Montel Harris gets carried off the field after beating Clemson. This could be him hoisted by the Owls after beating Cincinnati for Big East title at LFF. |
"Is it wrong that I will be kind of rooting for Temple this year? I want to see Day, Harris and Rogers succeed." _ A.J. Black, contributing writer, BC InterruptionThe news that Montel Harris is officially at Temple and participating in pre-season workouts made at least two people happy.
Steve Addazio and Ted Brown.
Addazio, you know about.
Bernard Pierce vs. Montel HarrisThe Temple head coach not only had the most successful first season of any coach in the school's history, but he also followed that up with the highest-ranked recruiting class in Temple history, better than any of the Al Golden classes.
(both played 3 full CF years)
Pierce: 663 carries, 3,570 yards
Harris: 787 carries, 3,735 yards
Even more notable than recruiting, Temple finished the 2011 season ON THE FIELD ranked higher in the Sagarin ratings than all but one of the current Big East teams (Cincinnati).
Sagarin (USA Today) had Temple finishing the 2011 season ranked No. 30 in the country, with only Cincinnati (No. 28) ahead of it and the Owls finishing ahead of Rutgers (37), South Florida (47), Louisville (64), Pitt (68), UConn (73) and Syracuse (83). Realtime RPI.com had Temple ranked No. 37, behind only Cincinnati (24) and Rutgers (30). Louisville was 53, Pitt 64, 'Cuse (83, again) and UConn 89.
So much for Temple taking a step back without Al Golden.
Brown, you don't know about unless you are an old-time North Carolina State football fan. Brown will now keep his spot as the ACC's all-time leading rusher. Had Harris stayed at Boston College, he almost certainly would not have. Harris was just 828 yards short of the record when he left the Chestnut Hill (Mass.) school in March.
The circumstances surrounding his dismissal are foggy at best but there almost unanimous support of this young man on the most popular Boston College football fan website. More important than that, his two closest position coaches at BC, Temple offensive gurus Ryan Day and Kevin Rogers, have vouched for him. That's all I need to know.
You can make a strong argument that Harris is the best rusher in ACC history.
Harris graces cover of TSN in 2010. |
On a Big East message board, one fan wrote that "this gives Temple a legit rusher."
Au contrare, my friend. It gives Temple THREE (3) legit rushers.
Remember, Matty Brown, not Bernard Pierce, was Temple's No. 1 all-purpose rusher last year. Pierce was a third-round NFL draft choice.
Quarterback Chris Coyer, unbeaten as a starter, ran for a 69-yard touchdown against Ball State and an 80-yard touchdown against Villanova. Oh yes, Coyer, an excellent passer as well, gained 184 yards RUSHING against a bowl-winning Ohio team.
On this website, Brown was the runaway winner of a poll asking "Which running back most epitomizes the term Temple TUFF?" and beat out Pierce, Heisman Trophy runner-up Paul Palmer, Mark Bright and others by a large margin.
Brown won't give up his No. 1 spot easily.
My feeling all along that this is all good for Brown and Harris and Temple. If, as expected, Harris is 100 percent, he will slide into Pierce's spot and get the 27 touchdowns and 1,789 yards Pierce had last season.
If he's 85-90 percent, he will slide into Brown's spot of last season and pick up Matt's 916 yards and six touchdowns.
It's all good for Steve Addazio, Temple football, Montel Harris, Matt Brown and, especially, Ted Brown.
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