Spotlight #1: Temple RB Bernard Pierce
Spotlight #2: Temple DE Adrian Robinson
1st quarter
14:56: Adrian Robinson sheds one block, sheds the back and is able to get an arm on the mobile quarterback, but not enough to take him down on what would have been a tough play.
13:56: Robinson in on a short tackle.
12:55: Robinson gets pressure, doesn’t go any good, quick release, passing touchdown.
12:42: Pierce met at the line by 2 defenders, powers forward for a yard.
12:21: Pierce takes it on as delay for about 4 yards in space.
10:43: Pierce gets another 4 on a delay.
10:28: Pierce forward, nothing happening, maybe a yard or two.
8:53: Robinson gets in on a tackle, could have been a tackle for a loss, but dragged for a couple and needed help to eventually bring him down for even a small gain.
8:14: Robinson in the backfield again, this time on a play when a teammate gets a tackle for loss of 5 after a bobbled snap.
7:30: Pierce for a few, takes two to bring him down.
6:56: Pierce to the outside, breaks one, but eventually dropped for a small gain.
5:30: Robinson double teamed and pancaked over fairly easily. Teammates get a tackle for loss.
4:44: Robinson blocked for a long time by a double team.
2nd quarter
14:55: Robinson stays at home on a quarterback run, gets in on a tackle after a few on the sideline on a mobile quarterback.
14:24: Robinson gets into the backfield, but the quarterback rolls away from him.
14:05: Pierce reverses, can’t make something out of nothing, no gain on 1st down.
13:27: Pierce with a nice cut for 7 yards, solid powerful run.
12:45: Pierce takes the pitch out of the lead option, tough pitch to catch, solid run in small space for 4 yards on the outside for a first down.
12:13: Pierce runs into a wall, little to no gain.
8:33: Robinson sheds his block with a spin, knocks his man off balance and over, quarterback flees the pocket for a few.
6:54: Robinson stays at home on a fake, sheds a block, but can’t quite wrap up a quarterback run to his side. Touchdown. Would have been a tough tackle to make.
6:07: Pierce takes a pitch, once he received it, there was nothing there, couldn’t do anything. No gain.
5:09: Robinson almost makes a diving tackle on a mobile quarterback on a long run.
3:21: Pierce just doesn’t seem to have any explosiveness tonight due to a bum hamstring, Tackled for no gain. His line isn’t giving him any help either.
0:59: Robinson off sides.
0:29: Robinson gets into the backfield, but teammate gets the sack first.
3rd quarter
14:51: Pierce breaks one in the backfield, taken down by the 2nd guy, but fights a little.
10:22: Robinson with a strong hit and a great tackle for loss on a quarterback keeper.
7:15: Robinson run at, sheds a block, gets in on a tackle for a gain of 3.
5:05: Pierce with a powerful run on 3rd and 1 for 8 yards, most explosiveness he’s shown all night.
4:01: Pierce with his best run of the night, has space outside, good stiff arm as well. Solid gain.
3:31: Pierce up the middle for a couple.
2:49: Pierce seems to be heating up, one cut and go in space for 20 yards. Nice vision to find big space outside and improved explosiveness to take advantage of the hole. 20 yard touchdown and had plenty more space to work with had he needed to go more than 20.
4th quarter
12:40: Pierce one bounce and go for 5 yards.
12:17: Pierce powers for a couple against a stacked box.
11:34: Pierce runs into a pile, doesn’t convert 3rd and 3. Met by Noah Keller, who is having an awesome game. Doesn’t allow Pierce to power forward, though he does try. Keller was just stronger here.
10:16: Robinson looks comfortable dropping in coverage. He’s done that a bit tonight.
9:50: Robinson sheds a block and reads an outside run well, solo tackle for gain of 2, good change of directions and instincts. Is not juked out.
9:02: Robinson gets in on a tackle from behind after a gain of 11.
8:11: Robinson double blocked, still able to give chase and pressure on the quarterback outside of the pocket after disengaging.
8:04: LaVon Brazill is having an awesome game and now has a highlight reel diving catch for 27 yards.
5:26: Pierce for little to no gain up the middle.
4:38: Robinson splits two blockers and gets into the backfield again, play goes away from him, but still nice hustle, speed and effort to continue chase on opposite side of the field.
3:59: Robinson gets some pressure.
1:23: Pierce takes the ball on the delay, runs right into a defender who read it well, shows a lot of fight, but no gain, goes off with an injury.
0:00: Bernard Pierce is a 3 year starter at running back for Temple and having a great season with 1481 yards and 27 touchdowns on 273 carries. However, he wasn’t all that impressive in this one. I think a lot of that can be blamed on a hamstring injury limiting his explosiveness. With the exception of a couple runs, he really didn’t look explosive at all. However, I was still impressed by his fight and power running ability and his production on the season suggests he has a lot of talent when healthy.
At 6-1 218, he’s more of a power runner than anything and he’s not much of a pass catcher at all with just 3 receptions on the season. He runs with good pad level and has good vision and is a good north to south runner. He is probably a mid round pick at the next level, but he can be a part of a productive running back committee.
Helping Ohio limit Temple’s rushing attack, Ohio middle linebacker Noah Keller had one of his biggest games against one of his best opponents, with 15 tackles. He really helped limit Temple’s rushing attack. The 6-1 245 pound linebacker has 145 tackles on the season and could get drafted late. On the other side, LaVon Brazill had one of his best games with 7 catches for 165 yards and a great diving catch. The speedy 5-11 190 pound receiver has 72 catches for 1150 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season and also has 4 career punt return touchdowns.
On the defensive side for Temple, their best defensive player is Adrian Robinson. The defensive end, matched up on the right tackle for most of the game, had a very dominant game and was a very disruptive player. He looked athletic and played well in coverage on the occasions it was necessary for him. The 6-2 250 pound defensive end is a 3 year starter with 52 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks on the season and could translate to the 3-4 as an outside linebacker and be a mid round pick in April.
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