AROUND THE NATION COMING UP B1G: Not only do Ohio State and Michigan State hold sway atop the national polls, and rightfully so, but “Heavy D” Northwestern has proven itself worthy of top-20 mention, and, frankly, so has Iowa even though it hasn’t received it yet. Wisconsin is ranked again, too. Really, though, the strength of the conference is seen in the firepower of its two best teams, not to mention the nation’s two best teams, and the evolution of both the Wildcats and Hawkeyes as legitimate contenders in the circuit’s West division. Even as an Illinois alum, I often love what Pat Fitzgerald gets out of his Northwestern squads. They’re always tough, even when they’re outmanned, and when the Wildcats get a defense, whooo boy, they can hang with anyone, anytime. Just ask Stanford and Duke. Iowa is more of an enigmatic option. The Hawks are more talented than, say, Northwestern, but they don’t necessarily play as well, and certainly not on defense, relying much more heavily on the athletic and leadership talents of QB C.J. Beathard. He was good, and at times great, again in the thrilling, last-second 27-24 win against previously unbeaten Pitt. Oh, and Michigan seems to have righted its ship under captain Jim Harbaugh, too. Watch out, SEC. POLE VAULTER: Well, maybe not all of the SEC should feel endangered just yet. Ole Miss jumped 12 spots in the latest AP rankings, standing at No. 3 right behind Ohio State and Michigan State after toppling then-No. 2 Alabama, 43-37, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday night. Not sure I see the arm strength with Rebs QB Chad Kelly that ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit does, but the guy has talent, and the defense Hugh Freeze is able to run out there takes a back seat to no one in terms of ability and speed. That being said, not really feeling an unbeaten run through the SEC by Ole Miss, especially with a visit to insanely overlooked and disrespected Florida in two weeks. CONTENDER TO PRETENDER: Had the feeling two ranked squads out West would find themselves bounced from the playoff picture this weekend, but wasn’t getting a strong vibe about either – so I picked one, then-No. 19 Brigham Young going down at UCLA … which did happen. But just barely, 24-23. Honestly, had my thinking cap been screwed on tight, I would’ve hopped all over then-No. 6 Southern Cal stumbling against Stanford, not so much because the Trojans were frauds but because the Cardinal were, and are, not. They just had the misfortune of facing Northwestern to start the season, on the road. SORRY, NOT SORRY: I’m not a fan of anyone suffering injuries at any time, so I don’t exactly revel in watching a player go down during the course of a game. But, gotta say, I’m not in heavy remorse over Notre Dame safety Drue Tranquill enduring a torn ACL while landing awkwardly after celebrating a play. This isn’t a condemnation of kids showing excessive emotion. My issue is in not realizing where you are, and doing something completely unnecessary and stupid that could alter your life plans. Word to the wise: Don’t ever chest-bump on turf. Grass, OK. Turf, no way. It is death to the knees. FOOT IN MOUTH … AGAIN: Granted, I get Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury’s frustration with hearing the seemingly never-ending quote machine that is Bret Bielema ruffle everyone’s feathers with his ill-conceived “wisdom.” But don’t stoop to the same level as the guy after beating his Arkansas squad. It won’t be any surprise when the football gods deliver K2 the same kind of penance handed down to Bielema already this season for his blowhard shenanigans. | It was a fascinating study in role reversal. If anything screamed out during Saturday’s shaky affair at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., where Temple University’s football team eked out a 25-23 nonconference win against a new foe, Massachusetts, from a former allegiance, Mid-American, it was this: Owls fans have seen it before. Many times. Only Temple wasn’t in the position of underdog having its heart ripped out. Its opponent was. That’s the thing. Everything about the game reeked “familiar.” Close. Sloppy. All-out effort on one side. Something far less from the other. If effort and fairness ruled the football universe there would be little doubt as to which would be anointed the victor. Every single thing seemed a reminder of all those tough-luck losses, the ones that led to condescending pats on the back from the winners, soon followed by the snickers acknowledging that “things will never change” no matter how much work is put in, no matter how hard a team plays, to change the seemingly birthright-given fortunes. Apparently, though, Temple’s have, and Saturday’s performance seemed to shed a little light on that, perhaps even more so than season-starting eye-openers against Penn State and Cincinnati that paved the way to the Owls’ spotless record three weeks into the 2015 college football season. Yeah, it was wonderful to see them finally snap the winless skid against Penn State. Failing for 74 years obliterated any and all statutes of limitations many times over. Beating Cincy was an even bigger deal, since the Bearcats, frankly, have more talent and were the legitimate favorite to win the American Athletic Conference to which Temple now proudly belongs. But playing poorly, if not lifelessly, and still having enough to upend a lesser foe that, really, carried the proceedings all afternoon by giving every ounce it had all afternoon, on the road to boot? Nah, that’s taking things to another level altogether. Some may point to that being the sign of a good team. Me? I’m thinking more along the lines of the football gods finally have an affinity for what is going on with Matt Rhule and Co. along North Broad ... and, not for nothing, having a bye week after starting 3-0, with a chance to tidy up that oil leakage beginning to show against UMass, that's just another positive, "they're smiling down on us" sign. For those of us who grew up in Pennsylvania, but didn’t grow up worshipping at the feet of Joe Paterno, or the holier-than-thou words stated about him by loyal, star-struck media members, Penn State cornered the market on winning despite being beaten. Even for those with a healthy respect for the program and its success, it was maddening to watch the Lions – whether they had a great team or a mediocre one – snatch victories from the jaws of deserved defeat so routinely. Especially when any of those games involved the Owls, or the team representing my other alma mater, Illinois. Don’t think I forgot that ridiculous 1994 rally, PSU. Point is, Temple clearly has turned a corner here. Quickly. Under Rhule’s reign, they’ve gone from 2 wins to 6 wins to … well, it’s starting to look like something really special. It’s not just the wins, either. The Owls are solid, top to bottom. Even the administration overseeing all things that the football program does, including by Rhule, has a better grasp of what it takes to get things done at this level – if success is the main objective. A win like Saturday’s never would have occurred in Temple’s past. Not in my lifetime at least. The Owls never held the favorite role before and performed it so lackadaisical en route to winning. It was like Temple “Penn Stated” UMass in this one: show up with minimal respect for the opposition, putter along for about 58 minutes and then stumble into enough positives in the final two for the win. It was an ugly win, and yet glorious at the same time. Temple, as a program, has met the football gods’ approval, and benefited from that. Finally. Now, if the Owls can crack the national polls, watch out. - Jack Kerwin | ydkjack1@gmail.com |
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Am fortunate. There’s no heartache, heartbreak or chest pain. Ever. At some point, NFL games stopped becoming a gut-wrenching, nerve-twisting whirlwind of emotions in which my world could become unhinged or absolutely euphoric on the whim of a wide receiver’s willingness to lay out for a ball or not. Yep, when I followed football back in the day, it was a major commitment. I was “all in” decades, lifetimes, eons before “all in” became the trendy, marketable ploy to attract paying customers these days. For me, no team got my “all in” commitment as much as the Eagles, and, with that, especially at that impressionable time, as Dick Vermeil was leading the team out of the ashes, no game they played had my “all in” attention as much as Dallas did. I hated the Cowboys. I mean, I really hated ’em. With every fiber of my being, I could not stand anything about them. Where they played. How they played. What they wore when they played. Who played for them. Think about that. I hated Roger Staubach … with a passion that couldn’t be measured. The stupidity of such a reality defies description, but I digress … So, umm, yeah, I didn’t care much for the Cowgirls, or the people who did care for them. I took great pride in being a typical Eagles fans. Cherished it. Promoted it. Showed it, loud and proud. Oh, back in that day, I would’ve been living for something like this afternoon’s 4:25 start at Lincoln Financial Field between my beloved Birds and Dallas for months as if my well-being, sanity and life in general depended on it. But I changed. Somewhere along the line, my priorities and my interests changed. The curveballs life threw me, be they personal or professional, facilitated my move in a different direction. Kids, career, successful or not, my “all in” for the Eagles, and that Philly-Dallas rivalry, faded. I gained a new perspective. Not saying it’s a better or worse one. In fact, sometimes when I find myself looking for a little inner fire I wish I still had that passion. I even look for it, but it’s no longer there. Instead, I just get to enjoy the game. This is blasphemous I know. But, to me, it’s just another game. Oh, I’ll be for the Birds. I’ll hope they win. But I’ll be fine before, during and after the game, regardless of the outcome, regardless of whether Ryan Matthews bores through the line for that TD or gets stuffed at the point of attack. Honestly, I don’t even necessarily “get” the rivalry existing anymore. The whole point, even back then, was that Dallas represented the “have” in the NFL and Philly the “have-not.” The reality, as Eagles fans, we desperately wanted to become what the Cowgirls were: winners. Oh, we could deal without all the cheesy, highfalutin pomposity that came with their deal, but, still, we wanted to win like they did. But Dallas hasn’t been relevant in “top teams” discussions for decades. If anything, the Eagles have had a far greater experience over the last couple of ’em, with far greater success. If anything, the Eagles’ real rivalry is with the New York Giants – their closest neighbors to the north, and an outfit that has achieved something that not even Dallas has in the past decade: a championship. Twice. Even the Washington Redskins make more sense to me as rivals as well. Like the Giants, they’re relatively quick ride away, just heading south on I-95 instead. Coming clean, though, I don’t get all geared up to “hate” on them, either. I don’t dislike Eli Manning or Tony Romo, and I don’t rejoice in what has happened to RG3. So, today, while many I know will work up a good lather either sweating through the game or spewing on about it, I’m fortunate. I’ll watch, take in what I see, and just enjoy as pure entertainment, and, truth be told, I kinda like it that way. Besides, I got nothing left after that Temple game yesterday. Jack Kerwin | ydkjack1@gmail.com
1. Well, all the Owls can share in the blame for this flat, FLAT, F-L-A-T performance thus far, including new media darling Matt Rhule. The head coach may have warned his squad about looking past its current opponent until he was all shades of Cherry & White in the face. Didn’t matter. The Owls did it anyway. That’s not a good sign for a program trying to build a rock-solid foundation. Remaining focused is Step One in that process, and they whiffed on it with this one, hence the 17-all tie at halftime against, yeah, it’s true, an inferior opponent. If they don’t get their heads screwed on straight in the locker room, they’re looking at the very real possibility of blowing everything they’ve worked for up to this point. Even the wins against Penn State and Cincinnati would mean far, FAR less than they currently do should the Owls lose to a lesser opponent. 2. It’s nice to see Rhule and Co. trying to get QB P.J. Walker untracked, but even that’s been a hit-or-miss proposition. Yeah, the junior has looked great at times, throwing for 252 yards and a score, the former of those two numbers surpassing his season total for the first two weeks. That has needed to happen. But, Walker has been, well, pretty lazy with his “reads” and throws a few times, and that resulted in a couple picks by the Minutemen, the second of which occurred with the Owls ahead 17-10 with two minutes to go before halftime and driving. UMass merely took possession and marched for the tying score, converting a key fourth down in the process. 3. RB Jahad Thomas and LB Tyler Matakevich can put down their press clippings, and refocus on the playing field now. Both have been dreadful in the initial 30 minutes of this one, with Thomas repeatedly running away from daylight and into traffic, and T-Mat doing a disappearing act, including on coverage of the Minutemen’s aerial TD right before halftime. The two were, arguably, the best offensive and defensive players in the entire nation through the first two weeks, playing the lead rolls against both Penn State and Cincinnati. Right now, they’re sleepwalking like the rest of the Owls. 4. Obviously, the Owls have superior talent. Even with the aforementioned combined with a bunch of boo-boos, including five penalties for 55 yards, they had racked up their season’s per-full game average for yardage by halftime with 307 yards. They posted more first downs than the hosts and held the ball longer as well. But they turned it over twice, courtesy of Walker, while UMass did that just once. All in all, everything just spells sloppy and, really, lack of respect for an opponent – which, not for nothing, but Temple is not good enough to ever do. Either. Not that any good team really ever would do either. 5. Love the big-play ability of WR Robby Anderson, which was on full display with a 53-yard hookup with Walker. However, the team’s receiving security blanket really is senior John Christopher, whose five catches for 53 yards kept the Owls alive and moving for much of the first half. He’s also the same guy who tossed a 25-yard pass to Walker against Penn State on a trick play to loosen things up in the opener. - Jack Kerwin | ydkjack1@gmail.com |
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