2013 Temple Spring Football Analysis

Temple Owls 2013 ... Head Coach: Steve Addazio

Temple Owls

2013 Schedule
8/31 at Notre Dame
9/7 Houston
9/14 Fordham
9/21 OPEN DATE
9/28 at Idaho
10/5 Louisville
10/11 at Cincinnati
10/19 Army
10/26 at SMU
11/2 at Rutgers
11/9 OPEN DATE
11/16 UCF
11/23 Connecticut
11/30 at Memphis

Why To Get Excited … the Owls made a return engagement to the Big East a year ago … and lived to tell about it. No, Temple didn’t contend, but it did avoid the cellar, while getting acclimated to the competition in a tougher league. Former coach Steve Addazio used a bunch of young kids, which ought to help the transition of successor Matt Rhule and his staff.

Why To Be Grouchy … there’s no end in sight to the futility on offense. Neither Chris Coyer nor Clinton Granger will frighten opposing defenses with their arms, and talented running backs Montel Harris and Matt Brown have both graduated. After being held to no more than 20 points seven times in 2012, the Owls are likely to sputter again on offense.

The Number One Thing To Work On Is … the passing game. Rhule and his coaches have six months to generate a spark from a passing attack that produced just 10 touchdown passes in a dozen games. Sure, Addazio’s offense leaned heavily on the run, but the 2013 squad needs more balance, while getting TE Cody Booth and WR Jalen Fitzpatrick better involved with the offense.

Team Concerns For 2013: Do the Owls have the chops to hang around in the Big East? They won two games in their new conference, but the offense didn't work, failing to get past 20 points more than once in the final seven games. The passing game that hasn't worked for years was painfully inefficient and only averaged 121 yards per game. The secondary wasn't much better for the league's worst defense, getting toasted time and again despite getting plenty of help from a good pass rush. Both starting safeties, Vaughn Carraway and Justin Gildea, have to be replaced.

Non-Conference Games: at Notre Dame, Fordham, at Idaho, Army
Realistic Best Case Record: 6-6
Worst Case Record: 2-10
Likely Finish: 3-9

Pre-Preseason Projected Wins: Fordham, at Idaho, Army

Pre-Preseason Projected Losses: at Notre Dame, Houston, Louisville, at Cincinnati, at SMU, at Rutgers, UCF, Connecticut, at Memphis

Schedule Analysis: The Owls don’t get much of a break, starting out the year at Notre Dame and then diving right into Big East play against Houston. Beating the Cougars is a must to go on a big September run with Fordham and Idaho to follow. It gets ugly fast in October with Louisville and a trip to Cincinnati in six days and road games against SMU and Rutgers making it four away games in six and three in four weeks. The slate eases up late with home games against UCF and Connecticut before finishing up with Memphis, but getting close to a winning record will be a fight.

The 2013 Class Is Heavy On ... Running backs. Matt Rhule didn't come up with a big haul of top talents like Al Golden was able to get, and he didn't go after receivers after Steve Addazio went heavy on pass catchers over the last two years, but he came up with some nice runners in Zaire Williams and Brandon Peoples to add some more punch to the ground game in a few years. Linebacker Buddy Brown and guard Matt Barone are Big East players, but the Owls need more of them. For a program that struggles so much to crank out points, kicker Jim Cooper could be an underappreciated signing.

2012 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 53. That Class Was Heavy On ... Receivers. Steve Addazio wants a passing game, and it’s going to come from a loaded receiving corps helped by a third straight class of prospects. It’s a huge haul of targets coming in, but the running game isn’t being ignored with Montrell Dobbs a terrific talent who could fill in for the departed Bernard Pierce right away. Defensively, the secondary gets a ton of talent with safeties Sam Benjamin and Stephaun Marshall the best tandem recruited by anyone in the MAC. 

2011 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 88. That Class Was Heavy On ... Receivers. After loading up on skill players last year, the offense should be far better in a hurry. Apparently, new head man Steve Addazio wants bodies to throw to. The passing game got an instant infusion with 6-4 JUCO bomber Clinton Grainger coming in to chuck it around, and five wide receivers, highlighted by a fantastic get in Daquan Cooper and JUCO transfers Malcolm Eugene and Tyron Eugene to make plays.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 76. That Class Was Heavy On ... Skill players. For a program that has struggled so much to put points on the board, and has had so many issues getting things moving through the air, the passing game got some special attention. Al Golden has gone big on skill guys in the past, and last year was supposed to be about the offensive line and RB Bernard Pierce turned into something special. This year, RB Myron Ross is a big thumper who should make a difference while WRs Antonio Belt and Deon Miller might be better than anyone currently on the roster. This is an instant impact class of receivers.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 90. That Class Was Heavy On ... Guards. Temple has gone heavy on skill players over the last few years, loading up on receivers and running backs last year, and it also brought in the guards. The Owls did it again with several very good prospects for the interior of the offensive line with Cody Bohler and Darryl Pringle ready-made blockers who could make an impact right away. The best prospect for the front is Kadeem Custis, a tackle.