Final two home games: Plenty of (empty) seats available

This could very well be a shot of halftime at the EMU game.

By Mike Gibson
Before the season started, I wrote that it was important for Temple to get off to a good start so that the product on the field reflected the hype off of it.
At the time, I said that a fan base beaten down for so long needed tangible evidence that wins were going to come in the first part of the season so that they could buy into the product for the last part of the season.
And, I said, close losses were not going to cut it.
So where are we after 10 games, after giving up 600 yards of total offense to a 2-7 Kent State team in a 41-38 loss last night?
Three-and-seven, that's where.
That's the bottom line.
This season, in which a lot of Owl fans thought would end in a feast, is pretty much over. All that's left is crumbs.
What this team needs, right now, is a big-time, ready-to-play, no-excuses, All-American JUCO quarterback to replace the great Adam DiMichele next year. It would be nice to find someone with all of the intangible qualities ADM possesses, but I'll settle for someone with half his moxie if he has all of his mobility. Surely, some hotshot can be convinced he can come here and get time right away.
Will we get him?
Let history be your guide:
At the end of last season, I wrote that we needed three things in particular to get better:

• A big-time fullback (I suggested Serra Catholic's Isiah Jackson);
  
• A big-time kicker (I suggested Hun School's Scott Demler);
  
• A big-time running back;
  

Well, we got the running back but we had him playing cornerback until midway through the season.
Hmm. I wonder whose fault was that?
We decided to go without the first two and, much to my chagrin, that probably cost us quite a few valuable points.
Three-and-seven.

This was
supposed to be
a season of
progress, a season
that saw the 4-8
team of a year ago
jump into the 6-,
7- or 8-win
category. Not
an unrealistic
leap of faith ...

An incredible disappointment of a season that will no doubt be punctuated by 60,000 empty seats for the final two home games.
No doubt.
And, quite frankly, I don't blame a single fan for walking away.
I can't do it because I want so badly for Temple to succeed.
So I will drive to the stadium for the final two home games, open the car door and walk into the stadium.
Many more will protest by taking their feet and walking in the opposite direction.
That's their prerogative.
This was supposed to be a season of progress, a season that saw the 4-8 team of a year ago jump into the six-, seven- or eight-win category.
Not an unrealistic leap of faith since said team had 21 of 22 starters returning and, by most accounts, the No. 1 MAC recruiting class for three seasons in a row and a defense that was ranked No. 1 in the MAC was returning intact.
None of the teams Temple would play in the league had 21 of 22 starters back and none of them had the No. 1 recruiting class for three straight years. None of them had the No. 1 defense in the league returning.
Six wins was a minimum and not overly optimistic benchmark given that backdrop.
If this staff could coach at all, that's what they would deliver this win-starved fan base.

If this staff
could coach at all,
that's what they
would deliver this
win-starved fan
base. Tangible
progress in terms
of wins, not
points, not close
losses, not net
yield. Wins.

Tangible progress in terms of wins, not points, not close losses, not net yield.
Wins.
There are plenty of things disappointing about the season, but none more than the head coach's failure to take the blame for anything.
It's ultimately his responsibility that the team lost games, particularly crucial decisions he did or did not make in UConn, Buffalo and Navy games but, to him, it's always someone else's fault.
It's the kid who didn't knock the ball down's fault in the Buffalo game. Never mind that he gave that kid no help when he let the Buffalo quarterback run around for eight seconds before throwing the ball. A jailhouse blitz probably would have ended the game four seconds sooner in Temple's favor. Bruce Arians had the courage to do just that to win a game against Rutgers in 1988.
Geez, it's not his fault that he went for a first down at his own 34 in a tie game against UConn.
And, surely, it wasn't his fault for not punting in the Navy game. It was some 19-year-old kid's fault for not wrapping the ball up.
Going into the Kent game we were told that "I've seen leadership like never before" after the Navy debacle.
Yet where did that leadership get them?
Another loss.
That's some damn good leadership right there.
I'd rather have crappy leadership and more wins, quite frankly.
And at least a coach who might take responsibility for something that didn't go quite right.
Or everything that didn't go right.
I won't hold my breath.