Saturday, November 15th, 2003, 1:00

TV: none

Forecast (from WeatherUnderground.com):
Click the "Philadelphia Weather" link to the right.
As of 2:00 pm Thursday: "Mostly sunny in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 50s."

Click here for TechSideline.com's VT/Temple roster card

After a regular season loss that hurt for me as much as any since the 1998 McNabb Miracle at the Dome - geez, did one Pitt fan have to leave their fight song on my answering machine TWICE? - the 7-2 twelfth-ranked Hokies get the ultimate tonic: 1-8 Bill Cosby U, otherwise known as Temple. The Owls were a team without a conference as of last year and still haven't gotten on anyone's invite list despite the ongoing internal cannibalization of the NCAA. Poor Temple was even a team without a home stadium three weeks before kickoff this year, before they finally signed a deal to play at the Eagles new stadium, Lincoln Financial Field.

Be that as it may, the Owls - last in Big East offense, last in Big East defense, and last in the hearts of other Big East brass - have to look good to the Hokies after their recently completed three-game gauntlet.

What do the Owls have going for them? Well, most sophisticated college football folks will tell you Bobby Wallace is a good coach, but he has been placed in an untenable position at Temple. Expect his name to surface for any number of other bigger jobs, including Mississippi State. They also have a defensive scheme that works, although this year they don't have the players to really run it. Remember last year, though, they played VT tight in a 20-10 loss in Lane. I know that's a pretty short list of strengths, but Temple doesn't have a whole lot going for it.

Temple operates a spread offense that has struggled in pretty much every phase of the game this year. All of these marks are last in the Big East: points per game (18.7), total offense (336.2), rushing offense (103.8 per game, on 3.2 per carry) and pass efficiency (108.72).

Temple has started JR quarterback Mike McGann most of the year. McGann is a prototype pocket passer as he is 6'6", 220 with a strong enough arm. However, being a prototype pocket passer can be hazardous to your health behind the Temple offensive line, and that has led to McGann being dinged with an injured right elbow. His numbers this year are not good: a 52% completion percentage, and five touchdowns versus six interceptions.

Last week's starter, and the expected starter this week as of the time I write this, is JUCO all-american Walter Washington. Washington is an athletic quarterback who was the runner up for Junior College National Player of the Year. Washington is second on the team in rushing attempts with 68 and is a threat there. He averages 3.5 per carry, and remember, that includes sacks. His passing numbers are similar to McGann's: 51.9% complete, five touchdowns and two interceptions. Completing 50% of your throws in a spread offense that focuses on ball control won't get it done.

Sign #1 your running game has issues (assuming you aren't executing the triple option): through nine games your top two running backs have 120 carries for 538 yards, and your top two quarterbacks have 117 carries for 502 (that figure excludes all lost yardage attributed to tackles behind the line). Ouch.

The leading running back is 5'10", 200 SR Makonnen Fenton. Fenton averages 4.3 per carry and has two touchdowns on the year. He was primarily a wide receiver last year, but Temple moved him to their "super back" slot because Tanardo Sharps graduated last season. Fenton's backup is either Jamil Porter (38 carries/145 yards/3.8 average/3 touchdowns) or Umar Ferguson (43/195/4.5/3 touchdowns).

Temple has been starting three wide receivers recently: JR Phil Goodman, a bigger target at 6'3", 215, Ikey Chuku, a 6'3", 196 lb. SR, and 6'1", 185 lb. SR Zamir Cobb. Cobb gets the lion's share of the receptions, as he has 59 on the year for 699 yards and four touchdowns. He is second in the league in catches and receiving yards per game. That shouldn't be a surprise: Cobb has been very productive throughout his career, as he is already Temple's all-time reception leader with 150 grabs. He is the man to watch on the Temple offense.

Goodman, a JUCO transfer, is second in catches with 33 for 500 yards, which comes out to a 15.2 average. Chuku has 14 receptions on the year averaging 12.9 per catch. Fenton also gets a fair number of passes thrown his way, as he has 19 catches on the year. He only has a 5.5 average, though, so he hasn't yet made plays downfield. Temple's tight end, Collin Hannagan, is 6'5", 260 lbs. and has four catches through nine games.

The offensive line at Temple was decimated by graduation losses. The Owls lost four starters who combined for 119 career starts, and that explains the poor rushing average plus the inordinately high number of sacks allowed (23). The lone returning starter, 6'2", 290 lb. SR center Joe Laudano, is the best player on the line. The other four starters average over 6'4" and 295 lbs., so the size is representative. Left tackle John Gross is only a sophomore, while left guard C.J. Blomvall (a first year JUCO) and right tackle Chris Harris (JUCO) are both juniors, so they have some experience. The final starter, Jose Portillo, is a SR and probably the next best player on the line.

Traditionally the Owls play a strong 4-2-5 defense. In fact, with Big East Defensive Player of the Year Dan Klecko leading the way, last year Temple finished in the top twenty in total defense. This year the Owls are last in the league in a bunch of defensive categories, most notably points allowed (32.7) and total defense. They are last in rushing defense (permitting 4.5 per carry) and pass efficiency defense overall (12.6 yards per completion), so they appear to be equally vulnerable to the run and pass.

The lone returning starter up front is Taso Apostolidis, a 6'0", 285 lb. man in the middle who has 34 tackles and eight tackles for losses. His partner inside is space eater Antwon Burton, a junior who is 6'4", 330 lbs. Burton, another JUCO, has eighteen tackles on the year and basically is there to hold down the point of attack.

Four different players have started at defensive end this year, but the starters for the Hokie game look to be SO Mike Mendenhall (6'3", 250) and JR Christian Dunbar (6'2", 240). Dunbar is the big play guy with 22 tackles, five tackles for losses, and is second on the Owls with 3.5 sacks.

The linebackers make most of the plays in this defense, and they are a strength. Sophomore Will linebacker Rian Wallace is the real deal, and the pros are keeping an eye on him. Wallace has prototype size at 6'4", 240, made several freshman all-american teams and has been very productive, with a whopping 115 tackles this year. He has been in double digits in tackles every game but the opener against PSU. He has twelve tackles for losses, which leads the team, and has recovered two fumbles.

The strongside linebacker, Troy Bennett, is also very capable. Bennett, like Wallace, is a returning starter and has nice size at 6'2", 240. Bennett is the third leading tackler for the Owls with 67 stops, and he has six tackles for losses and a sack to his credit.

The five-man secondary only returns one starter and he's the statistical leader of the group. Free safety Yazid Jackson is a 5'10", 19\85 lb. SR who is second on the team with 77 tackles, and he leads the team with 6 passes broken up.

Temple plays their two safeties near the line of scrimmage - the Owl Safety (similar to our whip) and the strong safety (similar to our rover) on this team are both juniors. The Owl Safety is 6'0", 195 lb. Lawrence Wade, who is tied for fourth on the team with 54 tackles, including six for a loss and two sacks. He also has an interception. The strong safety is JUCO transfer Sadeke Konte, a 6'1", 215 JR who has 39 tackles on the year including five for a loss while leading the team with four sacks. As you can tell, Temple sends these guys a lot, or they wouldn't combine for six sacks on the year.

The corners are 5'11", 180 JR Ray Lamb (a wide receiver convert) and 5'10", 171 lb. JR Pete McBride or 5'9", 170 SO Mike Holley. Lamb has 33 tackles, while Holley has 54 stops and a pass interception. Lamb and McBride are both first year JUCOs.

The Owls are tied for the Big East lead with 20 sacks, but they have to get pressure by blitzing a fair amount, which can leave them susceptible to the big play.

Temple's special teams are not particularly good. Their punter, SO Mike McLaughlin, only averages 36.9 per kick with a net of 32.8. Their kicker, SR Jared Davis, is 8 of 18 and has missed twice inside 29 yards.

The return game is good. Cobb averages 13.4 per punt return, although the TU team only has 11 returns through nine games. Kickoffs are handled by Fenton and Porter, who each have 18 returns. Porter has the better average, 25.8 versus Fenton's 17.9.

Temple's kickoff coverage unit is very good, as they only yield 13.4 yards per return (insert joke here about how fresh their legs are). The punt coverage team surrenders 8.6 per return.

This Temple team is bad. They have 12 first year JUCOs on their depth chart, and eight are projected to start against VT. That's an awful lot of turnover, and they are prone to making mistakes.

Last week against Syracuse, SU held the ball in the first half for nearly 21 minutes by just running it down their throat. VT could employ a similar strategy to keep everyone healthy (hopefully) and not show anything prior to the next two games. On the other hand, if the coaches want to use this game to audition quarterbacks, they could look to throw the ball some.

This is the dreaded sandwich game. It probably will be tough for VT to be emotionally ready after last week's gut wrenching loss, plus the empty stadium won't help their focus. I think VT will win this because they are vastly superior from a talent perspective, but it might have some ugly spots.

Will Stewart's Take: Is there any program in the country more downtrodden than Temple? Immense player turnover, a team stocked with JUCOs, no fan base, no conference affiliation, and no future. They are the exact opposite of college football juggernauts Oklahoma and Miami (current QB troubles notwithstanding).

I agree with Jeff, in that the Hokies aren't going to be very pumped up for this game, and that will make them a little sloppy and uninspired. And the unsettled QB situation for VT can't be doing the general productivity of the offense any good.

I don't think Temple will score 10 points, though.

Will Stewart's Prediction: VT 31, Temple 3

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