Temple Preview - USA Today #86

[jbdphi]

The QB is probably going to be quite good, just a question of who is going to block for him or catch his passes. UConn is listed as their Key Game which makes sense.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...-depth-chart-schedule-football-four/10197381/

 

[RioDog]

Sounds like it could be a similar case wwith our O, though perhaps we can expect good work form our receivers. If Temple can field any kind of D it could be a low-scoring affair.

 

[Husky68]

Sounds like a team going in the right direction. Temple expected to be better than Purdue, Arkansas and Virginia; if that turns out to be true that says a lot about what a coach can do fairly quickly (if among other things, he gets some help from the football gods like getting a super young QB).

 

[tduconn]

Al Golden started it, Steve Addazio continued it, and Matt Rhule keeps it rolling.
Temple could be a very exciting team to watch the next few years.
Their QB is certainly a spark plug, and if Rhule's class of 2014 materializes as the coorespondent suggests, a nice program could slowly be building in Philadelphia.

This is not the FBS BE doormat of the 90's and early 2000's.

They may only have an average season, but it would not surprise me if they throw in a couple of victories out of left field.

 

[tjhusky]

So, we beat Temple on the road last year in one of our worst seasons and for 2014 they are ranked 86 while we are 93. No QB for UCONN? How about Casey who beat Temple and by the end of the season set the single game passing record. I think much of these rankings are, at best, meaningless.

I would be happy if we end the season in the top 50 and get a half decent bowl game.

 

[Dynasty]

So, we beat Temple on the road last year in one of our worst seasons and for 2014 they are ranked 86 while we are 93. No QB for UCONN? How about Casey who beat Temple and by the end of the season set the single game passing record. I think much of these rankings are, at best, meaningless.

I would be happy if we end the season in the top 50 and get a half decent bowl game.

Last year is last year and this year is this year. Plus we don't even know if Casey will be the starter when we play Temple so that is a moot point.

 

[jbdphi]

Casey played three games against what was considered to be pretty bad opposition and did really well. You can't know that this will be predictive of how he would have done against the likes of UCF or Louisville or will do this season against the better teams on the schedule (i.e. BYU).

The Temple QB played some very impressive games last year against some very good competition. He threw for 382 yards with 4 TD's and 1 INT against UCF (he also ran for 41 yards and a TD) and kept the game within three points. That's pretty impressive. He also had solid games against SMU, Cincinnati, etc. and his worst game statistically was actually against UConn when had had a 110 rating. I'd say right now Walker has a pretty bright future and if they can put some talent around him, Temple has a chance to be competitive against almost everyone on their schedule.

Judging them solely because they lost to us last year is overly simplistic. From an independent outsider's perspective, we have major questions on the OL and at RB and our TE and QB are both relatively unproven. I hope we prove them all wrong but to look at us and say we're definitely better than Temple this upcoming year is pretty optimistic. Certainly nothing to get offended by if we were ranked marginally lower.

 

[tjhusky]

I know it is a simplistic view to think we should be ranked higher in this list than a team we beat last year. If I worked for USA Today (not saying I am at all qualified to do that) I would prob put Temple above us based on last years performances and so many unknowns regarding the Diaco Huskies.

But as a fan I noticed that the team that played the last three games played so much better than the team that lost to Towson.

Also, if Casey lit up a weak opponent and set a record, isn't that still an accomplishment. How many other games against weak opponents didn't we have a QB who racked up that yardage? And if Casey is not the starter, wouldn't he be replaced by some one who is a better QB?

Anyway, please forgive my exuberance. If this were another PP team you could say I am just dreaming. I think there is enough good on this team that showed through at times last year that HCBD and staff have a good group of guys to work with that can be very good this season. Maybe top 5o is a stretch, but hopefully not #93. As for Temple and every other AAC team, I would love to see them do well also and raise the profile of the league.

 

[Adios]

Bulletin board material. Total disrespect.