’s defense had shown some chinks in it, like Wisconsin’s defense had, I would've had no problems with people picking Purdue to beat the Buckeyes. But Ohio State has now allowed more than seven points in only one of six games.

Until the Buckeyes face an elite offense, I’m going to keep trusting that defense to win games.

They got all the gifts in the world and still couldn’t do much with them, but at least Notre Dame won't be winless this year.

The defense was opportunistic in forcing seven turnovers against UCLA—and while the offense was still hideous, they didn’t commit a single turnover.

Baby steps for Notre Dame, but they face Boston College and USC next.

Jim Harbaugh has accomplished two things this season: With his “insult” of Michigan's academic standards and his sarcastic declaration that USC is “the best college football team ever,” he forced the nation to pay attention to Stanford.

Now, with his win over USC, he’s accomplished one of the biggest upsets in college football history.

I mean, he beat USC in Los Angeles. Nobody does that.

Harbaugh’s shown personality, he’s shown guts, and now he’s shown results. He’ll piss everyone off along the way, but he might be the next big college football personality.

Someone predicted USC would lose to Stanford. That person was (thinks)...umm, it was (takes out huge textbook and flips through it)...ummm, it was (puts on a monocle and keeps looking)...hold on a sec (takes out a second huge textbook and leafs through it)...(closes textbook).

Nobody, absolutely nobody, predicted Stanford would beat USC.

Wow. I guess that upset really did come out of nowhere.

Unlike Stanford’s upset win, my Top 25 picks don’t come out of nowhere—they’re very thoughtfully and meticulously crafted after careful research.

Jim Harbaugh would be proud to know that I don’t lower my standards for any team, and he wouldn’t be sarcastic if he declared it “the greatest college football poll, ever.”

My Top 25:

1) LSU
2) Cal
3) Ohio State
4) USF
5) Oregon
6) Oklahoma
7) Arizona State
8) West Virginia
9) Boston College
10) South Carolina
11) Florida
12) Missouri
13) Cincinnati
14) Virginia Tech
15) Illinois
16) Auburn
17) USC
18) Wisconsin
19) Kentucky
20) Kansas
21) Tennessee
22) Purdue
23) Hawaii
24) Georgia
25) Florida State

I gave Appalachian State far too much credit. The Michigan Wolverines really are awful.

For the second week in a row, Michigan had no idea how to stop a team that lined up with four receivers and stretched the field vertically. The Wolverine pass rush was nonexistent, and the Wolverine secondary was painfully slow.

But everybody knew the Wolverines defense would struggle against the Ducks. That’s why the offense’s performance against Oregon was such a dismal sight to behold.

An offense with Chad Henne, Mike Hart, and Mario Manningam shouldn’t ever be held to seven points at home against one of the Pac 10’s worst defensive teams.

Worst of all was the lack of heart shown by everyone on the Wolverines save their appropriately named running back. In a game they needed to win to make the world forget about the Appalachian State disaster, they showed no fight whatsoever.

They moved the ball pretty well early until Henne made an awful decision to throw into coverage, resulting in an interception. After Oregon took the lead, Travis Minor fumbled the ball back to the Ducks. With the defense desperately needing a stop, there were the Wolverines bamboozled by a Statue-of-Liberty play, then falling over themselves on a faked Statue-of-Liberty play.

With Dennis Dixon making plays instead of mistakes, the Ducks can outscore any team in the Pac 10. Their secondary is one of the best in the West, and their front seven held very tough against a strong Michigan running game.

Clearly the game was a showcase of two teams moving in opposite directions.

For anyone who’s followed the South Florida Bulls, their victory at Auburn isn’t a surprise. The Bulls are simply designed to play SEC-style football.

Their defense is small and fast, but hits hard and tackles exceptionally well. Their secondary is one of the best in the nation. Their quarterback makes plays whenever the team needs one. And most importantly, the team perseveres in tough times.

Even with Delbert Alvarado missing field goals left and right, and even with the Bulls failing to take command of a game in which they forced five turnovers, USF didn’t crawl into a hole and wither.

The Bulls kept giving themselves more chances to win.

The Bulls showed faith in Alvarado, and he forced overtime with a 19-yard field goal with under a minute left. The Bulls had faith in their defense, and they held Auburn to a field goal in overtime. And the Bulls showed faith in their quarterback, and Matt Groethe found Jesse Hester for a 14-yard game-winning touchdown.

Beating a team like Auburn isn’t about playing better football. Beating Auburn is about surviving torture.

Auburn plays tough, plays physical, controls the special teams, makes tons of mistakes, forces you to make even worse mistakes, then breaks off a random big play to break your back.

South Florida lived through the torture of four missed field goals, and the torture of being given five turnovers and being unable to do anything with them.

Through it all, the Bulls showed the mental toughness to keep playing the game with maximum focus. That fortitude will serve them well when the Big East season gets under way.

The Big East has had the horses at the top the last couple of seasons, but now they have the middle class rising up as well. South Florida's win at Auburn and Cincinnati's trouncing of Oregon State really speak well for the conference's depth. The Big East has grown by leaps and bounds in three years, and now, with five well established teams (possibly six if Pittsburgh comes around), the conference might actually be entering one of the best periods in its history.

Paul Johnson is clearly one of the best coaches in America. Thursday night against Rutgers, he made little changes all game long, from running more dive plays out of the triple-option when Rutgers' ends were staying wide to throwing the ball more when the Rutgers linebackers were playing slow to stop the option.

Of course Navy doesn't have the athletes to beat a team like Rutgers, and it doesn't help when their QB is throwing interceptions in the end zone. But that doesn't mean Johnson didn't make all the correct adjustments to put his team in the best positions to win the game.

The Cardiac Cats are back in Northwestern. Before his tragic death, Randy Walker was legendary for fourth quarter comebacks and exciting wins. Pat Fitzgerald followed that blueprint on Saturday when his Wildcats had to come back from 14 down at the half to upend Nevada. The game was won when C.J Bacher found a diving Ross Lane in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown strike with 21 seconds left.

Wake Forest is still as annoying as it was last year, but the Deacons just aren't getting the lucky bounces they got during their run to an ACC Championship.

Oklahoma's offensive line looks scary. They run people over and don't give up any pressure on Sam Bradford. It's easy for a young quarterback to develop when he doesn't have anyone in his face.

I know a lot of Ohio State's offensive players graduated last year, but geez!

After a tough home loss to Alabama, Vanderbilt still needs five wins to get to a bowl. Yes, I'm still counting.

Buffalo showed that they aren't the most inept team in the nation by trouncing Temple on the road 42-7. Can the MAC trade the Owls for Appalachian State?

Colorado State, BYU, UNLV, and TCU, were all game in facing California, UCLA, Wisconsin, and Texas. Is the Mountain West that much worse than the Big 10?

Great win for the Washington Huskies over Boise State. It's a shame their schedule is so tough. The Huskies are playing so well right now...and still might not make a bowl.

Was there a more fun game to watch this weekend than Texas A&M vs. Fresno State going to triple overtime?

Oregon's talent level has never been questioned the last few years. Their heart has. Beating a Michigan team that's down in the dumps is impressive, but can they keep up their intensity for 10 more games? And will they keep up that intensity against teams that have the players to frustrate the Ducks' game plan? That much is yet to be seen.

South Carolina's defense runs fast and hits hard. Forget their linebackers—the South Carolina cornerbacks put on a clinic of how to tackle. Steve Spurrier has molded his squad into a power team that wins by running up the gut and playing excellent defense. Versatility like that is what makes him one of the best coaches in the game.

Will Notre Dame score an offensive touchdown this year?

ECU proved they can play in the ACC by beating North Carolina. Not a bad first couple of weeks for the Pirates.

Maryland only beat FIU 26-10? Running up the score isn't something I condone, but any team can accidentally put up 40 against the Panthers. As it was, Maryland was only leading 16-7 going into the 4th quarter.

Challenge to readers: Rank these conferences in order—Big 10, ACC, Mountain West, WAC. Right now, I have the Big 10, the ACC, the Mountain West, and the WAC, in that order...but the conferences aren't far apart at all.

How can anybody be high on Hawaii after they struggled to beat a bad Louisiana Tech team? They haven't played anybody of note and their defense looks terrible.

Virginia Tech can take solace in the fact that they wont be the only team destroyed in Death Valley this year.

Somebody predicted that Florida Atlantic would beat Oklahoma State. Yeah, that was (shakes head disappointedly), that was Lee Corso. What a crazy old man.

Unlike Mr.Corso, I know enough about college football to give a logical top 25:


Top 25

1) LSU
2) USC
3) Oklahoma
4) Florida
5) West Virginia
6) Louisville
7) Cal
8) Wisconsin
9) Texas
10) Nebraska
11) Arkansas
12) Rutgers
13) Ohio State
14) UCLA
15) Georgia Tech
16) Oregon
17) Penn State
18) Virginia Tech
19) South Carolina
20) South Florida
21) Tennessee
22) Clemson
23) Boston College
24) Georgia
25) TCU