A common trend on Cherry & White Nation is to get fellow college bloggers involved in our site to bring in a wide variety of opinions and personalities. One of our more respected guests is Dave Gerson, the owner of Owlified.com.
1. Temple started the game off with a deep ball to Rod Streater. How come you think Temple went away from throwing downfield following the 56 yard completion?
I have don't understand why the Owls shied away from the passing game. Campbell and Streater through two games have proven to be pretty reliable, but I don't think the coaches are willing to throw the long ball that much. Delano Green and Joe Jones have also contributed, but the Owls' game plan hasn't really called on them much. I would like to see more of Deon Miller as the season goes on as well. Unless they are somehow going to end up redshirting him, there's no reason you can't utilize a 6'5" wideout against any opponent.
CMU is a very talented team thought that I'm sure would have made immediate changes to the coverage so that something like that wouldn't happen again. They weren't giving Chester a lot of time to making throwing decisions when the Owls weren't running the ball.
2. What are your opinions from Thursday night's game, what impressed you the most, and what area are you most concerned about following the game against CMU?
What impressed me the most was the play of the defense as a whole. There are so many positives you can pull from this game that come from the D. If not for the secondary's decent coverage, CMU could have blown up at any point. Wideout Cody Wilson was a handful enough to cover, but the defensive backs got the job done and limited the passing attack of the Chips. Not to mention Kee-ayre Griffin's crucial overtime interception.
If not for the all out rush by the defensive line on the final play of regulation, I don't think we would have won the game. Muhammad Wilkerson's forced fumble was the only way that we could have gotten that clock to run out rather than an attempted field goal. Adrian Robinson, Elisha Joseph, Shahid Paulhill, and Kadeem Custis gave Central Michigan's Ryan Radcliff a lot of problems as the game progressed.
The one area that I'm concerned with is the offensive line. This group was looked at as one of the top units in the entire country, and to me it doesn't seem like they are playing like that right now. The pass blocking needs to give Stewart some more time to settle in the pocket rather than force things. On the run, the addition of a fullback helps but the front five or six are what set our backs up for their plays.
3. Chester Stewart isn't blowing up the box scores, but he has avoided interceptions, although he has coughed the ball up down the stretch in both games. What is your perspective on Stewart and his performance so far, and what will he need to do differently against UCONN?
Chester has the potential to be a great quarterback. His decision making has definitely improved over the last few years and will continue to do so as he gets more and more experience. We've known that he is capable of making plays on the ground as well, and have started to see him use his legs a little more in 2010.
I think that against a team like UConn we will see more throwing from Chester again, and it will be his job to make the right choices and smart moves. Two areas I will once again stress are simple: the control of the snaps and protecting the football. John Palumbo/Jeremy Schonbrunner and Chester Stewart need to be on the same page whether under center or from the gun. Temple has lost too many downs because of a fault in the snap. Second, Chester needs to learn to protect the ball when he is being rushed. You cannot let the ball be exposed when you're being attacked by opposing linemen.
4. The topic has been brought up a lot recently. Let's say you're in Al Golden's place. It's week three against UCONN, and you need to put the best team possible on the field. Who do you start at running back?
It all depends on who performs at practice. Matt Brown has stayed healthy and productive through the first two games and has earned his spot in the backfield. Bernard Pierce has gotten his touches, but has once again gotten roughened up a bit (Not sure exactly what's going on with the hand, but I'd like to assume it's nothing serious).
I don't think that Pierce's production is going down because he is not playing, I think that it's because the running game as a whole is not playing well. You block well for any back, he'll get you yards. The offensive line needs to step it up for both of these guys come Saturday. Brown and Pierce sharing the carries is not the problem, it's what they are doing with those carries that is.
5. What do you think Temple will need to do to not only compete with the Huskies, but pull out the victory?
Temple is more than capable of beating UConn, but needs to play smart and productive football. If the defense can play as lockdown as they did against CMU, I think we're in a solid position. Winning the turnover battle only betters the chances of winning the football game. The offense, though, needs to show up and put some points on the board early in the game; we need some consistency out of this group. I don't think the coaches should be afraid to try and air the ball out a little also. We cannot have an offense mainly focused on the run over the pass; this gameplan needs some diversity.
--
We thank Dave for providing his insight onto last week's game, and we look forward to hearing from him throughout the season.
No comments:
Post a Comment