The Temple Owls soar into the Liberty Bowl to settle their differences with the Memphis Tigers on Thursday, October 6th. The contest will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET and it will be shown on the ESPN Network. The Memphis Tigers are -9.5 point favorites and the total resides at 60.5.
The Tigers suffered their first defeat at the hands of the Ole Miss Rebels (48-28), in a turnover filled contest last weekend. In contrast, The Owls bounced back from a set-back to the Penn State Nittany Lions in Week three with two straight wins. The streak also included a 45-20 triumph over SMU last Saturday.
Temple (3-2):
The Owl’s offense has not started off well in 2016. They rank 106th in the nation by averaging only 350 yards per match. Quarterback Phillip Walker has struggled mightily, tossing up seven interceptions and only to six touchdowns. He will need to be better if Temple hopes to complete the upset on ESPN.
Temple has moved the chains in 2016 with running backs Ryquell Armstead and Jahad Thomas. Together, the two horses have galloped for 500 yards on 97 carries and crossed the goal line an impressive 12 times.
Wide receiver Keith Kirkwood has shouldered the load when the Owl’s look to go airborne. The junior has tallied 17 catches for over 230 yards and two touchdowns. Brodrick Yancy has also caught 10 balls for over 120 yards and two more scores.
Temple isn’t cow-tailing to any opponents on the defensive side of the ball. Temple is only allowing opponents to gain 319 yards a game. As a result, they only give way to just over 20 points a contest. Linebackers Stephan Marshall and Avery Williams are the leaders on this stingy D. Combined, they have already recorded 53 combined tackles.
Memphis (3-1):
Last week, quarterback Riley Ferguson had a tough go of it. He tossed three interceptions and had no touchdowns through four quarters. Ferguson did manage to find the end zone with his feet, rushing for two scores. Despite his last performance, the kid-under-center has been good. He has over 90 completions for almost 1,200 yards with 11 scores and only five picks.
The Tigers like to hand the ball off to Doroland Dorceus and Patrick Taylor Jr. The back field mates have almost 75 carries on the season for 290 yards and five trips to the promised land.
Tony Ferguson to wide receiver Anthony Miller has been productive throughout the first four weeks. Miller has brought in 27 passes for 405 yards and two touchdowns. The Tigers also like to use Miller in the run game. He has 7 reverses for over 75 yards and a score. I expect the Tigers to use this weapon against an aggressive line-backing core of the Owls.
Defensively, Memphis is doing it’s part to hold down their opposition. The Tigers only allow 18.8 points per game, which is good for 25th in the country. Outside linebacker Genard Avery has racked up 26 total tackles. Furthermore, he leads the Tigers with four tackles for a loss.
Trends and Notes:
The Owls are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
The Under is 5-0 in the Owls last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.
The Tigers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up loss.
The Under is 4-1 in the Tigers last 5 home games.
Game Prediction:
Temple and Memphis have both shown that they can limit the other opponents offense in a 60 minute game. The Owl’s offense is more one dimensional, which should help strengthen the Tiger’s two week prep work against the run.
As of now, Memphis brings in the better offense of the two schools but the Owls also had two weeks to prepare for the Tiger’s air attack. The Tigers should come out fired-up at home on Thursday night, looking to jump on the Owls early. If that’s the case, Temple is in trouble because their offense is not geared for shoot-outs.
Either way, the 60.5 points is just to much in a game with teams that have better than average defenses. Take the Under 60.5, and if your still felling froggy, Memphis should be up a touchdown at halftime.
Under 60.5 and Memphis halftime -6
