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| This great photo of BP's final home game turned out to be prophetic. Photo by Mike Edwards |
Section 121, Row 22, seat 1 just got a whole lot quieter today and the season is still nine months away.
Bernard Pierce declared for the NFL draft, according to the Associated Press late Thursday night.
The noise coming from that seat for the last three years was a loud "GIVE THE BALL TO THE FRANCHISE!" and The Franchise was Bernard Pierce.
Now the franchise will have to be Matty Brown.
As much as I love Matty Brown's game, we saw all too well the limitations Brown had in the final two games of the 2010 season. With Pierce out injured and the box loaded, Brown was largely ineffective against Ohio and at Miami and the Owls lost their final two games.
"We're going to keep moving along. We're going to have a good football team. That's going to happen."
_ Steve Addazio
Have things changed since?
We will find out soon enough.
I can't be as enthusiastic about giving the ball to Brown 25 times a game as I was adamant about giving the ball that much to Pierce.
So while I will be cheering for Brown like mad, he's going to have to show me he can get the short yardage consistently if the defense is crazy enough to load the box against a Chris Coyer-quarterbacked team.
Brown's competitiveness should carry the day, but I also think Addazio's No. 1 recruiting priority is to grab a guy with Pierce's size, speed, vision and burst to the outside.
Good luck with that, Steve.
Why is it that Matt Barkley comes back at USC, Montee Ball comes back at Wisconsin, Landry Jones comes back at Oklahoma and Temple gets screwed by losing Bernard Pierce? Can't the "little guy" ever catch a break?
Brown's competitiveness should carry the running game on most days. That and the knowledge Coyer gives the Owls an added running dimension they did not have in the past five years.
"I kind of understand Matt now," Addazio said. "He's an emotional, competitive guy. Sometimes I put my arm around him and make sure he keeps it in perspective.
"I think he's the best back in the conference next year."
I'm kind of disappointed in Pierce's decision because it is part and parcel of the "rich get richer" mentality that is prevalent in college football today.
Why is it that Matt Barkley comes back at USC, Montee Ball comes back at Wisconsin, Landry Jones comes back at Oklahoma and Temple gets screwed by losing Bernard Pierce?
Can't the "little guy" ever catch a break?
It makes me want to scream.
All of those guys had more to lose than Bernard by coming back and they STILL made the decision to return.
Addazio made clear that he laid it on the table for Pierce, telling him to come back if he's not a first-round draft choice and letting him know that those who advised him otherwise had agendas.
Pierce won't be a first-round pick, but he's not coming back.
"What I'm not going to do is try to impose my will, I'm not doing that," Addazio said. "I'll support his decision. Those are personal decisions. We're going to keep moving along. We're going to have a good football team. That's going to happen."
I think Addazio just might be right. Temple will have a good football team without Bernard Pierce, but my nagging thought is that it would have had a great one with him.
Win them all and it becomes a moot point, but that's a high bar to set for a 5-foot-5, 150-pound guy.
