Ball State Coach Says Temple Defense Could Be Best Ever

Gotta give Stan Parrish some credit. He's not getting much in Muncie, Ind., these days. There's even a firestanparrish.com Web site.

In the midst of all this fan uprise in Indiana surrounding his future, he took time to notice the guys on the other side of the ball and that's why he deserves credit for this quote today, though:

"If that's not the best defense, especially physically, we've played since I've been at Ball State, it's right up there."

Impressive words, but not more than these by Peanut Joseph:

"We have some goals, but we're nowhere close to them," the Owls' linebacker said after a 24-19 win over Ball State.

Nowhere, but one small step. There are seven, maybe eight, more steps just like these.

Joseph is right.

Let's face it. The defense won this game. They deserve 11 game balls.
Then there's the flip side.

If the Owls keep playing like this on offense and special teams, they will be nowhere near close to getting those goals.

The good thing is that the problems, as Head Coach Al Golden says, are fixable.

Temple hasn't shown in the past that it has trouble snapping or protecting.

Special teams Coach Al Golden (yes, the same guy) is going to have to put in a whole new scheme of punt protection, and maybe even a new snapper, in the next few days before the Army game.

Ball State evidently saw something in Temple's protection that dictated the Cardinals go after every punt.

That entire scheme must change because the Army coaches will see it, too. One way to change it is not to have to punt at all.

Temple has to develop a viable passing game to complement Bernard "The Franchise" Pierce. Pierce became the first freshman in Owl history to rush for over 100 yards in three straight games, getting a buck 25 and two touchdowns.

If the Owls can develop a passing game opponents respect, and it might include changing the passer or the receivers or both, look for Pierce to turn a few of those twisting and turning eight, nine, and 10-yard runs into 70-yard touchdowns.

This is a team with too many weapons to be scoring in the low 20s every game. Temple coaches must view the film and determine what the problem is and correct it.

If it requires a change in scheme or a change in personnel, so be it. This is big-time college football and they should not be afraid to hurt anyone's feelings.

Winning ugly is still winning, but Saturday is Homecoming and a good Army team is coming to town before an expected Temple crowd of 25,000 plus.

Winning "beautiful" is the next goal, and that means for all three phases to show up, not just the defense.

That would be the next step and it must be forward, not backward.