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

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

UMass Tailgate for Delaware

A UMass alum (not me) is considering hosting a tail gate party for the Delaware game down in Newark.

He is thinking of a $5.00 donation and he will supply the goodies.

All members of the UMass family would be welcome.

If you are interested, please email me (my email address is in the "About me" section of the blog sidebar) and I'll send you his email address. He'll want a commitment (so he won't get stuck with the food) and a head count.

Should be great fun!

Wednesday of the Bye Week--09/30/09

The UMass athletic dept site has Coach Morris' weekly CAA teleconference transcript posted.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Armando Cuko is 9-11 on field goals and has gone 4-5 in attempts over forty yards. Cucko leads the CAA in scoring with 13.3 points/game. CAA stats through last Saturday here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA's season gets going this week with eight league teams having a conference game.

The Big Game is #5 William & Mary visiting #2 Villanova. The game will be on national TV on the Versus network.

Keepers' college football rankings site has Villanova by 7.64 over the Tribe.

Hofstra already has two D-I losses (Richmond and Western Michigan), a loss to JMU would mean the Pride would probably have to run the table to make the playoffs. Despite this, DNR Online says there is not much buzz for the game.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David Coulson of the Sports Network has his weekly "Around FCS" column up.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the Owls, every game should be a Crusade

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.

Recruiting 2010 -- Irvin Scott

Visiting UMass during the Rhode Island game (page two) was Irvin Scott, a QB/SS from Brookline, MA

Scott is 6-3 195 and runs a 4.6 forty. His Rivals page is here. He's a Rivals two-star recruit.

ESPN page and video here.

More video highlights here.

Another article that mentions Scott here.

He has an offer from Northeastern and interest from UMass, Rutgers, UConn and Pitt.

Tuesday of the Bye week --09/29/09

Matty Vautour has an article on UMass taking advantage of the the bye week.

He also has a link to an article about Marcel Shipp.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass' Freshman DL Kevin Byrne gets a mention in the Cap Cod times.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two articles on WR Jeremy Horne by Matty Vautour and the Albany times.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The consolidated FCS polls here.

Article on the Sports Network's poll here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keeper's College Football rankings has UMass up to #7 after the win over Stony Brook.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass-Stony Brook Web Album is up

Click on image and Blogger displays a much large view. Image is of UMass FR. LB Devin Lindsey 6-0 225 from University City, MO.

The 43-image web album is here. Nothing very great because of the low light levels, but it should give you a sense of the game.

Monday of the 2009 Bye Week--09/28/09

UPDATE: Fr. LB Perry McIntyre is the CAA Rookie-of-the-week.

Matty Vautour has a short update here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matty Vautour has three stars from the Stony Brook game and they are: Jonathan Hernandez, Jeromy Horne and Chris Zardas.

He also says how good the Minutemen are is yet to be determined.

The UMass Daily Collegian has a story featuring Hernandez' big day against Stony Brook.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the UMass Athletic website:"

Saturday's game was the final for the scoreboard in the South end zone of McGuirk Stadium. It was installed in 1995. Pieces of the scoreboard will be auctioned on UMassAthletics.com in the coming weeks."

Hurrah!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CSN has all the FCS scores from Saturday's games here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Josh Buchanan has Vladimir Ducasse as the #2 ranked "Small School" NFL prospect.

He also has Jeromy Miles ranked #30 in the top 50. Josh evidently has not seen some tape of Miles' play this year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA stats inclusive of the Sept 26th games are up. UMass is #1 in pass offense, #1 in total offense, #1 in punting. The Minutemen are #2 in scoring offense and #2 in scoring defense.

There is a big improvement in UMass penalties. the Minutemen are #6 in the league and one team ranked ahead of them has only played three games.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kansas State crushed FCS/I-AA Tennessee Tech 49-7.

Albany won its 14th consecutive NEC league game over Sacred Heart 22-9.

Rhody lost to UConn 52-10.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temple 37, MAC champs 13: The Video

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

UMass 44-17

UMass overcame some errors to crush the Sea Wolves 44-17 last night.

UMass Athletic Dept has notes, quotes and a picture gallery here.

Stony Brook Athletic Dept article here.

The Boston Globe said "UMass banded together".

The Boston Herald said "UMass was in tune."

The Springfield Republican has UMass rushing for five TD's.

WWLP has UMass with a big second half.

Matty Vautour said UMass and Jonathan Hernandez ran over the Sea Wolves.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Besides Jonathan Hernandez, who had 140 yards, three TD's and a 4.8 average, Cedric Gonnet dragged the whole Sea Wolf defense fifteen yards on one carry. Chris Zardas had two TD's and a 4.8 yard average.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA re-cap of all the league games is here. There were some interesting results. Maine and Syracuse combined for 27 penalties in a harder than expected win for the Orange.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll be back with a web album of the game, perhaps this evening.

The UMass Marching Band is superb this Year!

Click on the image and Blogger displays a much large view.

I don't know who is the governing body for the Sudler Trophy, but the UMass Marching Band has be bringing in a bunch of first place votes.

The Band has just been superb this year. The sound just knocks me out.

Last night's UMass band day was a tour de force. The assembled bands rocked out with "Won't you come home Bill Bailey" and closed with "America the Beautiful". This Blog thinks it was one of the best Band Days ever.

It's just a vintage year for the Band. If anyone deserves a second Sudler Trophy, it is the wonderful UMass Marching Band.

Parking Rant!

I tell you UMass fans have to be a hardy breed. I see the same people every year for decades.

Sometimes it seems as if the UMass administration goes out of their way to piss off the season ticket holders.

What is the use of having a "Yellow Lot" if all but one entrance to the lot are closed. Funneling all traffic into one congested entrance certainly raises my blood pressure. Apparently it did so for other people as several fans came up to me and said "You should put that in your Blog!".

Having a half a dozen UMass cops standing with their arms folded watching the traffic jam just put the icing on the cake...

A can of whoop ass for everyone

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.

Game Day Stony Brook -- 09/26/09

UPDATE: Channelsurfing.net is listing streaming video for the UMass-Stony Brook game. As I have said before, I've had mixed results with the Channelsurfing site, but if you are part of the UMass nation not in New England, it's worth a try.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------



WWLP has a video interview with Coach Morris on not letting down against Stony Brook.

Matty Vautour says UMass can't afford to look past Stony Brook.

Kyle Havens talks about his receivers at UMass. He mentions Victor Cruz, Jullian Talley and Joe Sanford. Tony Nelson can catch the ball out of the backfield and hopefully Jeremy Horne will be recovered from his concussion. The article mentions his former favorite WR John Hendershott, now at Sacramento State.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stony Brook has a run heavy offense. Last year the Sea Wolves had TWO runners pass the 1,000 yard mark. Senior Conte Cuttino did it, as well as super Soph Ed Gowins who rang up 1,310 yards and a 9.4 yards/carry average. Gowins was Sporting News National Freshman-of-the-Year.

This is the first year Stony Brook has reached the 63 scholarship level, which is the maximum for FCS/I-AA football.

The Sea Wolves last second win over Brown was their first ever win over a Ivy League program.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although it's still September, there are a couple of big games in the CAA this week. James Madison ranked #6 visits #24 ranked Liberty. The Big South does not have an auto-bid, so Liberty needs to beat the Dukes and then run the table in the Big South to make the playoffs. Liberty played well against West Virginia and beat Lafayette last week.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other game with playoff implications is Delaware's visit to #5 William & Mary. The Hens already have one FCS loss against Richmond. Two losses in September in the CAA will give Delaware an uphill battle to make the playoffs. Two losses in the CAA South will also put the Hens on the wrong side of several tie-breakers.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CSN has a couple of articles up. Bruce Dowd has his weekly "Dowd's Den" and Chuck Burton has "The FCS Way".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Day before Stony Brook

Stony Brook finally has its game notes up for UMass. Html here and pdf here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matty Vautour has a nice story about Senior starting OL Jared Chivers. Vautour reports Chivers has a secret weapon ---- Hamburger Helper.

The Berkshire Eagle has another story about Chivers here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's going to UMass Band Day!


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Terence Thomas, Sr. does his weekly "CAA Today" column here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave Coulson of The Sports Network offers some "Deep Thoughts".

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 2009 season just got a little tougher for the Maine Black Bears; their top running back Jared Turcotte is gone for the season.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark Whipple continues to gather ink because of the resurgence of the Miami Hurricanes. Articles here and here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

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.

Thursday before Stony Brook-- 09/24/09

UMass QB Kyle Havens---in only his third start-- has won the New England Gold Helmet award.

Matty Vautour has a post on Havens' win here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The UMass Collegian has a story about Ke'Mon Bailey's transition to cornerback. Bailey has been a pleasant surprise as a defensive back. He is always around the ball and has played aggressively. Bailey certainly looks as if he has found his position.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Still no game notes available from Stony Brook, but this article by the Seawolves head coach Priore indicates that Stony Brook has some injury problems.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interesting article about James Madison's senior TE Mike Causin.

Who'd have thunk it---- New Hampshire is leading the CAA in defense.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lates press release from the CAA about the league's holding six of the top 15 slots in the polls.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sports Network's Brett Kahn previews the top twenty-five FCS games this week.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keepers college football ratings have UMass by 23 points and change over the Seawolves.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Half way to Stony Brook -- 09/23/09

Matt Lawrence and Joe flacco walk out of the tunnel. Sent to me by a member of the Lawrence family.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christian Koegel still has NFL dreams.


















----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass game notes for Stony Brook in html. And here in pdf.

Stony Brook game notes are not up yet.

The CAA has its weekly football article up here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matty Vautour has his "Path to the Post Season-IV" up here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kansas State's game notes for the Tennessee Tech (1-1) here. The Golden Eagles lost to #22 Eastern Kentucky in their OVC opener last week.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tim Riordan is now a Buffalo fan

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.

Tuesday before Stony Brook--09/22/09

Coach Morris' CAA teleconference transcription here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It looks like first string Stony Brook QB Dayne Hoffman is gone for the season. Backup QB Michael Coulter will play against UMass.

Two Seas Wolves players won Big South conference honors last week.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Springfield Republican has a story on UMass WR Victor Cruz, who is now on track to graduate.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The URI student newspaper has a story on the Rams-Minutemen game.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass gets one #16 and two #15 places in the latest FCS polls.

Keepers FCS rankings has UMass up to #7

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA will have its first ever nationally televised game on Oct 3rd when William & Mary plays Villanova.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sports Network's David Coulson looks at last weekend's games including Albany's comeback win over Maine.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It looks like UNH is losing its historic series with Dartmouth.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass-Rhode Island Web Album

Click on the image and Blogger displays a much larger view.

I have 41 images of the UMass-Rhode Island game in a Picassa Web Albumn here. Note that the images will also enlarge if you click on the tiny magnifying glass symbol in the upper right corner of the display.

Recruiting 2010 -- Brian Bozek

UMass is interested in Brian Bozek a 5-11 195 pd LB/DB from Laconia, NH. The New Hampshire football report has news about him here.

Bozek's Rivals page here.

Also interested are UNH, Boston College, Duke, Syracuse and Vanderbilt.

He plans on attending the UMass-Stony Brook game.

Image by the Laconia Citizen.

Five Days before Stony Brook-- 09/21/09

UPDATE: Kyle Havens is the CAA Offensive Player-of-the-week. Not bad for his third start.

UPDATE II: More from UMass about Havens' award.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CSN has all the FCS scores from Saturday's games here. The only FCS over FBS win was Central Arkansas over Western Kentucky, which is not saying much.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sports Network on the first ever regular season game between the Hens and the Hornets.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is no joy in Orno, ME.

Or in Manhattan, Kansas.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slow news day so far, so we'll do some recruiting in the next post.

Day after the Rhode Island game--09/20/09

UMass writeup here with notes, quotes and a photo gallery.

Rhode Island writeup here.

Matty Vautour says UMass holds off the Rams in CAA opener.

Matty's three stars for the game were Kyle Havens, Tony Nelson and Kurt Filler.

The Boston Globe has a game article here.

The Boston Herald here.

The Springfield Republican here. Ron Chimelis comments on Kurt Filler's first career interception and the big hits delivered by the UMass defense.

The Providence Journal has a stringer article here (they can't send a reporter all the way to Amherst?)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On injuries:

Josh Samuda was back at LG after siting out the second half of the Albany game.

Jared Chivers played most of the game at center, but starter John Ihne was in uniform and was in for a couple of plays.

Mike Mele was in uniform for the first time, but DNP.

David Cozzo played quite a bit in the second half after Corey Davis got nicked.

Syracuse transfer Dan Sheeran played in several of the WR packages.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA website has coverage of all the CAA games from yesterday.

Interesting results:

Maine lost to Albany.

Richmond crushed Hofstra.

Kansas State lost to UCLA 23-9

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll be back, maybe this evening, with a web album of the game.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No Happy Ending in Happy Valley again

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.

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:

UMass 30-10

Click on the image and Blogger displays a much larger view.

Great day at McGuirk. I got to meet Kumar Davis' dad and the guy (I missed his name) who runs the Springfield Republican's website.

Kyle Havens was on fire in the first half going 15-17.

The UMass defense did not give up a touchdown and did some monster hitting. Jeromy Miles, Corey Davis and Kumar Davis all had NFL quality hits.

Tony Nelson was unstoppable in the fourth quarter.

And the UMass Marching Band's sound is just superb this year!

That's it for now. I'm pretty tired. Congrats to UMass for a great game.

Game Day Rhode Island --09/19/09

Matty Vautour says Rhody is first up in UMass' title quest.

He picks this week's games.

The Springfield Republican has a game-day article here.

The Providence Journal says injured QB Chris Paul-Etienne will be ready to play against the Minutemen.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dish Network will carry the game on Dish channel 435.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CSN's Terrance Thomas Sr has this week's "CAA Today" Column here.

Chuck Burton says the CAA is a Completely Awesome Association.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two CAA League games today:

Rhode Island @ UMass- Rhody looked strong against Fordham. The Rams are in the second year of their transformation from an option team. They look much improved. UMass needs a conference win. With the Minutemen's strong home record, UMass should be favored.

Hofstra @ Richmond- Some pundits (Phil Steele) picked the Pride (1-0) as high #4 preseason based on their 18 returning starters (the most in the CAA). Richmond (2-0) looks as if they are a National Championship contender again this year. Today's game should show if Hofstra is going to live up to the hype.

Maine@ Albany- The Black Bears (2-0) have played two weak opponents in St. Cloud State and Northeastern. The Great Danes (0-2) are looking for a fresh start.

New Hampshire has a bye.

Youngstown State@ Northeastern-The Penguins (1-1) got blown out at Pitt and didn't look that good in a game against Austin Peay. Northeastern (0-2) was hammered by Boston College and lost to Maine last week. The Boston Herald says the Huskies are already in a must-win situation.

Delaware State@ Delaware- The Blue Hens (1-1) lost to Richmond in the last minute of the game last week. The Hornets (0-1) lost to Flordia A&M in their only game so far. Delaware has dominated the few games played between the two teams and should win again easily.

VMI @ James Madison- The Dukes (0-1) beat the Cadets (1-0) 41-17 when they played in 2007. No reason to suspect a different outcome this time. VMI had a one point win over Robert Morris last week.

Villanova@Penn- Villanova (2-0) beat Temple in their opener and crushed Lehigh last week. Penn (0-0) took the Wildcats to overtime last year (20-14 loss). This could be the best game in the CAA against an OOC opponent this week.

Coastal Carolina@Towson- The tigers (0-1) don't have many chances to win this season. This could be one of them. The Chants are (1-1) this season. They lost to Kent State and beat Monmouth.

William & Mary@ Norfolk State- The Tribe (2-0) beat Norfolk State (1-1) 42-12 last year. the outcome should be the same this year.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BTW, Kansas State gets UCLA this week.

Day before the Rhode Island Game-09/18/09

The Rhode Island student newspaper has a look at Saturday's game from the Rams side here.

Matt Vautour says that UMass has been prepping for the Rams.

Rhody finally has its game notes up. Html here and pdf here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris Paul-Etiene 6-3 200 pd Jr QB transfer from Rutgers makes Rhode Island go.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK, the mystery QB is Jesse Hunt from Oakmont Regional. Spencer has left as had been reported previously. Thank you to just about everyone on the planet who contacted me about the correction :)


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CSN's Bruce Dowd has his weekly column "Dowd's Den" here.

Chuck Burton has a long article on the CAA and this week's FCS games here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brett Kahn of CSN previews this week's FCS games and picks UMass over the Rams (so does Bruce Dowd, so that is a worry).

Dave Coulson cover FCS news including "What's going on at Georgia Southern"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recruiting 2010-- QB Michael Quinn

UMass is recruiting pro-style QB Michael Quinn of Wayne Hills HS, New Jersey. Quinn is 6-3 and 195 pds.

His Rivals page is here. Quinn is the third ranked pro-style QB in New Jersey.

Story about him here.

Also being recruited by Buffalo, Harvard, Hofstra and Yale.

Thursday before Rhode Island --09/17/09

Matty Vautour reports that five previously injured UMass players are "Probable" for the Rhode Island game.

Two of them Syracuse transfer LB Mike Mele and Senior OT Rob Getek have not played so far this season.

D.J. Adeoba played a strong game at Kansas State and John Ihne is the starting center. Jeromy Horne was the third leading receiver in the CAA last year. All five are potential starters and would make a strong addition to the team.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How early can we start recruiting a player? Biddeford's Nate McKeon is the son of former UMass LB John McKeon. Nate's dad holds the UMass single season tackle record of 177, as well as the career total record of 543 tackles (1985-1988).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Bleacher Report has an article about the UFL and mentions Marcel Shipp.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seven CAA teams are ranked in FCS' top twenty five. Some people are already speculating that the CAA will equal its record five team selections for this year's playoffs. Could the league get six?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple of stories from The Sports Network: one on Richmond QB Eric Ward and another about McNeese State's big win at Appalachian State.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UNH's QB R.J. Tolman won the New England Gold Helmet Award for his performance at Ball State.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Click on the image and Blogger displays a much larger view.

Image by the K-State's student newspaper's Sara Manco.

Tyler Holmes brings down Wildcat QB Carson Coffman

Recruiting 2010-- QB Griffin Murphy

UMass is recruiting Griffin Murphy a 6-2 200 pd QB from St. John's HS Shrewsbury, MA

His Rivals page here. Scout.com (with video highlights) here.

More video highlights from MaxPreps.

Drawing interest from CAA teams UNH and JMU. Also interested are Harvard, Holy Cross and UConn.

A Rivals.com image.

Halfway to Rhode Island---09/16/09

UMass' game notes for the Rhode Island contest are up. Html here and pdf here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Patriots website mentions James Ihedigbo in this write-up on the coming Jets game.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I blame Jason Yellin for not sending me the e-mail.

From the Bruins Nation write-up on their game with Kansas State:"The Wildcats struggled to beat UMass at home (a team which just started playing D-1A ball this year) and then they lost to Louisiana-Lafayette by a score of 15-17."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The weekly CAA press release is up (includes information about this week's games).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Bleacher Report's Sara Hannon explains why JMU's Mickey Matthews is the worst coach in FCS football.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardin's Owls used to scare wits out of Nits

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:

Four Days until Rhode Island--09/15/09

Sophomore LB Tyler Holmes is the subject of this article by the Springfield Republican.

MassLive.com (Republican) also has a slide show from the Albany game.

Matty Vautor on the state of the CAA. He also is running a weekly "Path-to-the-Playoffs" Column

The UMass Athletic Website has a transcription of Coach Morris' weekly CAA telephone conference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CAA Players-of-the-Week here.

CSN has their National Players-of-the-week for 09/12/09 here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Head Coach Joe Trainer had fun in his first game at Rhode Island .

The Rhode Island student newspaper says the win over Fordham was a team effort.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass didn't move in the Sports Network poll. Or the Coach's Poll.

Sports Network's Brett Kahn on last Saturday's game between Richmond and Delaware.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keepers College football ratings has UMass by 18.84 over the Rams.

He has UMass at #13 in his FCS Rankings.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember Texas Tech's super receiver Michael Crabtree from last year's game? Before Crabtree broke his foot, he was considered one of the top players in the nation. He was drafted #10 in the first round, but has still not signed his contract. (link brought to my attention over on Draft Daddy)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Penn State Week: A puncher's chance

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.