I was at Edberg-Olson Hall today for Temple's media weekly availability. Geoff Collins held his weekly press conference and several players spoke with reporters ahead of Thursday night's conference opener against South Florida in Tampa. Reporters did not catch any of Temple's two-plus hour practice due to a scheduling change. The Owls, as Collins said, treated Tuesday like a Thursday because of the second consecutive short week.
As I said in my front page story, Collins got his agenda across through the first seven minutes of his press conference. He ended up talking for nearly 25 minutes.
Collins did field a question about starting left guard Jovahn Fair, who went down with an undisclosed injury against UMass and was seen with crutches on the sideline. The Owls' first-year coach typically says that he does not talk about injuries, but he called Fair a "game time" decision for Thursday. Offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude also called Fair "questionable," while adding that the Ohio native should not be out long term. If Fair is unable to play, I'd expect Adrian Sullivan, who started in all 14 games at right guard last season, to be the replacement at left guard. Jaelin Robinson is also a candidate to see action in Fair's absence.
When asked about USF dual-threat quarterback Quinton Flowers, Collins smiled and said, "He's a good player." Flowers is the reigning American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of The Year after producing a combined 40 touchdowns last season.
Receiver Adonis Jennings will wear No. 1 this week against USF.
And regarding the quarterback situation, Patenaude went out of his way to credit Logan Marchi for his play over his first three college starts. As Collins pointed out, Marchi has thrown for the most passing yards of any quarterback in Temple history. The Owls' coaching staff, at least publicly, likes to talk positively about Marchi and temper expectations for true freshman Todd Centeio. Collins would not commit to Centeio having a role for the remainder of the season when I asked him about it. Instead, Collins said that it's a "week to week" issue. While I expect to see Centeio play against USF, I still think Temple could end up redshirting him and claiming injury, as Matt Rhule did with freshmen like Kenny Yeboah and Matt Hennessy last season.
As I said in my front page story, Collins got his agenda across through the first seven minutes of his press conference. He ended up talking for nearly 25 minutes.
Collins did field a question about starting left guard Jovahn Fair, who went down with an undisclosed injury against UMass and was seen with crutches on the sideline. The Owls' first-year coach typically says that he does not talk about injuries, but he called Fair a "game time" decision for Thursday. Offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude also called Fair "questionable," while adding that the Ohio native should not be out long term. If Fair is unable to play, I'd expect Adrian Sullivan, who started in all 14 games at right guard last season, to be the replacement at left guard. Jaelin Robinson is also a candidate to see action in Fair's absence.
When asked about USF dual-threat quarterback Quinton Flowers, Collins smiled and said, "He's a good player." Flowers is the reigning American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of The Year after producing a combined 40 touchdowns last season.
Receiver Adonis Jennings will wear No. 1 this week against USF.
And regarding the quarterback situation, Patenaude went out of his way to credit Logan Marchi for his play over his first three college starts. As Collins pointed out, Marchi has thrown for the most passing yards of any quarterback in Temple history. The Owls' coaching staff, at least publicly, likes to talk positively about Marchi and temper expectations for true freshman Todd Centeio. Collins would not commit to Centeio having a role for the remainder of the season when I asked him about it. Instead, Collins said that it's a "week to week" issue. While I expect to see Centeio play against USF, I still think Temple could end up redshirting him and claiming injury, as Matt Rhule did with freshmen like Kenny Yeboah and Matt Hennessy last season.
