After a few days in a deep depression, Ive finally come to my senses and have been able to make a reasoned post about my thoughts. I've already deleted quite a few things I've written. Here are some of my takeaways from the game:
1. Phillip should not be blamed for this loss. There is a lot of discussion on other threads about him and his 3 picks but I do not place any value on them. The first one was a terrible drop and the other two were when he was put in terrible situations. Phillip has always been a QB who relies on rhythm. He needs to get going, he needs a big play or a few little plays to get his juices flowing. And based on the game flow, especially in the 2nd half when Army was busy destructing our defense, he didn't any opportunity to get into a flow. I thought, for the most part, the offense moved the ball pretty well earlier in the game and PJ looked pretty sharp. But as Army started dominating the game and the clock, PJ's rhythm slipped away and he couldn't get it back. By the time PJ had the ball late in the game, the game was already lost.
2. We missed Ionniddis and Tyler. Army ran all over our entire defense but I think we looked particularly soft up the middle. When you cant shut down the FB dive, it makes it near impossible to stop the triple option. It forces DE's, OLBs and safeties to pay attention to the dive rather than flowing outside to stop the QB or the pitch. We got pounded up the gut consistently and when we couldn't stop it, we had to overcompensate inside and when we overcompensated, Army burned us outside. I don't know the snap counts for the DL but whoever we had in there wasn't getting the job done and this is the reason we lost this game. Army got to play their game and it completely wiped out and depleted our defense.
3. We shouldn't overreact to this loss. Despite the defensive struggles mentioned above, these are all things that are expected when playing a service academy. The DL is in for a hell of a fight all game long, with guys diving at their knees, crazy backfield action and the offenses ability to option the ball away if one of the defenders makes a play. We gave up a ton of yards on the ground but honestly this is completely normal playing these types of teams. And while the lasting vision in our heads is watching Army drive the entire field on us multiple times late in the game, keep in mind that our defense was worn out and exhausted b/c Army got to play to their game plan and not ours. The difference in this game is truly the lack of a few big plays. In the 2nd half, our defense couldn't make any big plays. We gave them 3, 4, 6, 3, 4, 5, 3 yards play after play. That is exactly what Army wants. When you play a service academy the game will almost always go one of two ways, they will either wear you out all game and fight you to the death or you will get a lead and force them to do something they are not good at, while you pin your ears back, rush the passer and wait for a duck. Unfortunately, the game went the wrong way for us.
4. Lack of playmakers on defense . The biggest concern I have coming out of this game is the lack of big plays. As much as I love guys like Avery Williams, Alwan, Marshall, Dogbe, Robinson etc, if they were going to become bigtime playmakers like a Matakevich or Wilkerson, they most likely would've become that already. I was hoping to see a young guy burst onto the scene and make some splash plays but nobody did. Granted, this was a run focused game, so guys like Reddick, Praise, Chandler and Randall didn't really have the opportunity to show their strengths but at least from a run stopping standpoint, nobody really showed up. If you want to have any success, you NEED playmakers to show up. Matakevich burst onto the scene in 2012, Wilkerson before him, Pierce, Robby Anderson and Jahad did on offense. Someone needs to step up. Russell maybe? Does Randall take another step forward? Someone needs to. Fortunately with Stony Brook up next and some key injuries to key players, this game might be an opportunity for someone to show what they can do.
5. This was just so disappointing from a program perspective. Nobody likes to acknowledge this but college football is so much about perception. Every year recruits flock to the P5 schools b/c the perception of those programs. The team may not even be any good but they are guaranteed every year to pull in some big recruits just based on perception alone. Perception also goes a long way for fans media interaction. We had an AWESOME AWESOME crowd at the game. It was the first game of the season and there was excitement in the air. There were non-Temple alumni bringing their kids to the games just for a good time watching a good football team. The vibe was there and we had a chance to suck them all in and keep them. But we failed. We have made great progress in the last 10 years, there is no denying that but I feel we are at a cross roads. Especially with the P5 seemingly breaking away. We either take that next step and become that big time program (like Houston is doing right now) or we shy away and middle in mediocrity forever. There are plenty of schools that have risen out of the ashes like we have but only a few capitalize on the momentum they have. Boise St, kind of did that, Houston is doing that now, Baylor did that until they, well you know. As much as we all talk about TV revenue and stuff like that, perception also plays a big role. How differently would people feel about our program if we accomplished what Houston has in the last 4-5 games and Houston lost to us and Toledo? How different would this B12 thing be if we were ranked #13 in the preseason and ESPN was constantly talking about us. To get to the next level, we need excitement and attention. I hate ESPN and all the big networks, I think you can find much better coverage of sports and especially CFB here and on other blogs. But the reality is for most of the country and the average fan, if ESPN and the big networks aren't talking about you, nobody else cares.
By the way, if you've read all of this, thank you but you need something better to do with your time just like me.
1. Phillip should not be blamed for this loss. There is a lot of discussion on other threads about him and his 3 picks but I do not place any value on them. The first one was a terrible drop and the other two were when he was put in terrible situations. Phillip has always been a QB who relies on rhythm. He needs to get going, he needs a big play or a few little plays to get his juices flowing. And based on the game flow, especially in the 2nd half when Army was busy destructing our defense, he didn't any opportunity to get into a flow. I thought, for the most part, the offense moved the ball pretty well earlier in the game and PJ looked pretty sharp. But as Army started dominating the game and the clock, PJ's rhythm slipped away and he couldn't get it back. By the time PJ had the ball late in the game, the game was already lost.
2. We missed Ionniddis and Tyler. Army ran all over our entire defense but I think we looked particularly soft up the middle. When you cant shut down the FB dive, it makes it near impossible to stop the triple option. It forces DE's, OLBs and safeties to pay attention to the dive rather than flowing outside to stop the QB or the pitch. We got pounded up the gut consistently and when we couldn't stop it, we had to overcompensate inside and when we overcompensated, Army burned us outside. I don't know the snap counts for the DL but whoever we had in there wasn't getting the job done and this is the reason we lost this game. Army got to play their game and it completely wiped out and depleted our defense.
3. We shouldn't overreact to this loss. Despite the defensive struggles mentioned above, these are all things that are expected when playing a service academy. The DL is in for a hell of a fight all game long, with guys diving at their knees, crazy backfield action and the offenses ability to option the ball away if one of the defenders makes a play. We gave up a ton of yards on the ground but honestly this is completely normal playing these types of teams. And while the lasting vision in our heads is watching Army drive the entire field on us multiple times late in the game, keep in mind that our defense was worn out and exhausted b/c Army got to play to their game plan and not ours. The difference in this game is truly the lack of a few big plays. In the 2nd half, our defense couldn't make any big plays. We gave them 3, 4, 6, 3, 4, 5, 3 yards play after play. That is exactly what Army wants. When you play a service academy the game will almost always go one of two ways, they will either wear you out all game and fight you to the death or you will get a lead and force them to do something they are not good at, while you pin your ears back, rush the passer and wait for a duck. Unfortunately, the game went the wrong way for us.
4. Lack of playmakers on defense . The biggest concern I have coming out of this game is the lack of big plays. As much as I love guys like Avery Williams, Alwan, Marshall, Dogbe, Robinson etc, if they were going to become bigtime playmakers like a Matakevich or Wilkerson, they most likely would've become that already. I was hoping to see a young guy burst onto the scene and make some splash plays but nobody did. Granted, this was a run focused game, so guys like Reddick, Praise, Chandler and Randall didn't really have the opportunity to show their strengths but at least from a run stopping standpoint, nobody really showed up. If you want to have any success, you NEED playmakers to show up. Matakevich burst onto the scene in 2012, Wilkerson before him, Pierce, Robby Anderson and Jahad did on offense. Someone needs to step up. Russell maybe? Does Randall take another step forward? Someone needs to. Fortunately with Stony Brook up next and some key injuries to key players, this game might be an opportunity for someone to show what they can do.
5. This was just so disappointing from a program perspective. Nobody likes to acknowledge this but college football is so much about perception. Every year recruits flock to the P5 schools b/c the perception of those programs. The team may not even be any good but they are guaranteed every year to pull in some big recruits just based on perception alone. Perception also goes a long way for fans media interaction. We had an AWESOME AWESOME crowd at the game. It was the first game of the season and there was excitement in the air. There were non-Temple alumni bringing their kids to the games just for a good time watching a good football team. The vibe was there and we had a chance to suck them all in and keep them. But we failed. We have made great progress in the last 10 years, there is no denying that but I feel we are at a cross roads. Especially with the P5 seemingly breaking away. We either take that next step and become that big time program (like Houston is doing right now) or we shy away and middle in mediocrity forever. There are plenty of schools that have risen out of the ashes like we have but only a few capitalize on the momentum they have. Boise St, kind of did that, Houston is doing that now, Baylor did that until they, well you know. As much as we all talk about TV revenue and stuff like that, perception also plays a big role. How differently would people feel about our program if we accomplished what Houston has in the last 4-5 games and Houston lost to us and Toledo? How different would this B12 thing be if we were ranked #13 in the preseason and ESPN was constantly talking about us. To get to the next level, we need excitement and attention. I hate ESPN and all the big networks, I think you can find much better coverage of sports and especially CFB here and on other blogs. But the reality is for most of the country and the average fan, if ESPN and the big networks aren't talking about you, nobody else cares.
By the way, if you've read all of this, thank you but you need something better to do with your time just like me.
