Hurricanes blowing through 2002 season
Kevin Tatum
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
PHILADELPHIA — When Temple
football coach Bobby Wallace and
Owls athletic director Bill Bradshaw
paid a get-to-know-you visit to May
or Street on Tuesday morning, they
presented him with a Temple hat
and a T-shirt that had the word
“Coach” stenciled on it.
“I told him he could wear it and
coach the team on Saturday,” said
Wallace, who was meeting the mayor,
a Temple alumnus, for the first time.
For the record, Street did not ac
cept the offer. And who could
blame him?
Street’s mandate to fix all the
problems in the city are nothing
when compared to the challenge
that Wallace faces Saturday. That is
when the 1-1 Owls will host the de
fending national champions Miami
Hurricanes at Franklin Field in the
Big East opener for both teams.
Yes, those Miami Hurricanes. The
2-0 Hurricanes. The No. 1-ranked-in
every-poll-there-is Hurricanes. The
24-victories-in-a-row Hurricanes.
“I’ve had people ask me if I’m
scared,” said Temple defensive end
Tyrone Ditzell, with a laugh.
Ditzell is not the type to be intimi
dated. But could you blame him if he
was? The Owls are 1-10 all-time
against Miami, claiming their only
victory in 1930 when these players’
grandfathers were wearing leather
helmets and lugging a round ball.
That year, Temple registered a 34
0 victory at an indoor game at the
Atlantic City Convention Hall. In the
five games the Owls and Hurricanes
have played in Philadelphia since
then, Miami has outscored Temple
by 224-71.
Now that is scary.
“Every team in the nation wants
■
to play the No. 1 team,” Owls center
Donny Klein said.
That is what they said in
Gainesville last Friday as the Florida
Gators prepped for Saturday’s game
with the Hurricanes. Miami won that
game, 41-16, and Florida was ranked
sixth in the nation then.
“There’s so much (national) expo
sure, and that challenge is there,”
Klein said. “I’m excited. This is my last
year, and that’s why I came to Temple.
I came here to play against the best.”
Klein will certainly get his wish.
Miami racked up 508 yards of of
fense against Florida, and, while
Gators quarterback Rex Grossman,
a Heisman Trophy candidate, was
sacked only once, he completed just
19 for 45 passes for 191 yards with
two interceptions.
It was only the sixth time in 152
games, dating back to 1990, that a
Florida quarterback did not throw a
touchdown pass.
Look up the word “best” in the
dictionary, and there is a picture of
a Hurricane next to the word.
But the Owls are not afraid to
think big.
“Miami’s (defensive) line is, bar
none, the best in the nation — but
they are beatable,” said Temple run
ning back Tanardo Sharps, who
rushed for 95 yards on 22 carries in
the Owls’ 35-3 loss to visiting Oregon
State on Thursday. “We’re not going
to back down from them.”
Temple had that same goal last
year when the Hurricanes won,
38-0, in Miami. The ‘Canes broke
open the game with a couple of big
plays in the third quarter after
Temple hung around during a first
half that ended with the Owls
trailing by 14-0.
So, the chances of Temple win
ning may be long, but it is not impos
sible for them to do so.
i—
Pits.
Al Diaz Miami Herald (KRT)
Miami's Ethenic Sands and the Hurricanes drove past Florida, and the'Canes look like they could repeat as national champions.
Remember when Wallace guided
Temple to a 28-24 road victory over
No. 10 Virginia Tech in 1998, his
first season with the Owls? That re
sult went down as one of the biggest
upsets in college-football history.
Gan he do it again? And if he does,
would the Temple campus withstand
the uproar?
“When you play Miami, you real
ize that you’re just holding on,”
Wallace said. “They can explode at
any time.”
Wallace hopes that the Hurricanes
come up with a dud on Saturday.
And if they do, and if Wallace can
—r,,,w.w**.yi..........
somehow end the nation’s longest
Division I winning streak, he may
have Mayor Street coming to him
with a job offer.
© 2002, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
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