Temple travels to central Florida saturday for a American Athletic Conference Matchup with UCF. The Owls enter with a record of 3-3, and a record of 1-1 in the conference. UCF comes in riding a two game winning streak, and are a resurgent team following an 0-12 record in 2015. The Owls defeated UCF last season 30-16.
Matchups to Watch
Temple Rushing Offense vs. UCF Defense
The Owl’s rushing attack, led by Jahad Thomas enters after only rushing for 86 yards as a team against Memphis. Thomas and Ryquell Armstead
enter with a combined 13 touchdowns on the season. Each had a touchdown against Memphis.
In just four games, Thomas has six touchdowns and has rushed for 325 yards on the season. He is averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Thomas will look to have more of an impact on the offense on saturday after just five carries against Memphis.
The UCF defense ranks third in the American Athletic Conference, allowing 112 rushing yards per game. In their last two games, the UCF defense has allowed just 113 yards on the ground, and only 33 rushing yards against East Carolina.
Temple Defense vs. Memphis Offense
Against Memphis, the Owls defense gave up 34 points for the second time this season, and were dominated in the second half, allowing 31 points in the final two quarters. Facing a UFC offense averaging 35.2 yards per game, the Owls defense has another tough test on Saturday.
Led by Haason Reddick, the Owl’s front seven will look to shut down the UCF offense that rushed for 217 yards and four touchdowns against East Carolina. The Knights have three running backs, Dontravios Wilson, Adrian Killins, and Jawon Hamilton, who have each rushed for over 200 yards on the season. They have 10 touchdowns on the season combined, led by Wilson with seven.
The Knights have used a pair of quarterbacks on the season, led by Mckenzie Milton with 433 passing yards on the season. Quarterback Justin Holman is second on the team in terms of passing, and fourth on the team in rushing.
Players to Watch
Stephaun Marshall
The redshirt-senior linebacker returns from injury after missing the Memphis game last week. Alongside Avery Williams, Marshall will look to lead the Temple defense that allowed 149 rushing yards last week. On the season, Marshall has registered 28 total tackles, including 17 t
otal tackles.
Phillip Walker Last week, Walker tied school records for pass completions (36), and passing yards (445). He also broke the school record for most passing attempts in a game (59). On the season, Walker has passed for 1,415 yards, eight touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Walker has completed 57 percent of his passes, and threw two costly interceptions last week. The continued expansion of Ventell Bryant back into the offense should help Walker on the road against UCF.
Aaron Boumehri
With the injury to Austing Jones, true-freshman Aaron Boumehri will take over the kicking duties for the remainder of the season. He made his first career extra point last week while filling in for Jones.The Philipsburg, Pa native received league honors in high school in both is junior, and senior seasons. He will look to replace one of the best kickers in the nation in Jones.
The Owls will need to be solid on both sides of the football against a resurgent UCF team. They will look for their first road win of the season on Saturday on national televison.
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