After a rough opening stretch to begin the season, Notre Dame takes a well deserved week off after playing USC. They return on Halloween in the City of Brotherly Love to face Temple in Lincoln Financial Stadium, where the Temple Owls await.
Last the Irish saw Temple, first-year head coach Matt Rhule was rebooting a program Steve Addazio left for Boston College and Tommy Rees was going long and throwing deep balls for touchdowns. But since then, the Owls have made steady progress, turning a game that seems to be a mismatch into one that actually deserves some attention.
To help us with that, Mike Gibson of Rant Sports and Temple Football Forever joins us. We chat about the job Rhule’s done, a defensive that might be the best one nobody’s heard of, and the hopes for an on-campus stadium.
At first glance, it’s really amazing the turnaround job that’s taking place at Temple under Matt Rhule. At just 40 years old, Rhule is a rising star in the profession. What’s the state of the program heading into 2015 and being one of the better teams in the AAC?
The state of the program is good as far as the talent level. All 11 starters return from the No. 4 scoring defense in the country, led by All-American Linebacker candidate Tyler Matakevich. Nobody is safe as at least three of those positions could be upgraded by newcomers (redshirts and incoming freshmen).
The coaching staff, though, is pretty inexperienced, with no guys having been a head coach anywhere. The offensive coordinator, Marcus Satterfield, is from Tennessee-Chattanooga. The defensive coordinator (Phil Snow) last coached at Eastern Michigan.
It’s hard to look at Temple without noticing their defense. One of the best statistical units in the country returns all 11 starters. Tyler Matakevich has had 100 tackles in each of his first three seasons -- and looks like a lock to do so again in 2015. What makes him so good? And is it fair to call him the star of this Temple team?
What makes this group so good and what do you expect to see in 2015?
Yes, it is fair to call Tyler the star of this team. He’s always around the ball, a heat-seeking missile who always seems to avoid getting blocked. He’s extremely tough.
It’s more than just Matakevich. The defensive line is much more active and a pass-rushing force than it was against Notre Dame two years ago. Nate D. Smith is almost as good a LB as Matakevich and Tavon Young and Sean Chandler are outstanding cornerbacks. There are no more Anthony Robeys, who got lit up at ND two years ago.
It seems like the Temple offense is the counterpoint to the defense. And P.J. Walker’s struggles down the stretch last season had to be frustrating to watch. Is he the answer at quarterback? Is there another option? Or was last year just the growing pains that come with being a sophomore?
P.J. lost his comfort zone when Robbie Anderson flunked out of school (he was accepted back into school and the program in late June). Anderson is the best receiver in my opinion in Temple history and that includes Steve Watson (Denver Broncos) and Leslie Shepherd (Redskins) and Rob Streater (Raiders).
P.J. had a great year (20 touchdowns, 8 int) as a true freshman and nine of those touchdowns were to Anderson over the last 5 games. Compound that with Temple failing to devise a scheme to protect him in the pocket (no blocking backs, plenty of empty backfields) and P.J. looked shell-shocked back there at times.
Rhule promises those protection schemes will change. He is the answer at quarterback. He reminds me very much of Teddy Bridgewater. He can be that good.
You’ve been vocal on the need for Temple to build its own on-campus stadium. While Notre Dame coming to the Linc might actually help sell the place out, it looks like the opposite of a home field advantage. What would a stadium do for the Temple program and what’s the progress report on the quest to build one?
At the latest BOT meeting, there was no discussion (none) of a new stadium and the next meeting is July 14. I doubt they will discuss it even then. (Mike talked about the importance of yesterday’s meeting on his blog.)
I’m neutral on a stadium. I like Notre Dame and Penn State coming to Philadelphia and I don’t think that will ever happen if Temple built a 30K on-campus stadium. I think Jeff Lurie would probably lock Temple out if that happened. He’s not as civic-minded as, say, Mr. Rooney is with Pitt in Pittsburgh. The only people who are talking about it are Temple fans on message boards.
There will be 35K Temple fans there and 35K Notre Dame fans. It will be like an old-fashioned Big 5 basketball game at the Palestra. From 2009-2011, Temple was 14-4 at the Linc. Not a bad home record.