Saturday, October 13, 2012

How 'bout 'dem OWLboys?



Chris Coyer talks about the fateful two-minute drill.

Coyer absolved those sins with what I believe is the most clutch throw I've ever seen from a Temple quarterback and I've seen a lot of clutch throws
Five games into the season and there are so many theories about how this football season is going to play out for the Temple Owls.
Prior to the fifth game, I had a premonition that this was going to be a "16-13 or 21-14 game" and I wrote that in my Friday post, adding "go with the Owls."
I was wrong.
It wasn't 16-13 or 21-14.
It was 17-14.
And they needed overtime.
Close enough, and I got the right side.
We all know now how the first five games have played out, with the Owls winning more than they have lost and being unbeaten in the all-important conference games.
My reaction to UConn players walking through the halls.
Still, though, my belief turned into absolute metaphysical certainty only when I found myself sharing the same hotel as the UConn players, the Sheraton in Rock Hill, CT.
Not having a refrigerator in the room, I had to get up every two hours in the middle of the night and walk down the hall to keep my tailgate, err, stuff cold. My makeshift "refrigerator" was a trash can filled with ice that kept melting. So I needed frequent refills.
Each time I opened my door, I saw two or three UConn players wearing Huskie sweat clothes walking aimlessly through the halls.
At least it looked like aimlessly to me.
At the same time, I was being told that Temple ran plays in the parking lot at its team hotel on the other side of town in Cromwell and also received texts from that hotel saying the Owls were safely tucked in their beds and not wandering the halls.
Temple head coach Steve Addazio has that kind of stuff pretty much locked down.
I didn't know UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni was lax on the discipline end, but the evidence seem to have suggested otherwise.
Still, that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement in other areas for Temple, either.
Hey, I wasn't thrilled with the offensive game plan (I WAS thrilled with the defensive game plan) but a win is a win.
The way this team currently is constructed, the run can never set up the pass. It's not going to work. It's got to be the other way around.
Coach Wayne Hardin used to always say, "run when they expect you to pass and throw when they expect you to run." A simple but effective philosophy taken from the old shell game. He wasn't considered an offensive genius for nothing.
I can honestly say that every time Temple runs (first and second down, mostly) I expect Temple to run. The same can be said for the Temple passing downs. If a schmuck like me can figure that out, well-paid RU coach Kyle Flood has a whole lot of easy tendencies to game plan for this Saturday.

For the life of me, I can't figure how Temple ran Montel Harris (28 carries, 142 yards) wide on fourth and inches when center Sean Boyle was left uncovered and quarterback Chris Coyer could have gone 20 yards on a sneak. Coyer absolved those sins with what I believe is the most clutch throw I've ever seen from a Temple quarterback and I've seen a lot of clutch throws.
I don't know what the harm is in a play-action throw every once in a while on first down, not third, or rolling Coyer out with quick slants to Jalen Fitzpatrick and Ryan Alderman to set up success in the running game. The way this team currently is constructed, the run can never set up the pass. It's not going to work. It's got to be the other way around.
That's the kind of stuff that has to be locked down as well as bedcheck has been.
Success in the final six games depends on it.
I can say that with the same absolute metaphysical certainty I felt about Temple winning after watching those UConn guys walking the halls.
Unless I see the offensive approach change against Rutgers, no more predictions.