OK, it is officially prediction time. Or not.
I have to say, it looks to be a great time to be an owl. The basketball team is doing well. Dunphy has his best class ever coming in. Maybe, just maybe big george decides to come to round out that class. The football recruiting season ended great.
And our favorite football team, the temple owls are undefeated. Yes, I know all teams are undefeated. I seem to remember some years when temple was having "problems" that it seems that we started the year with a losing record already. So this is a change for some of us long suffering fans.
I, along with many people on this board I would guess, was stunned by the total turnaround that the defense had last year. We are not going to mention the equally stunning but not positive effect the season had on the offense.
But looking along what had to happen from one year to the next, one would have expected the defense to be significantly improved from two years ago to last year. The team was young. The line was young. The defensive backs needed to get bigger and faster. What happened? The defensive line improved dramatically. And it improved just from the players coming back. It was a major change. The talent infusion in the defensive backfield payed dividends as well. And the defense just played so much better than even the most optimistic of us hoped for. I still can't believe the difference a year makes.
It may have been one of the most positive dramatic turnarounds I have seen from one year to the next in college football.
Now the offense was bad last year. It seemed like everyone was out of sync. The qb play was horrible. The offensive line play was perhaps even worse. The running game languished behind an offensive line that hadn't found its stride and the receivers, were as surprised as we were when the qb got them the ball and frequently dropped it.
But seriously, could we be seeing a huge bounce back by the offense this upcoming year? I always look at what was being recruited because I figure the coach knows what the team needs the best. Now this statement is more true when you have a good head coach, and I think we have that now. There was no panic recruiting anywhere on this team.
Not defensive line, not defensive back, not kicker like the year before. One would have thought there would have been a frenzy for getting offensive line help and qb help. But no. What did we go out and get? Improved athleticism all over the field. I guess the best single group we have coming in is running back this year. We got some good ones there. And the bonus to this is that running backs can step right in sometimes and play as freshmen.
I have to say I think we will be more than fine at wr, te, and running back. I think we have enough talent there to be very successful. Simmons and Armstead could have an immediate impact.
So we are left with the offensive line and qb position.
I was down on PJ this past year. But I have to think that he learned a lot this past year. That is all that really needed to happen. And I think he will continue that this upcoming offseason.
And the offensive line could improve as much as the the defensive backs did the year before. We could see two or three new starters on the offensive line. Combine that with Friend and heck you have a dramatic change.
The overall talent and experience level on this offense is changing dramatically. I think the overall horrible year by the offense was much like the horrible year by the defense two year ago. And because of that, I think we could be due for an equally impressive bounce back year by the offense. Maybe not equally impressive, but lets hope for an equally impressive turnaround.
But the time is here for people to chime in. How much will the offensive improve next year? Junior qb, improved offensive line, new blood at running back and david hood with another year, and a talented group at te and wr will lead to a dramatic turnaround.
Offense was bad last year. This year I think it will be above average. That would be a huge improvement. What could it be? Ranked perhaps in the 50-60s? Not out of the question. Could it be better? Hell yes. Could it be worse? Absolutely. But I think a reasonable hope (if injuries do not happen), would be 50-60. Now let me just say if we don't do that, I am not going to fire MR. This is not some ruler to judge the team or coaching against. I think if the players develop and they get coached up a tremendous amount, a jump to the 50s or 60s is not unreasonable.
Combine that with a defense that hopefully will play just as ferocious if not even more ferocious than last year, we could very well surpass that 50 ranking that the espn computers gave us.
What does everyone else think?
