Friday, October 22, 2010

Temple Game Day: Keyword is kiss


This is what happened the last time the Owls had a road game in New York.

When I think about the keyword being kiss, I'm usually thinking of weathergirl Cecily Tynan of Channel 6, WPVI, the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia.
She's the only person these days who makes me want to pucker up and kiss the TV screen.
I'm pursing the lips today while I think about watching Channel 6 (noon) for the Temple at Buffalo game because if Temple can use the word kiss as its guide things should go fairly smoothly.
Kiss.
Keep.
It.
Simple.
Stupid.

Outfreaking (and I'm not talking about Dave Roberts)

Al Golden isn't stupid, but the coaches under him have coached the last two weeks like they are.
He's the boss. He's got to dictate the game plan, so it's on him today.
If Al Golden knows what he's doing (and I think he does), it's very simple this week:
1) Establish Bernard Pierce left, right and up the middle (that won't take long, he's THAT great);
2) Play off the (now) fear of BP getting the ball, by faking to (duh?) BP and throwing the ball downfield to wide-open receivers like Evan Rodriguez, Rod Streater, Michael Campbell, Joey Jones, Delano Green, etc. Those throws must be made by Mike Gerardi and not Chester Stewart because CS cannot complete a play-action pass to save his life.
3) Go after the new Buffalo quarterback with blitzes. You let any quarterback, including me, sit there for five seconds (like we have all year) and they'll pick you apart. (I would pick us apart by throwing the ball 20 yards downfield because I can't throw any farther, but a D1A QB given time picks any defense apart). So the goal is to cut those five seconds of slack down to 1.2 or less this week.
If the above three points are followed, Temple wins, 38-17.
If two are followed, Temple wins, 27-20.
If none are followed, Temple loses, 24-21.
Kiss.
That's what I'll be doing to the screen if Al Golden follows my simple game plan.