Ball State’s blunders benefit Owls’ chances

Ball State, which went 12-0 in the regular season last year, enters Saturday’s game at 0-5.

With convincing wins the past two weeks, the Owls are riding high and looking to make a name for themselves in the Mid-American Conference. A win this weekend at Ball State would keep them perfect in the conference before they host Army for Homecoming. Here are three things to watch this weekend as the Owls look to continue their winning streak:

Temple
Three in a row?: After starting off the season with two losses, the Owls answered back with consecutive wins over Buffalo and Eastern Michigan. A win over Ball State on Saturday would put the Owls over .500 and at 3-0 in the MAC.

Keep feeding him the ball: It seems that coach Al Golden has found his feature back. Freshman running back Bernard Pierce carried the ball 25 times for 180 yards with two touchdowns. After scoring his first career touchdown against Buffalo, Pierce has rushed for 299 yards on 45 carries the past two weeks. The Owls need to run the ball to be effective, and Pierce is showing that he can handle the load.

Riding high: The Temple offense seems to be gaining some strength, but it’s the defense that still drives opponents crazy. After forcing five turnovers against Buffalo, the defense allowed two field goals and a late, meaningless touchdown while holding Eastern Michigan to just 50 yards rushing. If the Owls can put pressure on Ball State and force some turnovers, Temple should be 3-2 by Saturday evening.

Ball State
Perfect on a different front: Last season was a successful one for the Cardinals, as they finished the regular season ranked 12th in the nation with a 12-0 record. Behind then-senior quarterback Nate Davis, Ball State lost its undefeated season with losses to Buffalo in the MAC Championship and Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl. It’s been a different result in 2009, as the Cardinals have started off the campaign 0-5.

Spreading the wealth: The Cardinals do not have a feature running back. In last week’s 37-30 loss to Toledo, senior MiQuale Lewis rushed for only 24 yards with a touchdown. Lewis and company need to be able to run the ball on a tough Temple run defense if they want a shot at competing.

Paging some consistency: The loss of Davis to the National Football League leaves the Cardinals with freshman Kelly Page as their starting quarterback. Page has struggled so far this season, completing less than half of his passes to go along with five touchdowns and six interceptions. Page needs to avoid turning the ball over against an Owls defense that has produced five interceptions the past two weeks.

Pete Dorchak can be reached at pdorchak@temple.edu.

Running game, turnovers lead Owls to first win

After wrapping up a 37-13 victory over the defending Mid-American Conference Champion Buffalo Bulls this afternoon, the Owls’ locker room sang Frank Sinatra’s “High Hopes.”

Freshman kicker Brandon McManus hit a 35-yard field-goal attempt after an 11-play drive to lead off the game, and the Owls (1-2 overall, 1-0 MAC) went on to win their first game of the season. The Bulls fall to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in conference.

“I don’t think we’ve ever been 1-0 in the MAC,” coach Al Golden said. “Obviously, they’re the reigning MAC Champs, so from that standpoint this first win is significant, but when we wake up tomorrow morning, it’s just one win. It’s a good win, but it is only one.

“It’s nice. I’ve got to hide in the city and hide in the state [after losing to Villanova and Penn State], but at least we’re 1-0 in the MAC.”

Temple started the game with 10 straight rushing plays and finished the game with 40 attempts for 198 net yards. Freshman Bernard Pierce carried the ball 20 times for 116 net yards and his first career touchdown, an 18-yard run into the endzone in the third quarter after senior nose tackle Andre Neblett’s first career interception.

“We’ve been working three years to get that kind of rushing game,” Golden said. “Bernard’s a big back, and I’ve been anxious to get a big back and do the things that he can do. He uses the stiff arm well, and he’s always moving forward, but I think all three backs complement each other [Pierce, senior Lamar McPherson and sophomore Kee-ayre Griffin], and I don’t think Bernard gets the runs that he gets if Lamar doesn’t bring it downhill early. Lamar had a couple knockout blows, and that was the game plan coming in. We’ve never been able to pound someone like that, and Bernard helps us with that.”

Neblett’s interception was one of five turnovers the Owls forced on the day. Junior cornerback Marquise Liverpool and junior linebacker Elijah Joseph each reeled in their first career interceptions, and redshirt sophomore Morris Blueford Jr. recovered his first fumble. Joseph’s 95-yard return for a touchdown set a new school record. The old one, which was 92 yards, had lasted since 1971.

“He made a good play,” Golden said. “Most coaches would say go down with the ball because no good can come from it, but he made a great effort on that play. He saw a lane, and he ran with it.

“Multiple guys made plays, so I’m hopeful the defensive improvement can continue,” Golden added.

Still, Buffalo did gain 380 total yards of offense against Temple’s defense.

The Bulls grabbed a 6-3 lead early in the second quarter after advancing up the field from their own 3-yard line for a 36-yard field goal and then converting on another field-goal attempt after a Vaughn Charlton interception.

Charlton finished the game 6-for-17 for 95 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

But sophomore wide receiver James Nixon, who corralled a 48-yard pass in the third quarter that set up redshirt sophomore tight end Evan Rodriguez’ first career touchdown, returned a 92-yard kickoff for a touchdown.

The Owls never trailed the rest of the way.

Game Notes: With the win, the Owls improve to 7-2 at Lincoln Financial Field against the MAC. They have won four home MAC games in a row…Temple travels to Eastern Michigan next Saturday. The Eagles are 0-3 and have a bye this week.

Jennifer Reardon can be reached at jennifer.reardon@temple.edu.

With practice off and running, Golden’s looking for backs

With all the hype surrounding the men’s and women’s basketball teams during the last week as they both reached the NCAA Tournament, it’s been easy to overlook what’s been happening at Edberg-Olson Hall.

The Owls, along with third-year football coach Al Golden, kicked off spring practice last Tuesday at the team’s practice facility.

Golden’s squad is returning all but one starter, but if he wants to lead the Owls to post-season play like his counterparts, basketball coaches Fran Dunphy and Dawn Staley, he said he knows the team has room to improve.

“We have so many specific goals in terms of overall approach,” Golden said.

Golden said he has one specific focus for improvement — the running game.

“We just want to see if we can run the ball,” Golden said. “That’s one of the things we’re trying to find out this spring.”

Golden said the starting running back position is wide open, but the issue is cutting his options down to three or four open spots on the depth chart.

“[We have] three or four scholarships guys here right now this spring,” he said. “There’s a minimum of two coming in. They’ll be six or seven guys fighting to be in the top three or four to make the bus next year.”

Junior Jason Harper, who had seven starts at tailback last season, is vying for one of those positions. Harper rushed for 586 yards and five touchdowns in 2007.
Golden said Harper has some inconsistencies to work out.

“He’s got to develop the mental and physical toughness required to be a Division I tailback. It’s not an easy position. It’s a position that requires tremendous focus and discipline,” Golden said.

The coach has little to worry about with quarterback Adam DiMichele.

The senior is recovering from surgery that fixed his fractured tibia. DiMichele’s season ended on Oct. 20 when he was tackled in the Owls’ win over Miami (Ohio) at Lincoln Financial Field.

“He’s way ahead of schedule,” Golden said. “He’s going to throw for us in the spring which is something that we didn’t think was going to happen a couple months ago.”

The defense is led by two All-Mid-American Conference selections — junior defensive tackle Andre Neblett and junior defensive back Dominique Harris. The Owls led the MAC in five defensive categories last season including total defense and were first in the nation in red-zone defense.

The Owls started 20 freshmen, several on the defense, last year to lead the nation.

Golden said the experience was important, but added that the current freshman class could be even better.

In the off-season, Temple signed the top-rated recruiting class in the MAC, according to Scout.com.

“They should all utilize their experience from last year,” he said. “That’s one of the greatest benefits of playing freshmen. There’s more competition right now than there was at any point last year.”

Golden posted a 1-11 record in his first season at Temple. Last season, their inaugural in the MAC, the Owls won four conference games to finish with a 4-8 record.

A three-win improvement for Golden was satisfying, especially with 2006’s record, but he said he is expecting the gradual improvement to continue.

“I think we’re on schedule,” he said. “We’ve got some tough tasks ahead of us. We have a tough schedule ahead of us this year. That’s what we’re getting ready for this year.”

The Owls will conclude their spring practices with the annual Cherry and White intra-squad scrimmage Saturday, April 19, at the Ambler Sports Complex.

Pete Dorchak can be reached at pdorchak@temple.edu.

Photo Courtesy of Ron Davis