Temple Blog Swap, GameDay Edition

Here's the return visit from the Owl's Nest for our blog swap concerning today's titanic struggle in the City of Brotherly Love....


1) After the NIU game, Coach Golden seemed pretty upset at the team's effort. From your perspective, has the team's effort been lacking over the past few weeks?

I don't think Coach Golden has been this frustrated with the team's performance at any point as the head coach. This team didn't show too much heart last week, and that is exactly what he and the coaching staff are not happy with. This team has the potential to do a lot of damage as long as the effort is consistently there and at 110%. Hearing what some of the players have said about this week's practice, I'm hoping to see a lot of anger taken out on the football field tomorrow afternoon.

2) Coming into the year, everyone was pointing to Bernard Pierce as perhaps the best offensive player in the MAC. He has had injuries and had only one 100 yard game. Matt Brown has stepped up, however. What can you tell Falcon fans about Brown.

Once again it has been a rough first half of the season for Bernard Pierce. We're hoping that he's good to go for you guys this weekend after suffering that leg injury to Penn State a few weeks ago. Matt Brown, though, is as good as it gets in a backup halfback. He does not have the size of most runningbacks (he's probably one of the shortest in the country at 5'5"), but his speed is hard to stop. Unlike Pierce who loves to run the ball up the gut, Brown is basically uncatchable when he bounces off a tackle to the outside. It is going to be pretty difficult for the Falcons to be able to contain Pierce (if healthy), ontop of a talent such as Matt Brown.

3) Talk about Chester Stewart and the passing game. Stewart has had some nice games, despite some low completion percentages. How does Temple approach throwing the ball?

Two words that describe the passing offense this year: disappointing and unproductive. Chester Stewart is not an accurate quarterback when throwing the ball deep downfield, so the Owls have shied away from this side of the playbook. It's pretty obvious that the coaches do not trust Stewart throwing the ball when we're running the ball on 3rd down and 5 (example against Penn State). There are a number of talented wide receivers, but the connection (literally) has not been there between them and the quarterback. Unless someone else gets the start this week, I'd expect to see Temple attempting shorter passes, maybe something like a screen pass even. The ineffectiveness of the passing game has already been a game-deciding factor in at least one of our games this year.


4) Temple had high expectations on defense, which it looks like are not being completely fulfilled. Would you agree? What has been disappointing?

To be honest with you, a lot of credit has to go to this defense given the responsibilities they have. The statistics do not always tell you the story of the game. The Owls have an extremely talented defense but are constantly worn down by being on the field so often. With an offense continuously going three and out, there's not much more that you can ask from the other 11 guys. The run defense has played extraordinarily well in my opinion. They have been challenged by some of the top rushers in the country and have done a decent job given the circumstances (Evan Royster - PSU, Chad Spann - NIU, Army's offense).

The disappointing area has been the pass defense. To be honest, I think we've made a few quarterbacks this year look like heisman candidates with the production we give up in the air. The past few years, though, the defensive backs have been questions just a bit. I'm hoping these guys decide to play some defense and lock onto their men this Saturday.

5) I know you had an OT go down this week. How is the overall health of the Owl club?

Yeah, losing lineman Steve Caputo hurts a bit, but I think that we'll be able to manage. The overall health of the team is not bad. Looking forward to hearing the status of Bernard Pierce, which is my major concern with this group. What partially makes the Owls such a talented team is the amount of depth that this roster is. Nearly every position has a quality backup that can make just as many plays on the field as the previous guy. Besides that, everyone seems to simply be bruised or banged up. Expect an energized TU team to emerge from the tunnel this weekend.