The No. 20 Temple Owls (10-2) will travel to take on the No. 17 Houston Cougars (11-1) this week in a huge matchup. The AAC’s second-leading receiver, Demarcus Ayers (1,140 yards, 6 TDs), and the second-leading rusher, Jahad Thomas (1,188 yards, 17 TDs), will be featured in this game. It starts at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec 5 and will be available on ABC.
In last week’s matchup, Houston easily got past Navy 52-31. Demarcus Ayers had a huge game in the victory, pulling in eight receptions for 161 yards and one TD. Greg Ward Jr. also had a great game with 308 yards and three TDs through the air. Winning in similar fashion, Temple smashed Connecticut 27-3. Jahad Thomas had a great game running the ball for the Owls, rushing 20 times for 119 yards and two TDs. P.J. Walker had 160 yards and a TD through the air.
The Owls are a seven-point underdog against the Cougars and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 57 points.
Sitting at 11-1 Straight Up (SU) and 7-5 Against The Spread (ATS), the Cougars will look to improve heading into Week 14. In their five most recent matchups, the Cougars went 4-1 SU and 2-3 ATS. When the Cougars pass the ball, they do so at a high percentage. They complete passes 67.0% of the time they throw, 13th in the nation. Turning to the Cougars defense, there are several areas to keep an eye on. Expect the Owls to have a tough time running against the 12th-ranked Cougars run defense, which gives up 117.5 yards per game on the ground. If the Owls want to win this game, they will have to keep Houston from taking the ball away. The Cougars have the seventh-most fumbles recovered per game in the nation with one. In the second quarter, Houston is a tough test, putting up 12.8 points per game. Special teams is a weakness for Temple that the Cougars may use to their advantage. On average, the Owls have allowed 115.4 return yards per game.
In the other locker room, the Owls head into Week 14 with records of 9-3 ATS and 10-2 SU. Over their last five games, the Owls have a SU record of 3-2 and a 4-1 record ATS for those betting with them. Over the last five games, the Owls turned it up on defense, only allowing an average of 205.2 passing yards per game. Houston needs to keep its intensity through the fourth quarter against the Owls, who average 10.1 points in the final 15 minutes of regulation.
Predictions: SU Winner – Houston, ATS Winner – Houston, O/U – Under
Notes
Houston is 12-1 SU in its last 13 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Houston’s last 5 games.
Houston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Temple is 8-0 SU when leading at the start of the 4th quarter this season. Houston is 9-0 SU when leading after three quarters.
The Houston defense has forced an average of 2.3 turnovers per game this season, but Temple is a perfect 4-0 SU when turning the ball over at least 2.0 times in a game.
