ADVERTISEMENT

Ken Niumatalolo Press Conference and Quotes

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo had his weekly press conference yesterday. Here's the audio from that interview, as well as some select quotes.

Login to view embedded media
On Temple and the program's identity

"This team, over the years, is probably the most physical team in our league. The year that we played them in the conference championship, they not only beat us but we lost a ton of guys from that game. They’ve always been a super, super physical team and they’re athletic. We know who they’re going to be. They’ve always been the same. Obviously they have a new coach, and he’s a good coach, but they’ve always been a physical, athletic group. They always play with a chip on their shoulder. I think they’re a bunch of guys that have been overlooked, recruiting wise. I’ve always been impressed with Temple. It’s not the kind of team you want to play after you get beat like that. It’s going to be a tough challenge for us."


On the return of quarterback Dalen Morris, who missed the Air Force game due to a medical issue

"I thought he provided so much spark in the Tulane game with the way he came off and his mentality, the way he was taking charge. Obviously none of us liked the results of last week so having him back…I think our guys will be excited to have him back. But the guys also recognize that it wasn’t just that. To put that all on [Tyger Goslin], that’s a false statement. We were getting pushed around on defense and they were pushing us around on offense. We have to get better, as a team. We have to coach better and play better. It’s a program deal, not a quarterback situation. But having [Morris] back, I know our guys will be excited."

On Temple's coaching staff having little experience facing the Triple Option

"We’re not playing very well so it doesn’t really matter. We just have to find a way to play better. Coach Carey’s a good football coach and they played really well on defense last year. BYU’s coordinator didn’t have any experience against the option and they did fine. Our approach has been that we have to get better to even have a chance to win. We know that Temple’s going to be ready. It’s their first game and we won’t know what they’re going to do. The focus, right now, is that we’re playing well to at least have a chance."


On Temple's offense

"This is going to be a tough game for us, man. Physical team that’s got athletes. They can run the ball but it’s hard to load the box because they can throw it. They do so many different things as far as what they can do. They can run it, they can throw it. Their physicality really presents the most problems for us, on both sides of the ball, because we’re not a very physical team right now. Trying to tackle these guys, we’re going to have our hands full. We’ve struggled with tackling all year. We’ve got to improve on it. We’re going to press forward to try to get better on it but that’s going to be a major concern this week."

Tested Owls ready for Navy

Here's today's story from Rod Carey's weekly Tuesday media availability. Looks like the Owls are in pretty good shape so far with COVID testing and avoiding major injuries, and I have some updates on the kicking and punting competitions.

The Scoop: Season 6, Episode 6

Great stuff from Temple first-team all-conference defensive tackle Ifeanyi Maijeh on this week's episode of The Scoop. We recorded the podcast yesterday and it's up on the front page now and available on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

He gave us some interesting insight into what he sees from the offensive line and thinks Arnold Ebiketie could be poised for a breakout season at defensive end.
  • Like
Reactions: GreenStreetOwl

Hoot From Home

I saw this on Twitter today and believe this is going to be a great idea to encourage fan engagement throughout all of Temple's home games this year:

https://owlsports.com/news/2020/10/1/football-hoot-from-home.aspx
Login to view embedded media
I like that they are thinking outside the box here on keeping fans engaged while providing some of the content we are used to on gamedays with some more behind the scenes stuff as well. I haven't seen this from any other P5 schools or anyone in the AAC.

Jordan Magee

I had the opportunity to speak with Jordan Magee, who has a real shot to see some snaps on defense this season.

The redshirt freshman linebacker and former high school quarterback at Dover High, has been running with the Owls’ second-team defense. He will probably be the No. 2 “Mike” backer behind Will Kwenkeu. George Reid will likely be the “Will” backer behind IGM.

Here’s an OwlScoop.com exclusive interview with Magee:

OT LaSalle sports cuts


Mike Jensen wrote about LaSalle reducing their sport offerings from 25 down to 18. Baseball and Softball of note. I wonder how LaSallians Mike Sielski and David Murphy will handle the news.

2020 Football schedule chatter

I'm hearing that Temple is indeed working on a contingency plan to fill vacated OOC games (Rutgers, Miami, etc.) with other games should the AAC give the go ahead to do so. That decision should come from the conference around the first week of August. Should this be allowed, this could create some potentially wild matchups that I'll let people speculate using our open dates below. The conference could also go conference only and we could play every other AAC team, resulting in 10 games.

Our attendance will be dictated by the Eagles and the city of Philadelphia. As of now, the plan is to still have a small number of fans in attendance. As you saw, NJ announced the Giants, Jets, and Rutgers can only have 500 fans, which will just be family and needed staff. If Philadelphia follows suit, we'd be locked out.

In any case, I've been told, and it pains me to type this, that there will be no tailgating regardless of what happens inside the Linc. It's time we all join the students in FDR:

giphy.gif

Arnold Ebeketie and Layton Jordan

Arnold Ebeketie and Layton Jordan were among defensive lineman who spoke with the media on Friday.

Here’s Sam Cohn and I's story on how Ebeketie and Jordan have helped each other at defensive end.

  • Like
Reactions: SHUSource

Manny Walker has a nickname and spot on Temple’s D-Line

Manny Walker spoke with reporters Friday about his decision to transfer from Wake Forest and how he’s fitting in to Temple’s defense thus far.

You can read my full story on the grad transfer here.

Ifeanyi Maijeh will be 'ready to go' by season opener

Ifeanyi Maijeh spoke with reporters Friday about following up on a breakout season last year as well as his return to the practice field after dealing with a lingering groin injury.

You can read my full story on the redshirt junior here.

The Scoop with Julian Dunkley

Just like Ari Rosenfeld and Brandon Williams have in the previous two weeks, former Temple forward Julian Dunkley, who trains Zach Hicks through his Difference Makers program, had high praise for the Camden Catholic forward in talking to us on The Scoop this week.

"I'd put Zach up against any 6-8 wing in the country," he said.

You can listen to this week's podcast here, which includes Dunkley's evaluation of fellow Temple commit Hysier Miller.

  • Like
Reactions: SamNeumann

Mailbag questions for The Scoop: Season 6, Episode 5 with Julian Dunkley

Hi, everyone! Remember Julian Dunkley? He played at Temple for two seasons from 1996-98 before finishing his career at Maine. Now he trains players in the area through an organization called Difference Makers and organized some runs this summer that helped get players like Zach Hicks and Hysier Miller more work and exposure in the absence of an AAU season.

Julian will be with us on The Scoop this week to talk about Hicks, Miller, his time at Temple and more. So if you have mailbag questions for him or for us as a staff about the team and the upcoming season, please post them here and we'll answer as many as we can on the podcast.

We're taking mailbag questions up until 2 p.m. Friday and will have the podcast out by Friday evening.

And here's your weekly reminder to please subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you access your podcasts. Ratings and reviews help us gain more exposure on these platforms and are very much appreciated. Thanks so much for your continued support!
  • Like
Reactions: JHG722
ADVERTISEMENT

Filter

ADVERTISEMENT