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Friday, September 29
Temple's image makeover starts with winning

By Bill Doherty
Special to ESPN.com

Mike Fetchko, a Pittsburgh-based sports marketing agent, was hired to help implement a five-year plan to save Temple football. You see, UConn is in Year One of Division I-A football and five years from now, the Huskies will have a brand new stadium and could bump the Owls out of the league if Temple's attendance numbers and overall level of competitiveness don't improve.

Fetchko's plan is getting some much-needed help from an Owls' team which is hitting back after being little more than a college football punch line for the past 15 years.

"People make jokes about this team all the time," said Temple tailback Tanardo Sharps, one of the keys to the Owls' 3-1 start in 2000. "But we've stuck together and now some people are starting to get on the bandwagon."

He's right. After lots of quiet time (one Temple official said that there was a three-week period in late-July and early-August when there were zero season-ticket requests), the phones are starting to ring in Temple's ticket office. A crowd of 23 to 24,000 fans is expected for this Thursday night's Temple game against West Virginia at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field. Sure, more people would probably show up to watch impromptu passing drills by the Gators at Florida Field, but at Temple, 23,000 paying customers represents progress.

Part of those improved attendance numbers are the result of Fetchko's handiwork as the first 4,000 fans will get a free Temple baseball cap and there's a concert by the Village People Thursday night. (OK, it's the Village People, but at least they're trying.). Sure, a number of Temple fans just want to sing "YMCA" and "Macho Man" Thursday night, but others are curious whether the Owls' improved win-loss record in the nonconference portion of the schedule is simply a function of a softer early-season schedule or whether the Owls have actually gotten much better under former D-II uber coach Bobby Wallace.


	Bobby Wallace has Temple 3-1 for the first time since 1987.

It's probably a little from Column A and a little from Column B. After years of playing the Penn States and more recently the Kansas States and Marshalls of the world in late August and early September, Wallace pieced together a much more manageable nonconference schedule (at Navy, at Maryland, Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan). That has played a huge role in the Owls' fast start, as Temple has beaten Navy and the two MAC teams and lost by a TD to Maryland.

But, the work of Wallace can't be underestimated either. Wallace made the difficult decision to play lots of freshmen the past couple seasons. The result? The Owls took their lumps, going 2-9 the past two seasons. But now most of Temple's best players are either sophomores and juniors and have been through the wars. In fact, Wallace's team has only three seniors on its current two-deep. Plus, Wallace has been instrumental in getting the school to commit the money necessary to improve the school's practice field and weight room.

"Bobby Wallace is a good football coach," said Miami coach Butch Davis. "I haven't watched any tape of them yet this year, but I hear they're much improved. I'm not that surprised, because I feel like they had a half-dozen of the best returning defensive players in the league and their ground game is better."

The biggest areas of on-the-field improvement are in the Owls' rush defense (where Temple is ranked No. 17th nationally) and in rushing offense. The run defense is keyed by the penetration of tackles Russell Newman, who has added close to 50 pounds to his frame in three years, and Dan Klecko, the son of former Temple and NFL star Joe Klecko. Those active defensive tackles, both underclassmen, occupy blockers which allows Temple's inside linebackers LeVar Talley and Taylor Suman to stop ballcarriers. Talley and Suman were both on the preseason Butkus Award list, a fact that might surprise many people.

But the single player who has turned the Owls' fortunes around more than anyone is Sharps, who has pumped much-needed life into a non-existent Temple ground game that averaged just 59.7 yards last season. Heck, Wisconsin's Ron Dayne picked up that many rushing yards in one drive, let alone the entire game last fall.

Enter the undersized, but speedy Sharps (5-9, 174), who rushed for 3,660 yards and 49 TDs in two seasons at Ford Meade (Md.) High School. Hoping to improve his college offers, Sharps elected to attend Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy in 1998, but a broken collarbone and a crowded backfield at Fork Union -- his backfield mates there were Nick Burney, who is sitting out this season as an academic casualty at Wake Forest; Charles Tynes, now a sophomore linebacker at Marshall; and James Hickenbotham, who has caught nine balls this season as a flanker for Arkansas State -- did little to help his stock.

The injury and limited number of carries at Fork Union made him a bit of an unknown commodity, but Wallace offered a scholarship. And Sharps accepted after getting offers ranging from Arizona State (who wanted him to play d-back) to Bowling Green to I-AA Hofstra.

"It wasn't a big recruiting battle to get him," Wallace said. "In fact, he was hurt so much his one year at prep school that I wasn't sure that we wanted to offer a scholarship until I met him."

Sharps is a devout Christian, "yes, sir, no sir" type of kid who listens to gospel music prior to the game. That approach has worked as the first four teams on Temple's schedule haven't had a prayer of catching up with Sharps, who looks to be the Owls' best running back since Paul Palmer (4,895 yards rushing between 1983-86). Sharps credits Temple's new offensive coordinator Charlie Fisher from N.C. State, who has stressed the ground game since his arrival, and running backs coach Blair Thomas, the former Penn State star who has returned to the City of Brotherly Love, with his early-season success.

But Sharps and the rest of the Owls know they'll have to step up the level of play starting Thursday night vs. West Virginia if the Owls are to reach their stated goal of reaching the postseason. After the stern test vs. the Mountaineers, two of Temple's next three games are vs. Big East powers Virginia Tech and Miami.

"Our goal, like any other college teams, is to make it to a bowl game," Sharps said. "And beginning this Thursday night against West Virginia, we have a chance to make a statement that Temple is no longer a laughingstock. This team is much better than it has been. Now, we just have to go out there and prove it."

The success of Fetchko's marketing plan -- and the Owls' long-term future as a Big East member -- depends on it.

Around the Big East

Boston College
No.4 Virginia Tech (3-0), led by Heisman Trophy favorite Michael Vick, comes to the Heights this Saturday afternoon. The last time Boston College beat a ranked team in the AP poll was on Sept. 7, 1995, a 20-14 win over Virginia Tech, which was ranked 20th in the country at the time. Since that game, the Eagles have lost 16 straight games to opponents ranked in the top 25. ... In last week's 48-7 win over Navy, starting linebackers Ryan Burch (second on the team with 19 tackles) and Scott Bradley (13 tackles, two sacks) were both injured. Burch, a senior middle linebacker, is gone for 2-3 weeks with a sprained knee. Bradley, a junior outside backer who gives BC much needed speed off the edge, is gone for 4-6 weeks with a medial collateral ligament sprain in his left knee. ... Boston College coach Tom O'Brien hopes to get fellow linebackers Andy Romanowsky (high ankle sprain) and Jerome Ledbetter (sprained knee) back on the field this weekend to help ease the losses of Bradley and Burch. ... Without Burch, Bradley and perhaps Ledbetter, the Eagles will be hard-pressed to stop Vick, who was 11 of 13 for 290 yards and 3 TD passes vs. BC last season. "Michael Vick is the best I've seen," O'Brien said. "He's better than Charlie Ward was at Florida State (when O'Brien was an assistant at Virginia) and he's better than Donovan McNabb was at Syracuse. You can't put him in a box and you can't categorize him in any one way. I think the best thing we can do, being a Catholic school, is to ask our alumni to pray for a miracle." ... The only way for the Eagles to pull the upset over Tech is to win a shootout, it appears. Boston College comes into the Tech game ranked eighth in the nation in total offense (472.7 ypg) and 10th in scoring offense (39 ppg).

Miami
The Hurricanes should head into the October 7th in-state showdown with Florida State on a roll. That's because the 2-1 Hurricanes could face Rutgers (2-2, 0-2 Big East) without its starting quarterback Mike McMahon Saturday night. McMahon reinjured his right shoulder (throwing arm) and may miss the game against Miami. If McMahon can't go, the Hurricanes should be able to name the final score. Last season, Rutgers reserve quarterback Chad Schwenk faced the Hurricanes, who sacked the immobile RU signal caller nine times -- two shy of a UM record -- in a 55-0 pasting. ... As if Miami doesn't have enough backfield weapons, prize freshman D.J. Williams looked like the second coming of Shannon Sharpe as he caught three passes for 54 yards from his fullback spot against West Virginia. Look for his role to increase in the coming weeks. ... Reggie Wayne was named Big East offensive player of the week after his seven catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns against West Virginia. He also set the all-time receptions record at UM with 146. ... The Miami secondary is quickly becoming one of the team's strengths. Senior Leonard Myers returned an interception for a touchdown vs. West Virginia, while junior Mike Rumph is also an excellent cover corner. The duo, along with playmaking safeties Edward Reed (a sure tackler) and Al Blades, held West Virginia's dangerous receiving duo of Khori Ivy and Antonio Brown to just four catches for 33 yards last week.

Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh (4-0) has a bye this week. The Panthers haven't been 5-0 since 1991. ... Coach Walt Harris will be plenty busy this week, both ironing out the plethora of mistakes that the Panthers made against Rutgers last week (8 turnovers, punt snap over the punter's head) and getting out on the recruiting trail to take advantage of the team's hot start. "We'll have a 5:30 a.m. team meeting on Friday, so that all the coaches can get out on the road recruiting as early as possible this upcoming weekend," said Harris, whose team received 22 votes in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and 15 votes in the AP poll. ... ESPN2 will pick up Pitt's next game (Oct. 7 at Syracuse). The kickoff will be switched to 4:30 p.m. to accommodate national TV. ... The Pitt defense, which held Rutgers to minus-13 yards rushing, remains highly ranked in Division I-A. It is third in rushing defense (42.3 yards a game), ninth in total defense (239.3 yards per game) and ninth in scoring defense (10 points per game). ... Torrie Cox's 86-yard kickoff return was the Panthers' first touchdown on a kickoff return since 1996. ... Senior wideout Latef Grim, who had five receptions for 55 yards, now is second on Pitt's career list with 2,280 receiving yards. ... Sophomore linebacker Gerald Hayes, a stud recruit from Rutgers' own backyard, was a terror vs. the Scarlet Knights last week, recording 11 tackles to earn Big East defensive player of the week honors. Hayes has NFL size (6-3, 230) and should be a future superstar for Pittsburgh. "Gerald was a big get for us, an outstanding recruit out of the state of New Jersey that year," Harris said. "He's our leading tackler (29 tackles in 2000) and we're thrilled to have him in our program."

Rutgers
Starting quarterback Mike McMahon reinjured his right shoulder (throwing arm) vs. Pittsburgh last Saturday and may miss the game against Miami. If McMahon can't go, Rutgers will go with less mobile Chad Schwenk as the starter. ... The Scarlet Knights (2-2, 0-2 Big East) also will be without starting outside linebacker Nate Leonard, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament during Saturday's 29-17 loss to Pittsburgh, and will undergo season-ending reconstructive surgery. Rutgers will move reserve Mitch Davis to Leonard's old starting "mike" linebacker, with freshman Bill Hambrecht backing him up. ... Ravon Anderson, with one carry for seven yards, was Rutgers' leading rusher against Pittsburgh. ... Starting outside linebacker Dennis McCormack is out for at least the Miami game with a sore neck. Brian Bender will start in his place. ... Miami coach Butch Davis spent more of his 10 minutes on the weekly Big East coaches conference call defending Rutgers coach Terry Shea than he did talking about his Hurricanes. Shea is 4-26 in Big East games in four-plus seasons at Rutgers. "The administration, the university and the alumni have to give a coach the proper resources to get the job done," Davis said. "This isn't the NFL where there's a salary cap and everybody gets to spend the same amount of money. Terry Shea is a good football coach and his teams are sound schematically. I just wonder if everything possible has been done to help him succeed at Rutgers."

Syracuse
Rutgers coach Terry Shea isn't the only Big East coach under fire. Syracuse is 1-2 after last weekend's road loss to East Carolina and Orange fans are calling for Paul Pasqualoni's job. Things don't get any easier for the Orangemen, who head into a tough stretch of games: BYU this Saturday night, then Oct. 7 vs. 4-0 Pittsburgh, October 14 at Boston College, October 21 vs. Virginia Tech and then Nov. 4 at improved West Virginia. The Orangemen will have to improve in the coming weeks to avoid their first losing season since 1986. ... ESPN2 will televise the next Syracuse games -- this Saturday night vs. BYU (8 p.m.) and October 7th vs. Pitt at 4:30 p.m. ... To get motivated the morning of last Saturday's game, East Carolina viewed four-year-old game tapes of Syracuse's 56-0 crushing of the Pirates back in 1997. It worked. ... In addition to Pasqualoni, sophomore quarterback Troy Nunes is starting to feel the heat to produce. He's 8-7 in his 15 games as a starter or semi-starter and Pasqualoni said that Syracuse's quarterback of the future, redshirt freshman R.J. Anderson (who is built like Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper, but wears Donovan McNabb's old number 5) will get snaps in the first half and perhaps the second half this weekend against BYU. "We need to get him snaps in the event that he has to go into the game," Pasqualoni said. Anderson is still green, but possesses a much stronger arm than Nunes. ... In Syracuse's 34-17 loss to East Carolina, the Orangemen outgained the Pirates (426 yards to 378) and had more first downs. Their downfall? They were roasted for 247 yards on five plays -- including two deep TD passes (46 and 65 yards) to speedy ECU wideout Marcellus Harris. Both times, Harris beat strong-safety-turned-cornerback Willie Ford. Look for Ford to go back to his safety spot sooner rather than later.

Temple
Two of the nation's most improved run defenses will be on display this Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Pennsylvania's historic Franklin Field. West Virginia is No. 16 in the nation vs. the run, allowing 82 yards per game on the ground, while Temple is No. 17 nationally (82.2 ypg allowed). Both run defenses will be tested in this one as WVU features the one-two punch of Avon Cobourne and Cooper Rego, if Cobourne is OK after missing the Miami game with a high ankle sprain. Temple counters with super soph Tanardo Sharps, who is 14th in the nation in rushing (123 ypg) ... Starting defensive linemen Danny Klecko and Akeiff Staples are expected to be back in the lineup Thursday night after missing the 49-40 win over Eastern Michigan due to injuries. ... Sharps carried the ball 18 times for 203 yards and two 65-yard TD runs vs. Eastern Michigan, becoming the first Owl since Todd McNair back in 1987 to clear the 200-yard rushing plateau.

Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech has won five straight games vs. BC, including two shutouts. "This will be our toughest game thus far this season," said Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer. "Their quarterback (Tim Hasselbeck) seems like he's been there forever and has good bloodlines. Their offensive line is huge and their skill people are great. It's our biggest challenge thus far." ... Beamer, who played for Jerry Claiborne at Virginia Tech from 1966-68, was saddened by the news that Claiborne died of a heart attack over the weekend at the age of 72. "It leaves an empty feeling in my stomach," Beamer said. "None of the great things that have happened to me in college football the last couple years would have happened without Coach Claiborne. I'll miss him dearly." ... If Virginia Tech beats BC as expected, Hokie fans will turn their allegiance to the Miami Hurricanes -- for one week anyway. That's because the Hurricanes host No.2 ranked Florida State October 7. A Miami win over FSU would enhance the Hokies' national title hopes a great deal.

West Virginia
After a physical contest vs. Miami, West Virginia coach Don Nehlen is concerned about the quick turnaround time this week. The Mountaineers travel to Temple (3-1) Thursday night at Franklin Field. ... Star running back Avon Cobourne is questionable for the game vs. the Owls. "I honestly don't if he'll play with the short week of preparation," says Nehlen. ... Lefty redshirt freshman Scott McBrien was impressive in mop-up duty vs. Miami, completing 4 of 5 passes for 49 yards. But, Nehlen says there is no quarterback controversy in Morgantown. "Brad Lewis is still my guy," said Nehlen. "He didn't play his best game against Miami last Saturday, but he had a lot of company in that regard." Lewis was 11 for 31 for just 113 yards and had two balls picked off and returned for scores by the Hurricanes. Lewis was booed by West Virginia fans last weekend. "There's no place for that (booing a college kid) in college football, in my opinion," Nehlen said. ... One key to watch in the Temple game is whether the Mountaineers can do a better job on third-down conversions. They were 3 of 18 in third-down conversion situations vs. Miami and are just 9 of 44 (20.4% success rate) on the season in that category. ... Look for the Mountaineers to attack Temple's suspect secondary with their speedy wideouts Khori Ivy (who has caught a pass in 31 consecutive games) and Antonio Brown (one of the fastest players in the whole conference).

Bill Doherty covers Big East football for ESPN.com.

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