Temple takes on USF Friday night at Lincoln Financial Field in a matchup of the top two teams of the American Athletic Conference East division. The winner takes possession of first place in the division, with five weeks remaining in the regular season. USF handed the Owls their only conference loss in 2015 with a 44-23 victory.
Matchups to Watch
Temple Offense vs USF Defense
Against UCF, the Owl’s offense came to life late in the second half to secure a 26-25 victory. On Temple’s final drive of the game, Phillip Walker was 4-4, for 70 yards, and found wide receiver Keith Kirkwood for the eight-yard game winning touchdown.
Prior to the final drive, Walker was just 8-20, for 90 yards and one touchdown. Wide-receiver Ventell Bryant had 62 of his 95 total receiving yards on the game-winning touchdown drive.
Running back Jahad Thomas led the Owl’s attack with 27 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown. It was the first time Thomas rushed for over 100 yards this
season. Thomas also scored on a 28-yard screen pass from Walker in the first quarter. He has scored two touchdown in all five games he has played this season. Along with Heisman Trophy candidate Louisville Quarterback Lamar Jackson, Thomas is one of just two players in the NCAA with two touchdowns in five or more games this season.
Defensively for USF, the Bulls are allowing 190.1 rushing yards per game, and may have trouble slowing down the Owls running back tandem of Thomas and Ryquell Armstead. They are lead by Junior linebacker Auggie Sanchez, who has 65 total tackles on the season, along with eight tackles for loss.
The USF passing defense is allowing just 246 total yards per game, and have intercepted opposing quarterbacks seven times. Senior linebacker Nigel Harris has two interceptions on the season and has recovered one fumble.
Temple Defense vs USF Offense
Defensive end Haason Reddick was named to the Bednarik award watch list this week given to the best defensive player in the country; an award won last season by Tyler Matakevich. Reddick leads the nation in tackles for loss with 14, and tackles for loss per game with two. He has 6.5 sacks on the season, and has six in his last three games. He will look to once again lead the Owl’s defense against USF.
USF quarterback Quinton Flowers leads the Bulls in both passing and rushing with over 2,000 yards of total offense this season, and 20 total touchdowns. Flowers scored three times against Temple last year along with 230 yards passing and 90 yards rushing. The 44 points scored by USF last year was the Owl’s defense allowed all season.
Junior running back Marlon Mack has rushed for 592 yards this season along with nine rushing touchdowns. He has rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons, and has 29 career touchdowns.
Players to Watch
Ventell Bryant
Bryant had his best game of the season against UCF, catching five passes for 94 yards on the night. He had consecutive receptions of 20, 16, and 26 on the game winning drive. On the season, Bryant has 15 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown. He has averaged 15.4 yards per catch in the four games he has played this season. Bryant will look to be Walker’s number one target once again this week.
Nate L. Smith
With the injury to safety Sean Chandler, redshirt-senior safety Nate L. Smith will fill in and not miss a beat against mobile quarterback Quinton Flowers. Smith started seven games in 2015, and saw significant playing time in his sophomore season. He has 27 total tackles on the season along with one tackle for loss. Smith offers experience entering for Chandler and will look to control the strong rushing attack of USF.
With first place in the division on the line, this is the biggest game of the Owl’s season to this point. The Temple defense will need to slow down the dynamic USF offense, which is averaging 44.1 points per game.
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