Temple and South Florida are set to square off Saturday night and Temple has a few things on the line in this game. If Temple beats South Florida on Saturday, the Owls will clinch the American’s East division and guarantee themselves a spot in the December 5th conference championship game. It’s also important to note that the division winner with the best conference record will host the title game. As of now, Temple, Houston, and Navy all have 5-0 records, but only one will remain unbeaten because the Houston and Navy will face each other in the final game of the regular season. All of this being on the line for Temple makes this game against USF bigger than many expected and the Bulls could be tricky for the Owls.
South Florida is an improved 5-4 team, who is coming off a huge win on the road against East Carolina and playing with a lot of confidence. What worries me about this match up is USF’s quarterback Quinton Flowers, who is one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the nation. In the past couple of games, Temple’s defense has struggled to tackle in open space allowing plays that should have gone nowhere to turn into big gains. Mobile quarterbacks have been tough for Temple to stop in the last two games as their defense have allowed opposing quarterbacks on 34 carries to run for 245 yards(7.2 YDS/A) and three touchdowns. If Temple allows Flowers to run wild, the Owls could find themselves in another tight game that could come down to the final whistle. For once this season, it was the offense picking up the defense, but it would be nice to see them both equally play at a high level for a change.
It cannot be stressed enough how important it is for Temple to not let USF hang around in this game because if they do, they will find themselves in a similar situation to their previous game against SMU. Temple can accomplish most of their goals if they take care of business against the Bulls and if Matt Rhule has anything to say about it, the Owls will get the job done. Temple at USF is set to kick off at 7 PM on Saturday and you can watch the game on the CBS Sports Network.
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