Matt Rhule confident Owls will remained focused against Irish
Temple coach says his players are up for a big test against big-time Notre Dame program.
THE MOMENT.
It's something Temple coach Matt Rhule has talked about all season.
The moment wasn't too much for his Owls in the opener against Penn State, even though they hadn't won that game in 74 years.
Neither was it too much for them the following week at Cincinnati, the American Athletic Conference preseason favorite. Ditto last Thursday night at East Carolina, where they were also an underdog despite being unbeaten and ranked for the first time since 1979.
So what's next, as has become their motto? Well, only the program's most enormous moment ever.
That would, of course, be No. 9 Notre Dame (6-1), Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field. America undoubtedly is wondering how the 7-0 Owls will handle that. Rhule thinks it will be the same way they have dealt with whatever has come before.
"If we get too caught up in everything else, then we won't play well," he said Monday on the weekly AAC conference call. "I'm pretty confident they'll have the right focus and be ready.
"As long as we do what we can do, we'll play it out and live with the results. It's a great opportunity . . . to measure ourselves (once again), see what we can do.
"We're glad it's here."
Because the outside world has only been looking ahead to this almost from the moment the Cincy game ended. And now the Owls finally can, too.
"I think, as coaches, you're always trying to eliminate distractions," Rhule said. "You know what the future games can be, but you're trying to stick with the game at hand. I think they're a pretty confident group. I think you get confident when you win. We've been able to go out and do that.
"I think we're a good team, fighting and scratching and clawing to be a great team. Like any team, we're not perfect. Our kids play together and believe in each other. All that will be tested. Everything we feel good about our team will be tested."
The Irish, who are coming off a bye, are a two-point conversion away from maybe being unbeaten themselves. This is their third road game. They needed a 39-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left to win by seven at Virginia (2-5) on Sept. 12. And they lost at unbeaten Clemson by a deuce on Oct. 3. They've had to play without their starting quarterback and running back. Next week, they're at No. 23 Pitt (6-1), and they close Nov. 28 at No. 8 Stanford (6-1). They're still thinking playoffs. The Owls are just trying to prove the oddsmakers wrong one more time.
"I'm a day-to-day guy," Rhule said. "With each new opportunity, we can see exactly where we are. We don't know yet. Each week gives us a better stage. That shows me we have the right kids here. This week will be interesting to see how we handle all the (extra) attention. We'll see if it's the right approach.
"It's good when you keep seeing Temple's name getting flashed up there (on the TV crawl). I'm proud of that, as you stay focused on football. They've done that all year."
Yes, they have. And now . . .
"We have to function at (an even) higher level," Rhule duly noted.
Yes, they probably do. But at this point, why stop believing?