By Mike Gibson
It was an aside near the end of Doug Doughty's excellent recruiting report in the Roanoke (Va.) Times.
"No. 40, Chris Coyer, Oakton _ Temple leads"
That's it.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
But it told a lot.
Dougthy is a boyhood friend of Chris Coyer.
Not the kid, the dad.
So what Doughty writes carries an awful lot of weight.
What has muddied the waters is that Ohio State has gotten involved of late.
Ohio State is waiting for another QB target, Taj Boyd, an All-American who played in the Army Bowl in San Antonio. If Boyd falls from the wayside, it will offer a full ride to Coyer.
If Coyer gets the full ride from Ohio State, our sources say, there's a good (maybe very good) chance that Chris will tell Ohio State "thanks, but no thanks" and pick Temple instead.
The reason?
Temple was on Chris from the beginning and believed in him from the beginning.
Ohio State cannot say that.
Heck, if Temple runs the table next year, beats a Big 10 champion in Penn State and Navy and others and goes 13-0, the Owls will be playing for the national championship. Hey, it's a longshot but we can dream, can't we?
When he throws, they can't cover everyone. When he pumps, they'll have to respect the run and cheat up. Then he can dump off a jump pass to Maneri, Tim Tebow-like, at the last minute or a shovel pass to Griffin or maybe a bubble screen to Carraway or Harper. It should be fun to watch.
OK, we're dreaming big dreams here but the Owls were a Hail Mary away from being 6-6 (Buffalo), a kneel down away from being 7-5 (Navy), a 4th and 1 away from being 8-4 (UConn), two missed field goals away from being 9-3 (Kent State) and maybe a burned redshirt of a QB away from being 11-1 (Central Michigan, Western Michigan).
A little tweak there, a kneel down here, a well-timed blitz over there, better emergency QB planning up there and it's not inconceivable that the Owls could have been 10-2 (or, gasp, 11-1) in 2008.
They have now solved the kicking problem, bringing in North Penn's Brandon McManus. They've solved the 4th and 1 problem, recruiting a "real" fullback, and, whether or not you like returning quarterbacks Chester Stewart and Vaughn Charlton, having just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster is a problem that needs to be addressed with a high-quality newcomer who is ready to play.
Really, the only game the Owls were out of was Penn State and that's because their all-world quarterback, Adam DiMichele, went down on the third offensive play of the day.
Temple has a unique schedule in the MAC because it regularly plays Penn State. The ceiling is higher for a Temple than, say, Ball State because the Owls schedule up more regularly in their out-of-conference games. Should the Owls break through and upset Nittany Lions (just once, God, please), it's Katie Bar the Door for how far this program can go.
It's happened before at places like Rutgers, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Boise State, Ball State and Boston College.
A little tweak there, a kneel down here, a well-timed blitz over there, better emergency QB planning up there and it's not inconceivable that the Owls could have been 10-2 (or, gasp, 11-1) in 2008.
Why not Temple?
Even Utah didn't have a Penn State or a UConn on its schedule this year.
A player like Coyer could be, to Temple, what Doug Flutie was to Boston College in the 1980s. A knock-the-door-down kind of player.
And all he needs to do is play within himself, just be himself and no one else.
With the weapons he has to throw and hand off to, Coyer could help turn the Lincoln Financial Field scoreboard into an adding machine.
Think about it. Marquise Liverpool was a Rivals Superprep All-American ranked in the top 25 (23) in the nation as a five-star wide receiver coming out of Don Bosco (N.J.) High. Vaughn Carraway was rated the No. 1 receiver in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Football News last year and rated a four-star prospect by Scout.com. Jason Harper, a converted running back, was the Daily Record Player of the Year as a senior in 2004. Steve Maneri is a 6-7 tight end who is a tempting target over middle.
Running back Kee-ayre Griffin of St. Peter's Prep was first-team all-state in New Jersey and ranked the No. 19 prospect overall in that populous state.
That's just the tip of the iceberg of talent that will greet Coyer when he arrives at Temple. Big-time achievers.
What those guys were in New Jersey, Coyer is in Virginia.
Coyer, a threat to throw AND run, is just the kind of guy to keep defenses honest. They can't pin their ears back and just rush him because he's capable of taking off for a 60-yard touchdown run at any time. When he throws, they can't cover everyone. When he pumps, they'll have to respect the run and cheat up. Then he can dump off a jump pass to Maneri, Tim Tebow-like, at the last minute or a shovel pass to Griffin or maybe a bubble screen to Carraway or Harper.
It should be fun to watch.
Coyer has built up excellent relationships with coach Rhule and coach Gilbride, who are in charge of his recruitment.
There's a lot of comfort in that for both the kid and the school he selects.
If Coyer picks Temple after getting an Ohio State offer, then it will be the second year in a row that Temple nabbed a kid who got a solid "offer" and not just interest from a perennial Big 10 power.
Last year, Carraway, picked Temple after declining a summer offer from Michigan prior to his senior year.
Coyer's No. 1 target against Villanova on opening day could be Carraway, if both earn starting spots. The 40,000-plus Temple fans in the stands that Thursday night could be loving every minute of the unveiling of that dynamic duo.
Villanova will never know what hit it.
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