Boston College Athletics
Owls Bringing "Temple Tough" to Saturdays
September 26, 2018 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC plays Temple this weekend for the first time since 2004
Boston College fans likely remember Temple as the team they saw on November 20, 2004. That was the Owls' final regular season game, and like BC, it also represented their last game in the Big East. Per an agreement three years prior, Temple's football-only membership expired in the conference for a number of different reasons, forcing it into a new world as the college football universe realigned.
That was almost 14 years ago, however, and everything about college football is different. The Owls are rewriting their often-unkind history into something of a new day, and the modern era is watching an explosion of college football in Philadelphia. The program once voted out of the Big East is now as relevant as ever, and it comes to Chestnut Hill this weekend loaded with talent ready to compete in a conference dotted by some elite teams.
"The phrase is coined 'Temple Tough,'" BC head coach Steve Addazio said. "I think this is a tough team with speed and skill. This is a tough game. This is a really tough game here. We have got to play a whole lot better (than last week). We have got to play like we are capable of playing. We have to do the things we do."
The Owls enter Saturday with a little bit of swagger combined with a chip on their shoulder. Despite losing their first two games of the season, Temple beat Maryland on the road, 35-14, for a win over a power conference team. It went home on to Philadelphia on a short week after that and beat Tulsa to open conference play last Thursday night, 31-17.
It was a stark turnaround from those first two games. Villanova outgained Temple in week one, 405-251, after the Owls allowed 151 yards rushing and three passing touchdowns. The next week, the offense improved to 355 yards, but the defense again allowed 400-plus yards as Buffalo replicated the Wildcats' output.
It set the tone for a major bounce back against the Terrapins. Maryland completed only eight passes for 63 yards, and the Temple offense scored four times, including via 165 rushing yards. The Owls then posted 191 yards and two scores again on the ground against the Golden Hurricane.
"This is a game where we will have to be patient offensively and get our opportunities as they come," Addazio said. "Defensively, we have to keep field position. That's going to be critically important, and of course on special teams, they have a real knack for creating turnovers and plays. We have got to be really, really sound in our kicking games."
Temple enters the game with a varied look on offense that stems from running back Ryquell Armstead. He averages almost five yards per carry and is coming off of three straight games with 100 yards rushing.
Armstead will line up behind Anthony Russo, a starting quarterback in the last two games, which Temple won. He substituted for Frank Nutile, a graduate student who entered the season as the primary signal caller for Villanova and Buffalo. An injury sidelined him prior to Maryland, and Russo stepped in to lead the Owls to wins both against the Terrapins and against Tula.
"I think we've settled in on Russo at quarterback," Addazio said. "He's thrown the ball really well. I think they have a good, solid offensive line, and they have a really good running back. Armstead is a terrific running back. Isaiah White is an outstanding receiver, and they put him in as a Wildcat quarterback. They get him to touch the ball, and they are smart to do that. Isaiah is a really fast, powerful, explosive player. They have got a couple of tall receivers that they get the ball to down the field. So they can strike you, and I think they are playing with a lot of confidence."
It'll mean BC will need to limit Temple's shots defensively, something it can do if it can get the offense rolling. To do that, the Eagles will need to attack a defense with seven interceptions on the season, including two from Rock Ya-Sin. He's one of six players with picks, two which - Ty Mason and Shaun Bradley - returned theirs to the house.
Bradley is the team leader in tackles, but the unit can collectively get behind the line of scrimmage. It enters Saturday with 26 tackles for loss, including over five from Michael Dogbe.
"On defense, I think their back ends run well, and their linebackers run exceptionally well," Addazio said. "I think up front they have a couple of interior defensive linemen that are very good players, and they can really disrupt you. They are active schematically. They are not afraid to come after you all the time. They have good players, good speed."
It's a contrast from the Temple teams of old. In 2001, the Big East voted Temple out of the conference due to a number of reasons, and the Owls left after playing Boston College in their season finale of the 2004 season. They played out the next two seasons as an independent before settling into the Mid-American Conference under new head coach Al Golden.
He slowly laid the foundation for the Owls' success, and the team won nine games to tie for the MAC East Division crown in 2009. Golden departed to become the Miami head coach in 2011, handing the reigns to Steve Addazio.
Addazio repeated the '09 success in his first season, and Temple won its first bowl game since 1979. That offseason, the Big East, which voted the Owls out of membership in the early 2000s, invited them back into the league to settle some of its shifting membership. The quick jump forced the Owls to play an 11-game season, but it helped set the tone for sustained future success.
"I know that history and transition," Addazio said. "That was a real important piece of history and transition that had to happen because we were going nowhere in the MAC and certainly were going nowhere (as an FBS Independent). We had to get back into (the Big East) and get that respect, and I thought we did that.
"We were playing at that time (against) Louisville and Syracuse," Addazio said. "Then that thing came together, that recruiting, those guys started maturing, and it coincided with the schedule. The Big East came undone and the formation of what was left became the AAC, which I think became a better deal."
Addazio's time at Temple set the stage for the Owls' glory run under his successor, Matt Rhule, in the Big East's successor, the American Athletic Conference. The 2015 Owls opened the season with seven straight wins en route to an AAC East Division crown, and the year included the first win over Penn State since 1941 and first national ranking since 1979.
The next year, Temple finished the year with seven straight wins to win the AAC Championship before losing in the Military Bowl to Wake Forest.
"It all came together with the facilities upgrading," Addazio said. "I think they've done a nice job and had a real good plan that we formulated there at that time. There some great people involved, and there was an energy, a synergy there that really helped catapult that program. It gave us an opportunity to recruit and do some really fantastic things there. I am real proud of that, but I have a really good understanding of that program, where it is and who it is attractive to and the kind of players that they have."
The Temple team that comes to BC is going to be very different from its last trip to Boston in 2001. During its first Big East tenure, the Owls never won more than four games and never finished .500. It lost 10 games or more five times between 1991-2004. In the years since, there have been four seasons with nine or more wins, including the back-to-back 10-win seasons. Geoff Collins, the current head coach, went 6-6 last year, qualifying the team for its third straight bowl after it only went to four in the previous 120 seasons.
"Al Golden had done a tremendous job of resurrecting that program," Addazio said. "I thought we went and tried to take it to the next level and recruited the whole class of guys that are still playing in the NFL and went on to have great success.
"Matt came in and was able to take that thing and really do some great things and run with that," he said. "And now Geoff has come in here. I don't know Geoff (personally). I know of him. He's a really fine, really good football coach. He's doing a great job out there recruiting and keeping that thing going."
Boston College will play Temple for the 38th time on Saturday at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill. The game can be seen on ESPNU and via watchESPN.com. It can be heard via the BC IMG Sports Network, locally on WEEI 850 AM, and on satellite radio via Sirius channel 134, XM channel 203 and Internet channel 968. The game can also be streamed via the TuneIn app.
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That was almost 14 years ago, however, and everything about college football is different. The Owls are rewriting their often-unkind history into something of a new day, and the modern era is watching an explosion of college football in Philadelphia. The program once voted out of the Big East is now as relevant as ever, and it comes to Chestnut Hill this weekend loaded with talent ready to compete in a conference dotted by some elite teams.
"The phrase is coined 'Temple Tough,'" BC head coach Steve Addazio said. "I think this is a tough team with speed and skill. This is a tough game. This is a really tough game here. We have got to play a whole lot better (than last week). We have got to play like we are capable of playing. We have to do the things we do."
The Owls enter Saturday with a little bit of swagger combined with a chip on their shoulder. Despite losing their first two games of the season, Temple beat Maryland on the road, 35-14, for a win over a power conference team. It went home on to Philadelphia on a short week after that and beat Tulsa to open conference play last Thursday night, 31-17.
It was a stark turnaround from those first two games. Villanova outgained Temple in week one, 405-251, after the Owls allowed 151 yards rushing and three passing touchdowns. The next week, the offense improved to 355 yards, but the defense again allowed 400-plus yards as Buffalo replicated the Wildcats' output.
It set the tone for a major bounce back against the Terrapins. Maryland completed only eight passes for 63 yards, and the Temple offense scored four times, including via 165 rushing yards. The Owls then posted 191 yards and two scores again on the ground against the Golden Hurricane.
"This is a game where we will have to be patient offensively and get our opportunities as they come," Addazio said. "Defensively, we have to keep field position. That's going to be critically important, and of course on special teams, they have a real knack for creating turnovers and plays. We have got to be really, really sound in our kicking games."
Temple enters the game with a varied look on offense that stems from running back Ryquell Armstead. He averages almost five yards per carry and is coming off of three straight games with 100 yards rushing.
Armstead will line up behind Anthony Russo, a starting quarterback in the last two games, which Temple won. He substituted for Frank Nutile, a graduate student who entered the season as the primary signal caller for Villanova and Buffalo. An injury sidelined him prior to Maryland, and Russo stepped in to lead the Owls to wins both against the Terrapins and against Tula.
"I think we've settled in on Russo at quarterback," Addazio said. "He's thrown the ball really well. I think they have a good, solid offensive line, and they have a really good running back. Armstead is a terrific running back. Isaiah White is an outstanding receiver, and they put him in as a Wildcat quarterback. They get him to touch the ball, and they are smart to do that. Isaiah is a really fast, powerful, explosive player. They have got a couple of tall receivers that they get the ball to down the field. So they can strike you, and I think they are playing with a lot of confidence."
It'll mean BC will need to limit Temple's shots defensively, something it can do if it can get the offense rolling. To do that, the Eagles will need to attack a defense with seven interceptions on the season, including two from Rock Ya-Sin. He's one of six players with picks, two which - Ty Mason and Shaun Bradley - returned theirs to the house.
Bradley is the team leader in tackles, but the unit can collectively get behind the line of scrimmage. It enters Saturday with 26 tackles for loss, including over five from Michael Dogbe.
"On defense, I think their back ends run well, and their linebackers run exceptionally well," Addazio said. "I think up front they have a couple of interior defensive linemen that are very good players, and they can really disrupt you. They are active schematically. They are not afraid to come after you all the time. They have good players, good speed."
It's a contrast from the Temple teams of old. In 2001, the Big East voted Temple out of the conference due to a number of reasons, and the Owls left after playing Boston College in their season finale of the 2004 season. They played out the next two seasons as an independent before settling into the Mid-American Conference under new head coach Al Golden.
He slowly laid the foundation for the Owls' success, and the team won nine games to tie for the MAC East Division crown in 2009. Golden departed to become the Miami head coach in 2011, handing the reigns to Steve Addazio.
Addazio repeated the '09 success in his first season, and Temple won its first bowl game since 1979. That offseason, the Big East, which voted the Owls out of membership in the early 2000s, invited them back into the league to settle some of its shifting membership. The quick jump forced the Owls to play an 11-game season, but it helped set the tone for sustained future success.
"I know that history and transition," Addazio said. "That was a real important piece of history and transition that had to happen because we were going nowhere in the MAC and certainly were going nowhere (as an FBS Independent). We had to get back into (the Big East) and get that respect, and I thought we did that.
"We were playing at that time (against) Louisville and Syracuse," Addazio said. "Then that thing came together, that recruiting, those guys started maturing, and it coincided with the schedule. The Big East came undone and the formation of what was left became the AAC, which I think became a better deal."
Addazio's time at Temple set the stage for the Owls' glory run under his successor, Matt Rhule, in the Big East's successor, the American Athletic Conference. The 2015 Owls opened the season with seven straight wins en route to an AAC East Division crown, and the year included the first win over Penn State since 1941 and first national ranking since 1979.
The next year, Temple finished the year with seven straight wins to win the AAC Championship before losing in the Military Bowl to Wake Forest.
"It all came together with the facilities upgrading," Addazio said. "I think they've done a nice job and had a real good plan that we formulated there at that time. There some great people involved, and there was an energy, a synergy there that really helped catapult that program. It gave us an opportunity to recruit and do some really fantastic things there. I am real proud of that, but I have a really good understanding of that program, where it is and who it is attractive to and the kind of players that they have."
The Temple team that comes to BC is going to be very different from its last trip to Boston in 2001. During its first Big East tenure, the Owls never won more than four games and never finished .500. It lost 10 games or more five times between 1991-2004. In the years since, there have been four seasons with nine or more wins, including the back-to-back 10-win seasons. Geoff Collins, the current head coach, went 6-6 last year, qualifying the team for its third straight bowl after it only went to four in the previous 120 seasons.
"Al Golden had done a tremendous job of resurrecting that program," Addazio said. "I thought we went and tried to take it to the next level and recruited the whole class of guys that are still playing in the NFL and went on to have great success.
"Matt came in and was able to take that thing and really do some great things and run with that," he said. "And now Geoff has come in here. I don't know Geoff (personally). I know of him. He's a really fine, really good football coach. He's doing a great job out there recruiting and keeping that thing going."
Boston College will play Temple for the 38th time on Saturday at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill. The game can be seen on ESPNU and via watchESPN.com. It can be heard via the BC IMG Sports Network, locally on WEEI 850 AM, and on satellite radio via Sirius channel 134, XM channel 203 and Internet channel 968. The game can also be streamed via the TuneIn app.
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