Temple coach says his team lacking passion

10/12/2010

Ask John Wagner your Bowling Green State University football questions every Monday at 12 p.m. on ToledoBlade.com in the BGSU/OSU football Web chat.

BOWLING GREEN — “We're not a good football team right now,” the coach said during Monday's Mid-American Conference teleconference.

“We weren't tough enough last Saturday; we played without energy, without passion.

“We weren't focused, and we didn't deserve to win.

“The players are on notice, and the coaches are on notice: there are going to be a bunch of changes. We're going to see some new faces.”

Those were the words of one of the coaches entering Saturday's matchup between Bowling Green, which fell to 1-5 and 0-2 in the MAC after losing at Ohio, and Temple, which now is 4-2 and 1-1.

But it's not the coach you might expect: that was Temple coach Al Golden speaking after the Owls' loss at Northern Illinois last Saturday.

Temple's game against the Huskies pitted the two preseason favorites to win the MAC's East and West Divisions, respectively.

The fact that the Owls were on the short end of 31-17 decision left Golden in a sour mood Monday.

“I've had enough – I'm tired of the selfishness, and tired of having to coach effort,” he said.

“I don't want to have to coach effort.

“We looked passionless, and I don't like it. I'm going to change it.”

Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson may have felt the same way, but he vented many of his frustrations on Saturday after his team's 49-25 loss to Ohio University at Athens.

“It wasn't a lot of fun to stand on the sidelines watching it Saturday,” Clawson admitted Monday. “And it wasn't a lot more enjoyable to watch it [on film] Sunday.”

Even though Bowling Green is on fall break this week, Clawson said the practice schedule will change little.

“I would love to be on the field for eight hours a day this week, but we really can't change much because of NCAA regulations,” he said, noting that the Falcons can only spend 20 hours on football work during the week.

One change is that Bowling Green took Sunday off and practiced Monday; normally the Falcons practice on Sundays.

INJURY REPORT: One of the few bright spots of Saturday's loss to Ohio was that the Falcons did not lose any players to injury.

Senior WR Tyrone Pronty, who was injured late in the Buffalo contest, played on offense but did not return kickoffs in the second half against the Bobcats.

He is expected to play this week, as is sophomore OT Blaec Walker and redshirt freshman QB Matt Schilz.

There has been one change to the Temple depth chart: junior OT Steve Caputo, who had started for games for the Owls this year, will miss the rest of the season because of a leg injury in Saturday's loss at Northern Illinois.

The status of star RB Bernard Pierce, who suffered an ankle injury in the Owls' loss at Penn State, is uncertain entering this week.

Pierce carried the ball just three times for six yards against the Huskies.

NATIONAL NUMBERS: Junior WR Kamar Jorden remains among the national receiving leaders.

Jorden, who had eight catches for 129 yards and two TDs against Ohio, is tied for four in catches per game (8.33) and stands 15th in receiving yards per game (92.33).

Sophomore LB Dwayne Woods is tied for fourth in tackles with an average of 12.17 tackles per game.

And junior WR Eugene Cooper stands 20th in punt returns, averaging 11.8 yards per return.

Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com or 419-724-6481.