The UMASS Minutemen travel to Lincoln Financial Field in search of their first victory when they visit the Temple Owls for some Friday night college football. The contest is scheduled to start on Friday, September 15th at 7:00 p.m. EST. The east coast match-up can be seen on ESPNU for your viewing pleasure. Coming into this game, the Owls are a -12 point favorite and the over/under sits at 53.
The 0-3 Minutemen are heading into this battle off of consecutive loses at the hands of Hawaii, Coastal Carolina, and Old Dominion. Most recently, the Monarchs won 17-7 in a defensive contest in Massachusetts. The Owls dropped their opener at Notre Dame but bounced back nicely to defeat a gritty Villanova FCS squad 16-13. Unfortunately for bettors, Temple failed to cover the six point spread.
UMASS Minutemen (0-3)
Offense was the culprit as the Minutemen fell to 0-3 on the season with this past weekend’s 17-7 loss to the Monarchs. Although the Minutemen did not commit a single turnover, their offense collected only 332 yards on 72 plays and found a way to only score one touchdown.
Minutemen quarterback Andrew Ford did his part to keep the ball moving down the field on Saturday. All told, he completed 21 of his 32 passes for 236 yards. He also was the one who was responsible for Massachusetts’ lone touchdown. It’s hard to put the offensive debacle on his shoulders.
Another thing to consider when looking at Andrew Ford’s stats last week is the fact that he was sacked eight times during the game. Also his number one receiver, tight end Adam Breneman only had three catches for 18 yards. Breneman suffered a leg injury and was ineffective but he is slated to start against Temple on Friday.
Wide out Andy Isabella stepped up nicely, catching five passes for 105 yards and a trip to the end zone. Other than Isabella, no other Minutemen wide receiver eclipsed the 50 yard mark on the day. He will need to contribute again as it is unclear just how banged up Adam Breneman is heading into this game.
UMASS’s running game was horrible throughout the day, rushing for only 79 yards on 23 carries (2.2ypc). Once again, the offensive line was beaten to the punch by the Owls’ defensive front for all four quarters. Obviously, we can see a reoccurring theme building for the Minutemen’s offense.
Head coach Mark Wipple assessed the Minutemen’s defense the best. He said following the loss, “The offense shot themselves in the foot. We didn’t execute enough to win. We need to get back to work tonight. It’s a short week and we have to get ready for Temple on Friday night. Credit Old Dominion. They made plays. We didn’t play well up front and we took some sacks we didn’t need to. This one is on the offense. This one is on me. The defense played unbelievable. It was tough to get into a rhythm. We also took some sacks we shouldn’t have.”
Temple Owls (1-1)
To nobody’s surprise, Temple quarterback Logan Marchi fared much better against Villanova than he did against the Fighting Irish. The sophomore signal-caller did not produce any touchdowns, mainly because the red-zone offense completely stunk and had to repeatedly settle for field goals. Even still, he completed 20 of his 34 passes for 274 yards with no picks on the day.
Helping the Owls’ passing game, wide receiver Ventell Bryant returned to the fold after missing last week’s game against Notre Dame. He was the team’s leading receiver last season, but missed the game because of a hamstring injury. In his return to the gridiron, Bryant caught seven passes for 79 yards and converted some key third downs for Temple.
Like the Minutemen, the Owl’s running game lacked any sort of punch to help balance out the offense against Villanova. Temple recorded only 79 yards rushing on 27 carries and continually were met in the back field. Both offensive lines need to improve upon their terrible performances or it could be a long day for both offenses once again.
Defensively, the Owls defense completely dominated the Wildcats in the first half of their previous match-up. As a result, Villanova only mustered up 31 rushing yards through the first thirty minutes of the game. Also, the Owls got some timely stops that prevented drives from blossoming into their territory.
Overall, the Owls turned back the Wildcats’ on downs inside the red zone twice during third-quarter action. Consequently, a forced fumble by linebacker Shaun Bradley and ensuing recovery by defensive end Sharif Finch clinched the victory for Temple.
Prediction
The Owls weren’t overly impressive against weak competition in the form of Villanova last week, but a W is a W. That is a heck of a lot more than more the Minutemen can say heading into this contest. Unless UMASS offensive line can get their crap in order, they will not be able to keep up with Marchi and company.
Temple also needs to improve their offensive line play, so their offense can find some balance and prevent the Minutemen from loading up in the box. Similarly, both quarterbacks seem to play smart football so the improvement could go a long way for the Temple Owls.
Las Vegas came out with the Owls as a -10 point favorite and already the betting public has pushed that to two touchdowns. That tells you just what people think of the chance the Minutemen have of improving their offensive performance in this one. Scary really. Four points in the last 12 hours.
The game’s total rests at 53 and I’m still trying to figure out how that will happen. The play here is to take the under 53 as UMASS will not get the 17 they need to help push this over. The heck with the 14 points.
Trends
The Minutemen are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 Friday games.
The Minutemen are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
The Over is 5-1 in the Minutemen last 6 games overall.
The Over is 4-1 in the Minutemen last 5 non-conference games.
The Owls are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 home games.
The Owls are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Friday games.
The Under is 9-3 in the Owls last 12 home games.
The Under is 5-2 in the Owls last 7 Friday games.
