The Owls are performing as I predicted !!

by Joseph Birmingham

Tuesday November 10, 2009 

The Owls are performing as I predicted !! thumbnail

I mentioned in an earlier post how the Nittany Lions may have to share the spotlight in Pennsylvania college football this year with the Owls of local Temple University.  The Owls have indeed performed as a top level team.   The loss to the Lions in week two may have helped propel them to new heights as they have followed that loss with 7 straight wins.

Whereas last year the Owls were en route to a sub .500 season, this year shows post season promise as they raised their record to 7-2 and face Akron, Kent State and Ohio to close out their season.  Some indication of how prominant this program has become may be indicated in the 2 ESPN televised games in their final three.  If they finish the season on a ten game tear at 10-2 with the schedule they played, they will be in line for a bowl game.

2 years ago this was a 1-10 team, with a losing mentality inherited by coach Al Golden.  This  week they received 7 votes in the AP top 25 poll.   They are now 5-0 in the MAC and assured of their first winning season since 1990.   If they manage to reach the MAC title game December 4th, they well may have more national prominance than the mighty Nittany Lions, playing Big Ten (or Twelve)  second fiddle to the Iowa Hawkeyes, and are currently ranked 18th nationally with a worse record than the Owls, and in some people’s opinions playing a schedule that is not markedly more difficult.  A bowl bid would be the Owls first game of post season prominance since 1979, PSU is a perennial bowl attendee.

Consider, the teams that have faced the Owls so far or are scheduled to play are a combined 48-64, the Penn State teams competition has posted a 64-50 mark.  But the Lions played 8 of 10 teams they were supposed to easily beat including three non conference foes that offered no challenge, the likes of Akron, Temple, and Syracuse, with their only Big 12 challenges coming at Ohio State and Iowa, games they lost.  Meanwhile, Temple played PSU, Army, Navy,  and Villanova, and have held their own with a 2-2 record in those games, and a 5-0 record against the rest.

Obvviously, what Jo Pa has going on up in Happy Valley still easily trumps the local success of the Temple club, but I can forsee a time in the near future, as Paterno and his staff are phased out, if Golden sticks to his guns, where the Owls may be considered more on the Lions level.   Temple has placed a lot of confidence in their latest coach; Golden is the youngest and highest paid coach in the MAC making $575,000 a year, and at 39, he could be at the helm for years to come.

His young team has the leading MAC rusher, who is still a freshman.  Bernard Pierce has 1211 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns in 9 games thus far.   Vaughn Charlton is still improving at Quarterback, but I have a special affinity for this kid as he hails from my hometown, Landenberg, PA.  I guarantee none of you readers has heard of this town as it is  about as small as a town can get without being considered farmland !   But his 1200 yards and 9 touchdowns represent a nearly 400% improvement over his freshman years statistics.  I hope to see more of him in the final few games, even though he was recently benched in favor of Stewart before the Miami game the Owls barely won.

I look forward to seeing the Owls continue to improve and I am very impressed with coach Golden’s job in the top spot so far.  To take a team from an 0-11  laughingstock to a 7-2 potential bowl team in three years is something that is nearly impossible to do on any level of college sports.  Three months ago I endured some ridicule when I projected them to finish with 9 wins.  I hope I get some props now that they are in the process of proving me right and doing precisely that !

Filed Under College Football

Comments

5 Responses to “The Owls are performing as I predicted !!”

  1. Marc Fleischner on November 11th, 2009 12:00 pm

    9 wins would be good, but 10 guarantees a trip to Detroit for the MAC Championship and a bowl!

  2. joseph on November 11th, 2009 12:13 pm

    Marc, I agree, right now it looks like the Owls will play the Central Michigan Chippewas for the MAC. They are the only 2 undefeated MAC teams at present. If they win this game, they definitely go to a bowl at 10-2. They can only win 10 BY winning the MAC championship game as they still play an 11 game regular schedule.

    Kepp in mind the Owls only two losses are to PSU (way out of their league, and the Villanova Wildcats who are a 1 loss team in the CAA)

  3. J.Charles on November 11th, 2009 1:39 pm

    Correction

    TU plays a 12 game schedule plus the MAC Championship if or when they make it They could be 12-2 by winning out including a bowl game

  4. Joseph Birmingham on November 11th, 2009 2:34 pm

    J Charles, I stand corrected, I forgot they added a game to the schedule after the abysmal 0-11 2005 campaign, that number stuck in my head. They are 7-2 with three to go, and have a good chance at finishing 10-2, winning the MAC and getting a bowl berth at 11-2. I appreciate you setting me staight ! So GO OWLS !!!

  5. Owlified on November 11th, 2009 6:18 pm

    Go Owls!

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