Temple Preview
November 26, 2003 12:40 PM | General
November 26, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez isn’t deceived by Temple’s 1-10 record. Despite winning only one game this year against Middle Tennessee State, the Owls have been playing pretty well of late.
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| Quarterback Walter Washington has accounted for 657 yards and four TDs in Temple's last two games against Virginia Tech and Pitt (Temple photo) |
Temple took Virginia Tech to overtime and could have extended the game to a second overtime but lost when its kicker missed an extra point to tie the game. Last week the Owls were down 21-3 before putting a scare into Pitt. Temple scored two touchdowns in a span of seven minutes to cut the Panthers’ lead to just 21-16. Pitt scored twice in the fourth quarter to come away with a 30-16 win.
The reason for Temple’s resurgence is quarterback Walter Washington, who got his first career start against Middle Tennessee State and was reinserted into the lineup against Rutgers when Mike McGann left the game with a twisted ankle.
“He’s had 657 yards and four TDs in his last two games and that’s been against two pretty good teams in Pitt and Virginia Tech,” said Rodriguez. “That’s a whole lot of production and it looks like he’s hitting his stride right about now.”
Washington started the Syracuse game on Nov. 8 and has been in the lineup ever since. The 6-foot-2, 246-pound sophomore came to Temple with impressive credentials after playing one season at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College. The Dayton Bach, Fla., native was the runner-up for the NJCAA player of the year award and was a first-team NJCAA All-American.
He came into this season splitting time with McGann before taking control of the Temple offense for good against Syracuse. Washington responded with a 19 of 34, 183-yard performance against the Orangemen in a 41-7 loss in the Carrier Dome.
Against Virginia Tech, Washington completed 15 of 30 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Last week against Pitt he threw for a season-high 278 yards on 24 of 40 passing with one touchdown.
Making Washington even more dangerous is the fact that he’s been Temple’s top ballcarrier the past three weeks. He gained 60 yards on 14 carries against Syracuse and added a season-high 151 yards on 26 tries against Tech. Last week, he carried the ball 26 times for 72 yards and a touchdown against Pitt.
“These are designed runs where he’s deciding to keep it after reading the end and sometimes I don’t even think he’s reading the end and just keeping it,” said Rodriguez. “Sometimes it’s a called quarterback run, they’re faking the run to one side and leaving him one on one. When’s he’s one on one he’s either running over them or making them miss. For a big guy he’s made more people miss than any 250-pounder I’ve ever seen.”
Amazingly, Washington has either carried the football or passed it 170 times in Temple’s last three games. That comes out to an average of 43 times per game he’s either run the ball or thrown it. Last week against Pitt Washington took part in 66 of Temple’s 73 offensive plays.
“There was one play against Virginia Tech he made seven guys miss,” said Rodriguez. “Now it might have been the same guy twice but there were seven guys he made miss on one running play and gained about 25 yards on it.”
“It’s funny what one guy can do for your ball club,” said West Virginia senior cornerback Lance Frazier. “The quarterback they have now is an outstanding athlete, he’s on the rise and he is coming in here with a lot of confidence.”
Wide receiver Zamir Cobb (6-1, 185, Sr.) has been Temple’s main passing target all season, regardless of who the quarterback is. He has caught a school single-season-record 71 passes entering the West Virginia game. He had three-straight 100-yard efforts against Penn State, Villanova and Cincinnati to start the season, and is coming off a nine-catch, 97-yard performance last Saturday against Pitt. Cobb shows 825 receiving yards for the season and five touchdowns.
Junior Phil Goodman, a Sacramento City College transfer, has stepped in nicely and ranks second on the team in receptions with 47 for 678 yards and five scores. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder had back-to-back 100-yard receiving games against Villanova and Cincinnati, and recently had an eight-catch, 89-yard effort against Virginia Tech.
Running back Makonnen Fenton (5-10, 200, Sr.) ranks third on the team with 20 receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown in Temple’s spread offense. Fenton is second to Washington in rushing carrying 78 times for 334 yards and two touchdowns. Umar Ferguson (6-0, 210, Jr.) has also gotten some carries, gaining 274 yards and scoring four touchdowns in 11 games.
Temple averages a little more than 33 rushers per game and is averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
Left tackle John Gross (6-6, 285, So.), center Joe Laudano (6-2, 290, Sr.) and left guard C.J. Blomvall (6-2, 305, Jr.) have started all 11 games. Right guard Jose Portillo (6-4, 305, Sr.) has also started all 11 games but he made one start at right tackle against Villanova.
Rodriguez says Temple’s spread offense has some of the same characteristics as his offense.
“Some of their run game out of the shotgun is similar and some of the routes that they do. They don’t use the I formation and the fullback and two tight ends like we do. They’re doing a lot of the stuff we used to do in the past.”
The Temple defense has had to replace some important parts from last year, most notably defensive tackle Dan Klecko now playing in the NFL.
Sophomore linebacker Rian Wallace (6-2, 240, So.) is Temple’s top defender producing 138 tackles and an impressive 17.5 tackles for losses. Wallace’s tackle total leads the Big East and ranks fifth nationally. He is also tied for 15th nationally in tackles for losses.
Free safety Yazid Jackson (5-10, 185, Sr.) ranks seventh among all Big East defensive backs with an average of 8.4 tackles per game. He has played in 43 consecutive games and has made 24 straight starts. His best effort was a 12-tackle performance against Louisville.
Linebacker Troy Bennett (6-2, 240, Sr.) has been active, logging 79 tackles and six tackles for losses as Wallace’s sidekick.
Strong safety Sadeke Konte (6-1, 215, Jr.) is Temple’s top pass rusher with four sacks; Temple has 21 sacks in all – six more than West Virginia’s defense.
The Owls are giving up 31.6 points and 440.5 yards per game. Temple is also allowing 201.1 yards per game on the ground.
West Virginia is hoping to have the services of running back Quincy Wilson for Saturday’s game. The senior suffered a high ankle sprain against Syracuse and missed most of the second half. He comes into the contest having rushed 270 times for 1,331 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Wilson’s backups Kay-Jay Harris and Jason Colson have combined to run for 521 yards and four touchdowns. Colson came on in the Syracuse game and finished with 56 yards on 13 attempts.
Junior Rasheed Marshall is coming off his most impressive passing performance as a Mountaineer quarterback. The Pittsburgh native completed 14 of 25 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns.
Sophomore Chris Henry caught six of those passes for a school-record 209 yards and two touchdowns. Henry leads WVU with 33 catches for 886 yards and nine touchdowns and is averaging 26.8 yards per catch.
Senior Grant Wiley, recently named to the Football Writers Association All-America first team, headlines the Mountaineer defense with 143 tackles and 13 tackles for losses. WVU’s defense is giving up 20.7 points and 383.5 yards per game.
Last year West Virginia defeated Temple 46-20 in Philadelphia, but Temple snapped West Virginia’s 10-game winning streak in the series with a 17-14 victory in Morgantown in 2001.
A victory Saturday by West Virginia will clinch a share of the Big East regular season championship.
Game time for Saturday’s contest is 1 pm and there is no live television. Plenty of tickets remain and can be purchased at the Mountaineer Ticket Office on Friday by calling 1-800-WVU GAME. Tickets can also be purchased on-line at WVUGAME.com, although the on-line ticket office does not accept the United Bank Two-for-One coupon.
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Tale of the Tape |
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| West Virginia | Offense | Temple |
| 29.5 | Points | 18.8 |
| 386.9 | Total Offense | 344.5 |
| 218.1 | Rushing Yards | 114.8 |
| 47.5 | Rushing Attempts | 33.3 |
| 4.6 | Yards per Rush | 3.5 |
| 168.8 | Passing Yards | 229.6 |
| 19.6 | Passing Attempts | 37.4 |
| 16.7 | Yards per Completion | 11.6 |
| West Virginia | Defense | Temple |
| 20.7 | Points | 31.6 |
| 383.5 | Total Defense | 440.5 |
| 126.5 | Rushing Yards | 201.1 |
| 3.6 | Yards per Rush | 4.7 |
| 256.9 | Passing Yards | 239.4 |
| 11.3 | Yards per Completion | 12.7 |
