The (17) South Florida Bulls will settle their differences with the Temple Owls Saturday night from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The American Athletic Conference match-up begins on Thursday, September 21st at 7:30 p.m. EST. The contest will be aired on the ESPN2 Network for your viewing entertainment. Coming into this game, the South Florida Bulls are a -20.5 point favorite and the over/under is at 58.5.
The Temple Owls are coming off a 29-21 home win over the UMass Minutemen last Friday evening. In that game, both schools looked sluggish until the contest opened up in the fourth quarter. The Owls had enough to put the minutemen away but failed to cover the -14.5 point spread.
South Florida whooped up on the Fighting Illini from Illinois last Friday to the tune of 47-23. Along the way to the victory, the Bulls almost 700 yards of offense and 38 first downs. As a result, the Fighting Illini were more than doubled up by halftime. Temple covered the -6.5 point line and the game’s total went 15 points over the posted 55.
The last time these two programs met on the gridiron, the South Florida Bulls lost 30-46 in a high-scoring affair in Temple last October. The Owls were heavy under dogs but held the football for nearly 40 minutes. Therefore, keeping electrifying quarterback Quinton flowers on the side lines for a lot of the game.
Temple Owls (2-1)
The Temple Owls overpowered the UMass Minutemen through four quarters in a 29-21 home win last Thursday night to improve to 2-1. Starting quarterback Logan Marchi was efficient, completing 22 of 37 passes for 248 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The sophomore quarterback is off to a good start to the year. In his first year in 2016, he recorded 767 passing yards with 5 scores and no picks in four matches under center.
Running back Ryquell Armstead gave the Owls a steady performance. Overall, he rushed the ball 17 times for 91 yards with no scores. He did pick up some key first downs in the fourth quarter to keep the Minutemen on the side lines. South Florida better pay attention when he is on the field this Thursday. Last year, he toted the rock for 210 yards and two touchdowns against the Bulls.
The Temple Owls leading receiver Keith Kirkwood had another decent performance, making four catches for 64 yards. All totaled, he has a team-leading 185 receiving yards. The Owls feature a deep receiving core which is their biggest offensive strength. They have seven receivers that have caught at least five balls and four have scored touchdowns.
The Owls defense was decent in last week’s win, allowing only 61 rushing yards. Surprisingly, they did concede 377 passing yards. Temple’s defense was outstanding last season and while they did lose several starters, they return most of their secondary. Temple has rebounded with two nice wins after losing their season opening loss to the FCS’s Villanova.
(17) South Florida (3-0)
The Bulls dispatched of Illinois behind another strong performance from quarterback Quinton Flowers to improve to 3-0 on the season. Once again, Flowers was tremendous completing 15 of 27 passes for 280 yards with four touchdowns and one pick.
The senior signal-caller is off to strong start to the year, amassing 678 passing yards with 8 touchdowns and two interceptions. The dual-threat athlete has also tallied 243 rushing yards and is proving to be one of the most potent college quarterbacks in the nation. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for another when these two schools met in South Florida last season.
Tail back Darius Tice was the work-horse for Temple collecting 105 rushing yards on 12 carries. The senior running back has been solid through three games, amassing a team-leading 256 rushing yards with four trips to the end zone. His back field mate D’Ernest Johnson also is moving the chains, rushing for 215 yards with two touchdowns of his own. Combined with Quinton flowers, the Bulls have a triple threat attack on the ground in 2017.
Obviously, Temple looks to pound the rock first. When they do toss it down the field, wide out Marquez Valdes-Scantling gets the call. Last week, he racked up over 90 yards for the second time this season. The senior receiver now leads the Bulls with 202 receiving yards and two end zone grabs.
The South Florida defense played well against the Minutemen last Friday. They only allowed 354 total yards, and held Illinois a 6 for 15 mark on third downs. The Bulls defense isn’t anything to write home to mom about, but can hold teams down enough for their offense to out score them. Something to consider is they are 14th in the nation against the run, which bodes well since the Owls had their way with them in the trenches last time out.
Prediction
This Thursday, the Temple defense will be facing one of the more talented offensives teams in the nation. Quinton flowers likes to run but will look to expose an owl defense that has surrendered 314 passing yards per game.
Furthermore, the Owls only recorded 16 points in their first two games, and they are facing a stout South Florida front seven. That could mean a long day for quarterback Logan Marchi if the Owls can’t get their running game going.
On the flip side to that analysis, Temple does prefer to throw the ball around the field. That might just be what the doctor ordered against the Bulls’ 72nd ranked secondary. Either way, this is a conference game and the -20.5 spread seems risky to me.
If your a line player, I can’t see a problem buying this up to 21.5 to get the hook and play it with the over 58.5. I think that both of these clubs will find some success on the score board on Thursday night in Tampa. Personally, I’ll just be taking the over in this American Athletic Conference affair.
Trends
The Owls are 25-8 ATS in their last 33 conference games.
The Owls are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 road games.
The Under is 5-0 in the Owls last 5 games on grass.
The Under is 5-0 in the Owls last 5 conference games.
The Bulls are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 conference games.
The Bulls are 11-4-1 ATS in their last 16 home games.
The Over is 5-1 in the Bulls last 6 games on grass.
The Over is 5-1 in the Bulls last 6 conference games.
