Geoff Collins has Temple's defense at the top of its game as the Owls take on a familiar opponent this Saturday
by Dick Weiss
PHILADELPHIA-- Ever since Temple’s football program finally started to turn the corner in 2009, the Owls’ program has become one of the best jobs in the nation for rising coaching stars.
Al Golden, Steve Addazio and Matt Rhule all had various measures of success in Philadelphia before they moved on to other programs. With that in mind, current head coach Geoff Collins, the former defensive coordinator from Florida, has found himself walking in big footsteps since taking over for the popular Matt Rhule in 2017.
Collins coached the Owls to a 7-6 record last season, but his team got off to a slow start in 2018 with losses to Villanova and a still-undefeated Buffalo squad.
Collins has worked hard to fix the problems. The Owls stunned Maryland, 35-17, in College Park and then won their American opener, using a surging defense to defeat Tulsa, 31-17, last week in an ESPN Thursday night game at Lincoln Financial Field.
“A great game, under the lights,” Collins said after the win, which leveled the Owls’ record at 2-2. “Tulsa was an uptempo team that ran 107 plays and our defense held them to 17 points. We came up with two more defensive scores. We have to be one of the opportunistic teams in the country with four defensive scores.”
Even though the Owls were forced to switch quarterbacks two games ago after starter Frank Nutile was injured, Temple looks like a completely different team than the one that started the season. “I’m proud of the way we’re coming together as a team,” Collins said.
The Owls will face a challenge Saturday when they play a physical Boston College team, one that is coached by Steve Addazio, in Chestnut Hill. This is the first time that Temple has played against a former coach since 1935 when the Owls went up against Henry Miller, who coached Temple for seven years before moving to Saint Joseph’s.
Addazio, a one-time offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer at Florida, spent two years at Temple, but he coached the Owls to a 9-4 record and a bowl bid in 2010 and was part of a reconstruction that started with Golden in the later part of the first decade of this century.
“You reflect back a little bit and I’m very appreciative to Temple and the people at Temple who gave me an opportunity,” Addazio said this week. “I loved my experience and my time there. I really embraced and love the city. I enjoyed having a real part in building that program.”
Golden, who built a strong reputation as a defensive coordinator/recruiter at Virginia, coached the Owls, who had moved from independent status to a member of the MAC in football, to a 9-4 record and a spot in the Eagle Bank Bowl in 2009, then an 8-4 record before accepting the head coaching job at Miami (Fla) from the ACC.
Rhule, who had previously served as a Temple assistant from 2006 to 20011 and spent a year as an assistant line coach with the NFL New York Giants, succeeded Addazio in 2013 and established the Owls as an American Athletic Conference champion and a nationally ranked team.
Temple is building a new tradition now under Collins.
Collins can change the narrative quickly if the Owls’ defense can control BC’s high-powered offense. The Eagles, who were nationally ranked before last Saturday’s 30-13 loss to Purdue, feature accomplished quarterback Anthony Brown and running back AJ Dillion, a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate who is capable for rushing for 1,800 yards.
“BC likes to run the ball downhill behind a big, physical offensive line,” Collins said. “They have one of the best running backs in the country.”
Temple’s defense has come to life the last two games, limiting Maryland’s powerful running game to 132 yards by suffocating the Terrapins’ jet sweeps, and then forcing Tulsa into fatal mistakes.
Freshman Ty Mason returned an interception 37 yards to give the Owls a 7-0 lead against Tulsa. Then, in the third quarter, the Owls’ Quincy Roche -- the American’s Defensive Player of the Week -- caused a fumble that was scooped up by defensive tackle Karamo Dioubate who returned it 50-yards for a score.
The 6-3, 295-pound Dioubate, who finished with six tackles, is a former four star recruit out of Philadelphia Penn Charter, originally committed to Penn State before flipping to Temple, has made the biggest improvement of anyone on the roster
The Owls are ranked 10th in the country in sacks, averaging 3.75 a game.
“We’ve made that a high priority,” Collins said. “Our defensive scheme is built to create mayhem and turnovers. I didn’t feel we had done that enough last year. Our defensive staff is focused on turnovers, not just interceptions. We want more balls on the ground.”