Temple's Rhule keeps big win over East Carolina in perspective

ONE OF THE BEST things about second-year Temple football coach Matt Rhule is that he gets it.

After his Owls beat nationally ranked East Carolina in the rain in South Philly on Saturday - the program's first win over a ranked team since 1998 and only its third ever - he responded to a congratulatory text by pointing out: "We're only 5-3."

Fair enough. Especially since they now must face a 5-3 Memphis team Friday night at the Linc. The same Memphis that's in a five-way tie for first in the AAC at 3-1. A team that lost at UCLA (by seven) and Mississippi. And one that's favored by a touchdown.

That's the only perspective that's relevant.

"Somebody mentioned [the point spread] to me, and I really don't follow those things, but I can see we're underdogs," Rhule said yesterday at his weekly news conference. "And I can see why. They're where they are for a reason.

"When [our kids] see the tapes of Memphis . . . I think they thought that East Carolina was the No. 1 scoring offense [in the conference]. I've got news for them. They're not. Memphis is.

"When you watch them, it quickly snaps you back to reality."

These two teams combined for five wins last season, with Temple beating the Tigers by 20 on the road in the finale.

Now both are one win away from becoming bowl-eligible. Memphis hasn't gone to one since 2008. The Owls, who had six victories the previous 2 years, already are being projected by some to be headed to the Military Bowl on Dec. 27 in Annapolis, Md., against an ACC opponent, possibly North Carolina State.

"It would be an accomplishment," Rhule acknowledged. "It's an accomplishment every year, for every team. But it's not the endgame, what we want to be. If we say, 'Well, we got to this, so then we're this,' they'll start to relax. You have to attack it. It's hard. I want to try and win them all.

"I love our offensive staff. But I came in here Sunday chewing everybody up. In this job, you have to be relentless. That's what I want us to have, that you don't want to play us. We don't have it yet, but we're trying to get that way."

Each week in college football, you see teams coming off key wins maybe not come up so big the next game. Temple opened this season with a 37-7 win at Vanderbilt, then lost to Navy at home. Some of these Owls were freshmen in 2011 when they won by 31 at Maryland before getting beat here by Toledo. By 23. It happens, because you're dealing with a bunch of 19-year-olds.

"I worry about that all the time," Rhule conceded. "The whole purpose of what we're trying to teach them is to be the same guy every day. When you're having success, it's hard. When you're having failure, it's hard. The 2 weeks [before ECU, both road losses], it was the other way. I was sitting here saying, 'Hey, I'm trying to get them a break, to catch their breath.' What you're trying to do is eliminate emotions. Just do what you're supposed to do. It's the same message over and over again.

"If you do these things, you'll have a chance. It's not rocket science. If we don't have penalties and turnovers . . . I'm not saying we'll win every game, but we'll have a chance. Just don't give the game away. We're not a charity. Our guys are learning that. When the older guys are telling the younger guys, then you have a program. It can't just be me every day. I get tired of hearing myself say the same things."

But his voice is the one that sets the tone. So it has to be the loudest. And the most reasonable, through good times and whatever.

"With young people, anytime you're asking them to do things that are really hard, you'd like to have some evidence to support what you'rd doing," Rhule said. "You're kind of going on faith. This shows that we're trending upward. We're certainly better than we were last year. If we have success this year, we're going to ask them to do even more in the offseason.

"You beat an SEC team, you beat a ranked team, they start to understand that. Then you lose some you feel like you should have won, you can teach off that, too. You're trying to get their minds right. This isn't something that's out there. You don't have to figure it out.

"The only way you beat a team [such as ECU or Memphis] is to have confidence. We're not far from being a good team. We're just not there yet."

They're 5-3. Which is still better than being 4-4.