'Temple is as good as Virginia'

This would have come earlier, but I've been working on Phillies stuff all night. It happens.

As we start to look towards the weekend, the big game in town is definitely Villanova's showdown with William and Mary. The teams rank Nos. 2 and 5 in the SportsNetwork Top 25 respectively, and both have beaten I-A teams this season.

Of the CAA's four wins over I-A opponents in 2009, the Tribe's 26-14 triumph at Virginia was arguably the most impressive. William & Mary held the Cavaliers scoreless in the second half, and racked up 309 yards of offense for the game.

At yesterday's local football coaches luncheon, I asked Andy Talley for his opinion. I wasn't sure what he'd say, in part because I didn't mention Richmond's win at Duke when I asked the question. But I was still surprised by his answer:

I think in terms of pedigree, [William & Mary's win] was the most impressive. To be perfectly candid, I think Temple is as good as Virginia, if not better. At this point of where Virginia is right now, it's not a very good Virginia team. I think it's a very good Temple team that just got upset by us, and turned the ball over and everything. But I think Temple's every bit as good as Virginia or better.

So if you asked me, I'd say our win was very significant. Winning at Virginia is tremendously significant beacuse you're playing against a lot of tradition. So maybe it's a toss-up. But if you just look at both teams, Temple's pretty good.

We know that Virginia is having a really bad year, and that Duke isn't much better than it's ever been. But while Lincoln Financial Field is nominally Temple's home stadium, the crowd for the Villanova game was pretty split. It's still a serious task to go in to an ACC football stadium as a I-AA team and come out with a win.

You Temple fans should take Talley's remarks as a pretty good compliment.

The rest of the audio from today's luncheon are in the audio player below. While you're listening, check out what's going on with the region's Division II and Division III schools:

West Chester
Last week: Home win vs. Kutztown, 37-17
This week: 10/3 vs. East Stroudsburg, 2:00 p.m.

Delaware Valley
Last week: No game
This week: 10/3 at Lebanon Valley, 1:00 p.m.

Rowan
Last week: Road win vs. William Paterson, 28-13
This week: 10/3 vs. Brockport State (N.Y.), 12:00 p.m.

Ursinus
Last week: No game
This week: 10/3 vs. Gettysburg, 1:00 p.m.

Widener
Last week: Home win vs. Frostburg State, 35-16
This week: 10/2 at FDU-Florham, 7:00 p.m.

Lincoln
Last week: Road win vs. Livingstone, 10-0
This week: 10/3 vs. Bowie State, 1:00 p.m.

The result was Lincoln's first win against a CAA program since it restarted its football program in 2008.

Cheyney
Last week: Home loss vs. East Stroudsburg, 37-0
This week: 10/3 at Kutztown, 1:05 p.m.