1.Temple needed a guy like Steve Addazio to replace Al Golden. That is, Temple needed a guy with roots in the Northeast who feels comfortable recruiting on that turf. Temple also gets a guy with a good pedigree, a guy who coached for Paul Pasqualoni at Syracuse and for Urban Meyer at Florida. Addazio’s role as scapegoat for the Gator offense this season shouldn’t, and didn’t, faze Temple. The Owls can’t be that particular.
2.Any other team that looked as arrhythmic on offense as No. 10 Boise State in the first quarter of the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas on Wednesday night would have been blown out by No. 19 Utah. Three first-half turnovers gave the Utes every opportunity to knock out the Broncos. But Boise State found its offensive mojo and cruised, 26-3. Boise State and coach Chris Petersen leave the WAC with a 61-5 record over the past five seasons. Watch out, Mountain West.
3.Utah’s loss ended its bowl winning streak at nine games, and I can’t think of an emptier stat. Bowl winning streaks speak to good preparation by coaches and players but also to good fortune in matchups. Those streaks have their own arrhythmia: different players, different years, and sometimes plenty of seasons between victories. And yet bowl losing streaks still resonate as being a problem. I may have to rethink that. In other words, maybe I was too harsh on Ohio State.