The Temple football team is coming off an impressive 38-7 shellacking of Maryland and was a play or two away from beating another BCS-conference school in Penn State the week prior.
But if theres one thing Owls head coach Steve Addazio doesnt have to worry about, its his players getting too high on themselves or reading their press clippings.
Were kind of a lunch pail team, Addazio said during his weekly conference call. Were going to come to work every day, pack our lunch and be ready to go. There are no frills. I dont believe well ride the highs and lows. Every time we understand its a dogfight and that the margin for error is small.
So I like our teams attitude. I like where we are.
Thats a good thing because on Saturday, the Owls host one of their toughest opponents yet as Mid-American Conference rival Toledo invades Lincoln Financial Field for a high noon showdown (6ABC, ESPN3.com, 610 AM WIP).
Toledo currently sits at just 1-3 but in all three losses the Rockets hung tough against major opponentsBoise State, Ohio State and Syracuse. Last weekends overtime loss to Syracuse was the most frustrating one yet as a referee made a controversial call on an Orange extra point attempt.
Im looking at a football team that, in my opinion, is outstanding, Addazio said. Theyre coming off a very tough schedule right now and have been in every game. Theyve been in some real nail-biters. Theyre really well coached and theyre going to be hungry and backed into a corner and come out fighting Saturday. This is going to be a real challenge for our football team.
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But in his first season in Philly, Addazio has learned a lot about his teams character, which hes confident will not change as the Owls (3-1 overall, 1-0 MAC) enter the heart of their conference schedule.
Were talking about being Temple tough and Philadelphia proud, the first-year head coach said. Im not a big slogan guy. There are no T-shirts around here with slogans on them, but that particularly means something to our programthat we are a tough, physical football team in a tough city.
Penn not buying it's Dartmouth's year
Players on the Penn football team can see what Dartmouth is doing and they can hear the chatter coming all the way from New Hampshire.
But when the Quakers visit the Big Green on Saturday at 6 p.m. for the first-ever night game in Dartmouth history, they only want to let their playing do the talking.
This is supposedly their year, Penn senior defensive back Matt Hamscher said. I think each individual here at Penn is looking forward to going up there and showing them its not their year and that its our year for the third straight year.
Upstart Dartmouth is certainly pumping up Saturdays Ivy League opener against the perennially strong Quakers, who havent lost a conference game since 2008.
In addition to being played under the newly installed lights at the 89-year-old Memorial Stadium, the game will also be aired live on national television (Fox College Sports) and will begin shortly after a pair of skydivers deliver the game ball at midfield. To accommodate the first night game in school history, Dartmouth is even footing the bill for Penn to fly back to Philadelphia afterwards.
Theres a bunch of talk that theyre trying to make this some kind of monumental Super Bowl for them, Hamscher said. For us, its just the start of the playoffs, where every game matters.
Indeed, while the Quakers come into Saturdays game fresh off disappointing non-conference losses to Lafayette and Villanova, they recognize that now the stakes are raised. Penn, which cannot qualify for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs because of Ivy League rules, has only one remaining goal and that is to win the conference for the third straight season.
Becoming the first-ever team to go three straight seasons without losing an Ivy League game is also a major goal, and last weekends 30-21 loss to Villanova, their 11th straight loss to their local FCS rivals, may even help the Quakers accomplish that feat.
In 2009, the Quakers also came into Dartmouth with an 0-2 record, before edging the Big Green, 30-24, in front of a national TV audience and kicking off their first of two perfect league seasons.
Before the game, that game vs. Villanova matters more than any other, said Hamscher, who had a team-leading 12 tackles vs. the Wildcats last week. But after you play Lafayette and Villanova, looking back on it, I would say its more like preparation for the Ivy League. Youre going up against 300-pound linemen, quick linebackers, really fast receiverswhich really prepares us.
Nova welcomes nationally ranked foe
After a 0-3 start that had longtime Villanova head coach Andy Talley scratching his head, the Wildcats finally got on the winning side of things with last Saturdays win over Penn.
Now the question is whether the rebuilding Cats can keep that momentum going when they host Colonial Athletic Association rival William & Mary on Saturday at noon at Villanova Stadium (The Comcast Network, 950-AM ESPN Radio).
William & Mary is currently ranked No. 11 in the FCS and is 2-2 overall, 0-1 in the CAA. Villanova is also 0-1 in the league but 1-3 overall.
CSN contributor Dave Zeitlin writes a weekly college football notebook focusing on Temple, Villanova and Penn. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.