INSIDE SLANT
For the first time in 30 years, Temple is going to a bowl game, the EagleBank Bowl at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 29.
Al Golden’s Owls (9-3) will face up-and-down UCLA (6-6 in 2009) in the bowl game. The extremely young, but talented Bruins opened the season with three straight wins, then dropped five in a row before rebounding to win three of its final four games.
In addition to matching teams from the East and West Coasts, the matchup features an interesting storyline in that Temple coach Al Golden interviewed for the Bruins’ head coaching job back in December 2007 before UCLA’s powers-that-be ultimately chose Rick Neuheisel instead.
“Everybody is going to have to play their best game of the season for us to beat UCLA,” says Temple sophomore quarterback Chester Stewart.
The bowl berth is just the Owls’ third in 110 years of football—and its first in 30 years. Despite the fact that Owls are going bowling for the first time in three decades, there are questions surrounding Temple’s program right now. The biggest on-the-field question is the health of sensational freshman tailback Bernard Pierce—half of Temple’s self-proclaimed “Bernie and the Bug” running game. “Bernie,” of course, is Pierce (1,349 yards, 15 rushing TDs in 2009), who suffered a left shoulder injury during the first offensive series of the game of Temple’s Nov. 21 game vs. Kent State and hasn’t played since.
There are whispers that Pierce suffered a separated left shoulder, but he’ll likely be back on the field for the Eagle Bank Bowl. When Pierce needs a blow, pint-sized tailback Matt “the Bug” Brown—who is size of a middle-school kid (5-foot-5, 167 pounds)—is a home run-hitting threat who rushed for a combined 328 yards in Temple’s last two games of the regular season after Pierce’s injury.
The other and much larger question, of course, is whether a higher profile football program will swoop in and try to steal Golden from Temple—like UCLA almost did two years ago. Golden has slowly and steadily built a winner on North Broad Street, something that most experts thought was impossible. At Temple, Golden went 1-11 in 2006, 4-8 in 2007, 5-7 in 2008 and is 9-3 and in a bowl game this year.
Temple will be hard-pressed to keep Golden, who is said to be on Cincinnati’s short list to replace Brian Kelly, who bolted to Notre Dame. The other most talked-about candidates to replace Kelly with the Bearcats are East Carolina’s Skip Holtz, Central Michigan’s Butch Jones and current Cincinnati offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn.
NOTES, QUOTES
• The big question is whether a high-profile program will swoop in and try to steal Al Golden from Temple—as UCLA almost did. Golden has slowly and steadily built a winner on North Broad Street, something that most experts thought was impossible. At Temple, Golden went 1-11 in 2006, 4-8 in 2007, 5-7 in 2008 and 9-3 this year heading to the bowl game.
Temple will be hard-pressed to keep Golden. The defensive coordinator at the University of Virginia from 2001-05, Golden is rumored to be one of Virginia’s top two candidates, along with Richmond’s highly successful Mike London, to replace the recently fired Al Groh.
Scouting The Offense: Temple, home to one of the best and most physical o-lines in the MAC (a jumbo-sized unit that includes a pair of first-team all-league performers in Darius Morris and Colin Madison and averages 6-foot-5 and 318 pounds from tackle to tackle), will rely on its two-headed tailback approach of freshmen Bernard Pierce and Matt “the Bug” Brown, who are now called “Bernie and the Bug” by their Owl teammates. The 6-foot, 212-pound Pierce has established himself as one the top ballcarriers in the country on his way to setting Temple freshman records with 1,308 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. Brown, all 5-5, 167 pounds of him, has risen steadily on the depth chart to become the chief backup for Pierce.
If UCLA packs the box with defenders to slow down “Bernie and the Bug”, then Temple head coach Al Golden has shown that he isn’t afraid to use Pierce as a decoy—faking handoffs to him, freezing the defense and then punishing the Zips with a nice blend of play-action passes, reverses to speedy wideouts and some option runs by mobile quarterback Chester Stewart, who will be making just his fifth college start.
Scouting The Defense: Temple enters the bowl game with one of the most stout rushing defenses (108.8 yards per game allowed) in the country. The strength of the Owls’ defense is its front seven—particularly potential future pros Andre Neblett, a disruptive force at nose tackle, and Adrian Robinson, a sophomore defensive end with 12 sacks this season. Neblett and Robinson routinely occupy multiple blockers, allowing Jaiquawn Jarrett (70 tackles), Dominique Harris (68 tackles) and the Joseph brothers, Alex (73 tackles) and Elijah (56 stops), to make plays.
Matchup To Watch: Temple’s run defense vs. UCLA’s running game – Temple allowed just over a football field per game on the ground (108.8 yards per game). UCLA likes to run the football, so it’ll be the Owls’ front seven to slow down the ground game.
Quote To Note: “After hearing the word never so many times—you’ll never play in a bowl, you’ll never get the football program turned around—it’s really a great feeling to earn a bowl berth.”—Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw of the Owls’ invite to the Dec. 29 EagleBank Bowl.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Bowl Breakdown: Temple vs. UCLA, EagleBank Bowl, Dec.29, Washington, D.C. – Temple will face an extremely young, but talented UCLA team in this game. The biggest keys in the game will be whether Temple’s offensive line can assert itself against the most athletically gifted that they’ve faced since Penn State back in September and whether Temple’s talented d-line can put consistent pressure on UCLA’s young quarterback Kevin Prince.
• The Owls scored a single-season record 27 rushing TDs and averaged 4.5 yards per carry and 192.3 yards per game. Temple’s primary ballcarriers are true freshman stud Bernard Pierce (1,308 yards, 15 TDs) and Matt Brown (446 yards, 4 TDs).
• QB Chester Stewart could be rattled, if he takes a big shot or two. He will be making just his fifth collegiate start and was clearly rattled in Temple’s regular season finale vs. Ohio on Nov. 27—completing just seven of his 22 passes for just 92 yards.
• Temple enters the bowl game with a stout rushing defense, allowing just 108.8 yards per game. The ground game is a huge part question of UCLA’s pro-style offense, so Temple will try to stuff the run and make the Bruins one-dimensional.
• UCLA’s offense features redshirt freshman QB Kevin Prince, who has talent, but is a young, mistake-prone passer playing behind a young o-line (only one senior). Prince threw for 1,829 yards, six TDs and seven INTs this year as UCLA’s No.1 QB.
• Punt returner Delano Green (two punt returns for TDs in 2009) and kickoff returner James Nixon (No. 10 nationally with 29.24 yards per return) are both threats to go the distance every time they touch the ball. Temple’s punter Jeff Wathne (37.3 yards per punt) is nothing special, but the Owls’ freshman kicker Brandon McManus is 17 for 24 on field goal tries this season (70.8 percent) and has been money in the bank from inside 40 yards—making 14 of 15 attempts.
• Al Golden is one of the brightest young coaching stars in the business. A Penn State grad, Golden believes in wearing a crisply ironed white shirt and tie on the sidelines like his mentor, Joe Paterno. Also, like Paterno, Golden believes that games are won in the trenches and has recruited tirelessly to get the bigger bodies necessary to consistently win on fall Saturdays.
• After not going to a bowl for three decades, Temple should have no problem getting fired up for this game. Temple’s last bowl appearance came in the 1979 Garden State Bowl where the Owls beat California, 28-17, at Giants Stadium.
Players To Watch:
RB Bernard Pierce—The 2009 MAC Freshman of the Year, Pierce set the freshman records for yards (1,308), touchdowns (15), and 100-yard rushing games (six). He needs just one touchdown to set the single-season records for TDs and points scored. He injured his left shoulder in the second-to-last regular season game vs. Kent State, but is expected to be A-OK for the bowl game.
WR/KR James Nixon—The fastest player on the team (4.3 speed in the 40), Nixon is Temple’s top kick returner with 497 yards and two touchdowns on 17 returns. He became the first player in school history to score a kickoff return touchdown in consecutive games. He ranks No. 10 nationally with 29.24 yards per return.
DE Adrian Robinson—The sophomore defensive end earned 2009 MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors after setting a school single-season record for sacks with 12. He ranks No. 10 nationally in sacks (0.92 per game). Robinson also has a team-best 12 tackles for loss and a team-best five forced fumbles.
LB Alex Joseph—A team captain, Joseph leads all Temple defenders with 73 tackles, including a team-best 46 solo takedowns and 5.0 tackles for loss. He also has two breakups, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery.
Roster Report:
• Temple’s freshman All-American tailback Bernard Pierce (1,308 yards, 15 rushing TDs in 2009) missed the Ohio University game on Nov. 27 with a left shoulder injury. He’s expected to be healthy enough to play in the EagleBank Bowl on Dec 29.
• The Owls cleaned up in the Mid-American Conference awards voting. Running back Bernard Pierce was named the 2009 Freshman of the Year, sophomore DE Adrian Robinson was named the 2009 Defensive Player of the Year, and head coach Al Golden was named the 2009 Coach of the Year by the MAC News Media Association.
• A school-record eight Temple football players were named to the All-MAC first team. Earning first team honors were junior DB Jaiquawn Jarrett, junior LB Elijah “Peanut” Joseph, junior OL Colin Madison, redshirt junior OL Darius Morris, senior NT Andre Neblett, freshman RB Bernard Pierce, sophomore DE Adrian Robinson, and sophomore DT Muhammad Wilkerson. Temple’s second-team honorees were redshirt senior OL Devin Tyler and sophomore KR James Nixon. Third-team honorees included redshirt senior DB Dominique Harris, senior LB Alex Joseph, junior LB Amara Kamara, senior TE Steve Maneri, and redshirt sophomore OL John Palumbo.
