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| My letter in the Philadelphia Daily News three days after the UConn game. |
OK, I admit it.
Steve Addazio's Stone Age offensive philosophy and the lack of a pass rush or a lost back line of the defense is not why Temple has lost its last two games.
I'm to blame.
Yeah, me.
Ever since I wrote that letter to the Philadelphia Daily News at the top of this post, Temple hasn't been able to do a damn thing on the football field. You can read that complete letter here.
I must be the most superstitious person, or at least one of, in the world.
I wore a black "Papreps" T-Shirt to the Maryland game.
They lost, so I tossed the shirt.
I sat in the Penn State section at the Temple game (figured I'd be nice to my PSU friends who gave me a free ticket).
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| The game will be seen within the entire Temple recruiting footprint. |
They lost, so I sat in the Temple section at the UConn game.
I'll never sit in an opposing section again.
I wore my Cherry "Temple Al Golden" sweatshirt to the Rutgers' game. (I call it the Al Golden Sweatshirt because it's the one he wore on the sidelines of the Penn State game in 2007. Or so Patti told me when I bought it from her in the Temple athletics office.)
You won't see my Al Golden Sweatshirt again, even though I paid $55 for it.
Last week, I've done something I haven't done in years.
Watched from home and my furniture and lamps and TVs got the brunt of my frustration in a 47-17 loss.
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| Al Golden, wearing my sweatshirt |
And I'll bring my rabbit's foot with me.
In this space every week on this day, I usually write about what teams did to be successful against the teams Temple is playing every Saturday.
Since William and Mary blitzed Maryland (and Temple didn't) and Ohio used a short passing game to beat Penn State (and Temple didn't) and Youngstown State used a spread offense to beat Pitt (and Temple didn't), I figured I'd throw all that X's and O's mumbo jumbo out the window.
All I know is that an 0-8 Southern Mississippi team lost by four to Louisville and a 1-8 Florida International team lost by a touchdown to Louisville.
Armed with that knowledge and a rabbit's foot and the same clothes I wore in Connecticut, I'm hoping to reverse the Karma back to 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, when I was singing "T for Temple U" with the team after an overtime win at Uconn.
You'll know if it works by about the same time today.
Picks last week: Last week, I went 2-2 straight up, 1-3 against the spread. I had Kent State and Toledo winning straight up, but Toledo fell two points of the spread and the 13.5 I had with Kent State against Rutgers was the bargain of the year.
Season record: 11-6 straight up, 9-8 against the spread, 1-1 locks of the week.
This week: AIR FORCE giving 7 at Army; GEORGIA TECH giving 7 1/2 to host Maryland; Host BUFFALO giving 3 1/2 to Miami (Ohio) and CINCINNATI giving 4 1/2 to visiting Syracuse.
Reasoning: Air Force has played a tougher schedule, Maryland is without its top four QBs, Buffalo is on the upswing and Cincy has far more talent and depth than 'Cuse.
Also like (unofficially and not for purposes of picks) national sack leader TULSA getting 8 at Arkansas. Staying away from that game because 7-1 Tulsa is stepping up in class.
Tomorrow: Complete analysis of the game
