NCAA Football FanHouse

Even Temple Is a Winner in New World

David Whitley — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: Temple

Imagine you just awoke from a 20-year nap. What would be the most shocking discovery?

That a black man is in the White House? That you have to call India to get computer advice? That ESPN's SportsCenter is more influential than the CBS Evening News?

Or that Temple is a college football power?

I'd go with the Owls, especially when you see who's no longer a power.

Notre Dame, Florida State, Nebraska, Michigan and Miami. Their kingdoms have been overrun by the likes of Cincinnati, TCU, Boise State and Bill Cosby's alma mater in Philadelphia.

It's enough to make a Wolverine cry, or spend another $15 million on a hot new coach who'll bring back the good old days.

Good luck.

College football threw another parity party this season, and almost everyone showed up. The superpowers aren't that super. The big conferences are riddled with mediocrity. SMU is going to a bowl, and Michigan isn't.

Doesn't that make college football more fun?

Not if you live in Ann Arbor. But America loves underdogs. Maybe that's why I enjoy Notre Dame making like Mrs. Fletcher. She was the elderly woman lying prone on the bathroom floor in the old LifeCall medical alert commercials.

"I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Not with Charlie Weis on top of you, anyway. And as psychologists say, change is good. Without it we'd all be speaking with British accents and wearing powdered wigs to formal occasions.

FSU fans would probably prefer that than losing to South Florida. Losing to Temple just three years ago would have qualified a coach for immediate dismissal.

"Everything you study and read and learn about dysfunctional organizations or losing businesses, we were the epitome of it," Temple Coach Al Golden said.

The Owls just won their ninth straight game, beating Kent State 47-13. That doesn't make them a superpower, but it makes a good case study for today's subject.

Temple had 27 losing seasons in the past 29 years. The Owls didn't just lose, they stunk. They won two games or fewer 12 times since 1990.

Things were so bad in 2005 that the school was considering dropping from FBS to FCS status. There were only 54 scholarship players due to academic probation. You had to be broke or crazy to want to coach college football in Philadelphia.

"Don't take it. Don't touch it."

That's what confidants told Golden. He was the defensive coordinator at Virginia and fit the mold of the college football turnaround artist.

Golden's philosophy came as much from studying businessmen like Jack Welch as football men like Bill Snyder. He uses terms like "core values" and "culture," both of which needed serious changing at Temple.

"There are a lot of programs you can take over where all you have to do is coach," he said.

That was way down on Golden's initial To-Do list. He knew Temple was in the middle of a population center and fertile recruiting patch.

The potential was there, Golden just had to sell his vision to alumni, faculty, administration, fans and recruits who considered Temple a joke. And why shouldn't they, considering Cosby has done shows wearing a Temple sweatshirt?

The 0-11 team Golden inherited improved to 1-10 his first season. It lost by an average of 34 points per game. Just three years later, the Owls are closing in on a MAC title and their first bowl bid in 30 years.

That kind of transformation could not have happened in the days when dynasties ruled. Holding schools to 85 scholarships started the process, but those limits have been around almost 20 years.

There's been an influx of calculating young coaches willing to try get-rich-quick offenses, which explains Urban Meyer's meteoric rise from unknown college assistant to deity in six years.

The superpowers used to monopolize TV, which showed one national game per week. Now almost every conference has a deal with some network and there's at least one game on every night. Exposure leads to brand recognition, which leads to recruiting doors being opened.

Compared to 20 years ago, more players seem bigger and faster thanks to early training and, ahem, nutritional aids. Golden said what's really helped is how the traditional powers try to lock up five-star recruits when they're juniors in high school. The traditional powers still stock up, but they miss out on the late bloomers.

"The speed of recruiting means there are a lot more mistakes being made by the big boys," Golden said. "It's kind of the herd mentality."

If any school gets the right coach and supports him, it can pull a Cincinnati or a Boise State. That potential just wasn't there 20 years ago. Then again, neither was Google.

"Anti-trust laws apply to college athletics," Golden said. "There are no more monopolies."

As depressing as that may be to Mrs. Fletcher U and her fallen friends, the new paradigm has an upside. Just get the right coach, give him the tools and make your bowl plans.

If Temple can get up, anyone can.

Even Temple Is a Winner in New World originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blanket Coverage: For Pete's Sake

John Walters — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:33:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona State, Cincinnati, Florida, Louisville, New Mexico State, Ohio State, Oregon, Temple, Texas

Halloween in Eugene began with Oregon coach Chip Kelly disguised as the Duck mascot and ended with USC masquerading as Cal. Pete Carroll's Trojans are not exactly immune from defeat in the Beaver State (0-4 since 2006) but they never lose to a fellow highly ranked Pac-10 foe and they most certainly never get waxed.

That's Jeff Tedford's domain.

Hands continue to wring in the Southland -- the Orange County Register declared that "USC's complete dominance of the league, a dominance unmatched in conference history, is over" -- but I believe that Pete Carroll, much like Michael Myers, will haunt the Pac-10 for many Halloweens to come.

Also, I'd like to suggest a more salient reason for Troy's desultory play of late, one that has nothing to do with the freshman QB, the eight defensive starters lost, or the two new coordinators: jet lag (and that's not a Mark Sanchez reference).

This Saturday, the Trojans will fly to Phoenix to face Arizona State in neighboring Tempe, which will mark their sixth flight of the season. No school among the top dozen in the BCS rankings (USC is No. 12) will play six of its first nine games away from home. And only Boise State, primarily because the Broncos visited Hawaii on October 24, has accrued more frequent-flier mileage.

The Trojans are lax because of LAX. They've covered more miles than Les Miles. They've made two across-three-time-zones treks already (Ohio State and Notre Dame), which equals the total of the other 11 top-12 schools combined (Cincinnati at Oregon State and Boise State at Ohio State).

Below is a table ranking the top 12 in terms of mileage covered, with their actual BCS rankings in parentheses. Distances were rounded off to the nearest hundred miles:

1) Boise State (7)......................................13,400 miles

2) USC (12).............................................11,700

3) Cincinnati (5).........................................9,200

4) TCU (6)................................................8,200

5) LSU (5)................................................5,600

6) Texas (2)..............................................4,900

7) Florida (1).............................................3,800

8 (Tie) Iowa..............................................2,800

Georgia Tech....................................2,800

10) Oregon...............................................2,700

11) Alabama............................................1,800

12) Penn State.........................................1,300

Granted, it's not as if the Trojans were traveling by sleeper car back to South Bend. On the other hand, I'm beginning to wonder if safety Taylor Mays begins pep talks with, "This is your captain speaking."

Maybe Carroll's greatest nemesis may not be the swiftly surging Ducks. Maybe it's his athletic director.

THE ZACH ATTACK
He has only been the starter for 2½ games, but Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros has been outstanding in leading the No. 5 Bearcats to victories against South Florida, Louisville and Syracuse. Since taking over for injured starter Tony Pike, Collaros has completed 75 percent of his passes (47-of-63) for 749 yards and nine touchdown passes versus just one interception. That's the same TD-to-INT ratio that Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame, second in the nation in passing efficiency, has.

Asked when Pike, who himself is currently seventh in the nation in passing efficiency, would play again on Monday, Bearcat coach Brian Kelly offered, "It's hard to say."

STEIN SHINES
Louisville, led by 5-8 walk-on quarterback Will Stein, beat Arkansas State, 21-13. Stein had last seen game action at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium as a local high school senior when he led Trinity to a defeat of St. Xavier in front of 37, 550 fans. Saturday's attendance at the same venue was 21,497.

TRUE BROMANCE
I cannot decide whether Riley Cooper is the Jordan Shipley of the SEC or whether Shipley is the Cooper of the Big 12. Cooper is the Gator wideout with the Head & Shoulders mane who is not only Tim Tebow's primary target, he's also his roommate.

Shipley is the childhood best friend and roommate of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy. He is also the Longhorn quarterback's favorite target. All four are straight out of "Friday Night Lights" (it's Jason Street and Tim Riggins come to life). Should Florida and Texas meet in Pasadena for the BCS championship, it'll be a question of whether Brent Musberger utters the term "bromance" during the broadcast or if he'll just refer to them as "pardners."

HMMMMMMM
Ohio State beat New Mexico State 45-0. The spread in Vegas was 44. If only everyone worked as diligently as oddsmakers.

TEMPLE IN NEED OF WORSHIPPERS?
Congrats to Temple for beating Navy. In earning their sixth straight victory, the Owls also became bowl-eligible for the first time since 1979. And so it would seem that their next home game would be an ideally opportune time for the fans in Philadelphia, and not just the Cos, to show their pride.

There's just one small problem. Temple's next home game, versus Miami of Ohio at Lincoln Financial Field, is Thursday night. That also happens to be the scheduled date for Game 7 of the World Series between the Phillies and the New York Yankees ... if necessary.

Blanket Coverage: For Pete's Sake originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:33:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Al Golden Believes Temple Is a Better Job Than Syracuse

Chas Rich — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:17:00 EST

Filed under: Syracuse, Temple, Big East, MAC, Coaching

Maybe Al Golden is just really loyal to the Owls. Or maybe it's a message to Syracuse of just how far they have fallen.

"Syracuse asked for permission to speak with Coach Golden, and it was granted," said Temple Director of Athletics Bill Bradshaw. "However, Coach Golden has indicated that he is not interested in pursuing the position."

Ouch. It's not like Syracuse hasn't been suffering enough the last few years. Now the coach of a team kicked out of the Big East isn't even interested.

On the other hand, this could be about Golden looking at a bigger brass ring. The Penn State alum has long been mentioned as a possible successor to Joe Paterno. He might think that possibility is getting closer than ever. Or he could be eyeing the Virginia job. The former 'Hoo defensive coordinator had to notice that Al Groh was not getting the additional year on his contract after this season.

Both jobs might be available in the next year or two. Golden just might be waiting a little longer for a better opportunity.

Al Golden Believes Temple Is a Better Job Than Syracuse originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:17:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Week Two Proposition Bets For The College Football Junkie

John Radcliff — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Connecticut, East Carolina, Temple, West Virginia, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Conference USA, Gambling

Prop Bets for the College Football Junkie is a weekly post that cares not for your silly point spreads. If you have the money and the gumption, we'll lay down a weekly gauntlet of propositions that'll take you from the penthouse to the outhouse faster than you can guess the number of times Lee Corso will say "not so fast my friend." As always, this is for entertainment purposes only.

- We kid because we care, and if Notre Dame is able to win this weekend against San Diego State you can expect Lou Holtz to remind the world that he predicted the Irish to win 11 games this year. We put the over/under for this at five, provided Notre Dame wins. Also, we put the over/under at three for the number of times Mark May will remind Holtz that it was San Diego State. We would say five, but we're sure at least a couple of those times there will be a producer on the set with a look on his face that says "just let him enjoy this moment."

- The punt block that sealed East Carolina's victory over Virginia Tech was poetic justice for all the times the Hokies have won games like that. We're sure it will be replayed multiple times during the game with West Virginia this weekend. But that's now what we're looking at. No, the over/under for this one will be the number of Tech fans actually cheering for West Virginia, and we put that number at five. If you don't know, the catch is that Tech and West Virginia were hated rivals in the Big East days. Being a West Virginia fan, I find it comforting that any Hokie would stoop so low as to cheer for the Mountaineers. Even funnier is that I know of at least one already. Unfortunately, I had to delete his comments on this because he had some derogatory phrases about the Pirates in his comments. I guess it must be my picture.

- Howard Schnellenberger had some choice words for Texas before getting thumped 52-10 last weekend. After eating those words, do you think he learned anything from it? This is a straight up yes/no proposition. Florida Atlantic plays UAB this weekend. We lean toward the yes, because if he'd say that about Texas he's say it about anyone. But probably not again to anyone that would print it.

Quick Hitters:

- Number of "firemikesherman.com's" if the Aggies lose to New Mexico this weekend, +/- 10. Remember, they take their football serious in Texas even if he doesn't.

- Number of keystrokes Desmond Howard will pretend to hit while he's on the bus talking about the volume of chatters online, +/- 500. For some reason, ESPN thinks we care if Desmond really is jumping in with chatters while he's talking in that segment.

- The announcers for the Akron-Syracuse game will probably mention Greg Robinson's accomplishments before coming to Syracuse in a vain attempt to persuade the Orange not to fire him at the end of the year. We put that at +/- 5. But for the sake of Syracuse fans, isn't one too many?

- Number of times the video in this post will be played during the UConn-Temple game, +/- 10. Come on, networks! Get on the karma train. It's time to remind everyone why UConn didn't deserve the record they had last year.

Week Two Proposition Bets For The College Football Junkie originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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