Saturday, September 27, 2014

Rentschler Field in East Hartford

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

Temple (2-1) has used a strong defense and a balanced offensive attack to race out to a 2-1 record. They'll look to improve on those defensive numbers when they travel into East Hartford to face one of the worst offensive teams in the FBS in the Connecticut Huskies (1-3).

The Owls come in to Saturday afternoon's contest giving up only 12.7 PPG, good enough for 7th in the FBS. The Temple pass defense is the 4th best in the nation, allowing only 107 YPG without a TD pass through the air while picking off 6 balls. Temple features a balanced offensive rushing attack with four players (including the QB) carrying the ball over 21 times so far in a true 3-man RB rotation. Sophomore QB P.J Walker is a dual threat that has thrown 6 TD compared to 3 INT thus far. The Owls have posted an impressive 37-7 win over Vanderbilt along with a 59-0 stomping of Delaware State that was only offset by a 31-24 loss to Navy.

The Temple pass defense is forcing opposing QB's into a 49% completion percentage, something that doesn't bode well for a UConn offense already on their second string signal caller. Senior QB Chandler Whitmer is just 42 of 82 on the year with 4TD against 2 INT but has been sacked 15 times in four games. He doesn't get much help from a rushing game averaging just 1.9 YPC and with a leading rusher that has just 140 yards through 4 games. The Huskies have lost 3 of 4 to start the year, but the defeats came against quality opponents in BYU (35-10), Boise State (38-21), and South Florida (17-14).

The Owl defense should be up to the task and salivating at the mouth to get after the Huskie offense. UConn is the 122nd in the FBS in points for, 124th in rushing yards, and 102nd in passing YPG. Combined with a Temple QB that can exploit the Connecticut defense it should be two in a row for the Owls despite the fact that the Huskies won 28-21 in this spot last year in Philadelphia.

Temple Owls Betting Trends

Temple Owls are 2-1-0 Against the Spread

Temple Owls are 0-2-0 against the Over/Under

Connecticut Huskies Betting Trends

Connecticut Huskies are 0-4-0 Against the Spread

Connecticut Huskies are 1-2-0 against the Over/Under

Injuries to Watch

Temple Owls

09/18/14 RB Zaire Williams Back out indefinitely
09/01/14 FS Alex Wells Knee out indefinitely
08/21/14 TE Colin Thompson Foot out indefinitely
08/07/14 QB Frank Nutile ACL out for season
08/02/14 LB Rob Dvoracek Knee out for season

Connecticut Huskies

09/15/14 DL Angelo Pruitt Leg out for season
09/15/14 OL Bryan Paull Upper Body out for season
09/08/14 QB Casey Cochran Concussion out for season

Tony's Pick: Take Connectiicut

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