It was about the day after a nuclear war.
This morning after is not that bad, but close.
That's just the way I feel.
I can't imagine how it feels for the kids and the coaches who invested emotion and so much more into this program.
Kids are pretty resilient, though, and I hope they'll be back to playing Temple football in less than a week.
What is Temple football?
To me, it's running the ball behind a line that averages 318-pounds with an NFL first-round draft choice. I love Matty Brown. Love the kid. He's a change-of-pace back at best and a fill-in who can get you 226 in a pinch against Army.
I want my NFL first-rounder back on the field and, failing that, I would like to give a bigger back (Ahkeem Smith) a shot to carry the ball next week and chew some clock. Then throw play-action off the run.
Temple football on defense is getting after the quarterback and forcing turnovers and being fundamentally sound against the run.
I did not see much Temple football on either side of the ball last night.
This I do know, though.
For the second straight year, my favorite Owl, Bernard Pierce, missed the Ohio game.
Do I think he's glass?
No.
I think this young man has had incredibly bad luck.
Do I think Temple wins with Bernard? Easily. This kid is a first-round NFL draft pick in April, 2012. Matty Brown? Love the kid, but IF he's lucky ... IF ... he might get a free-agent invite.
That's reality as I see it.
This trying to split carries between Matty and Bernard has been a disaster. Making Brown a feature back really is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Let's put the square pegs in the square holes and the round ones in the round holes.
Pierce, when healthy, needs to stay in the game and develop a rhythm. That's what he did so well for most of last year.
Let's hope he's healthy for the final two games.
I'm not one of those guys who refuse to give the other team props. My hat is off to Ohio and Frank Solich, who coached the tan pants off of Al Golden for the second year in a row. Ohio made plays and Temple didn't. For that alone, Ohio deserved to win.
This season has come down to this:
Win at Miami and the Owls go to the GoDaddy.com bowl in Mobile, Ala.
Lose at Miami and the Owls might not go bowling anywhere.
I hope to see you folks in Mobile.
More than that, I want to see real Temple football again and soon.
