To hear the lovefest going on between the UCLA Bruins and Temple Owls, you’d think George Halas was squaring off against Vince Lombardi, that they’d be coaching Emmitt Smith and Johnny Unitas versus Lawrence Taylor and Deion Sanders, that their EagleBank Bowl matchup on Tuesday pitted the top two teams in football history.
What UCLA forgets, though, is that the Owls, despite nine wins, played a Mid-American Conference schedule loaded with more cupcakes than a bakery.
What Temple forgets, though, is that UCLA, despite playing a slate that included seven bowl teams and six teams ranked in the Top-25 in the season, lost all six by a combined 174-91.
Still, the respect is palpable.
“I’m not very familiar with Pac-10 teams, but we watched them on film, and they’re probably the best defense we’ve faced all year,” said Temple tight end Steve Maneri. “Hungry is not even the word. They’ve got guys who run all over the field. They’re talented, a lot of guys who are going to play on Sundays.”
Maneri says this, knowing full well his Owls played – and were soundly defeated – by No. 11 Penn State, which is headed to the Capitol One Bowl on Jan. 1. That 31-6 at Happy Valley was Temple’s lone matchup with a BCS opponent before Tuesday’s dance with UCLA.
Despite lofty national rankings – the Owls rank No. 35 nationally in scoring offense and No. 36 in scoring defense – that fact is not lost on head coach Al Golden.
“I would take that with a grain of salt,” Golden said. “They played six bowl teams and they played (six) teams in the Top 25. We didn’t play that schedule. Now, we’re growing and we started to compete and play better and have a strong running attack, and that’s something we pride ourselves on. But their defense right now is incredibly talented.”
The feeling is mutual.
“Looking at their film – and I’ve coached in the MAC before – they have more talent than a normal MAC team,” UCLA defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough said. “They have some NFL players, actually, on that team. They have a solid program, and we’re expecting nothing but their best. All that other stuff doesn’t matter – the fields don’t change. If you don’t play ball, they’re gonna beat you.”