Temple Owls (3-3) vs. USF Bulls (1-5)
October 23, 2021 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: USF Bulls -2.5 / Temple Owls +2.5; Over/Under: 57.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The USF Bulls meet the Temple Owls on Saturday in Week 8 AAC college football action from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay.
The Temple Owls have had a bye week to rest up after a 52-3 beatdown at the hands of Cincinnati in their last game. D’Wan Mathis has thrown for 882 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions on 61.4% passing while Justin Lynch has 446 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and an INT on 68.4% passing this season. Edward Saydee and Tayvon Ruley have combined for 343 rushing yards this season while Jose Barbon has a team-high 26 catches for 325 yards. Randle Jones and Amad Anderson Jr. each have 200+ receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Amir Tyler leads the Owls with 40 total tackles while William Kwenkeu has a team-high 3 sacks.
The USF Bulls will also be out to bounce back to snap their three-game losing streak after a 32-31 loss to Tulsa in their last game. Timmy McClain has thrown for 929 yards, a touchdown and 2 interceptions on 54.7% passing while Jaren Mangham leads USF with 264 rushing yards followed by another three rushers with at least 100 rushing yards this season. Xavier Weaver leads the Bulls’ receiving group with 21 catches for 380 yards on the year. On defense, Matthew Hill and Vincent Davis share the team-high with 39 total tackles while Blake Green has 1.5 sacks this season.
Temple is 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games overall and 35-17 ATS in their last 52 conference games while the over is 7-1-1 in their last 9 games in October. USF is 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games as a home favorite and 3-13 ATS in their last 16 games following an ATS win while the over is 6-1-1 in their last 8 conference games.
I get USF being favored at home as they’ve hung around with some stiff competition in the last couple of weeks, but I don’t feel right laying points with a 1-5 team even at home. Temple’s been beat up by good teams but they’ve done well against the two teams at or below their level and still have that upset win over Memphis. I’d take the points with Temple if forced to pick this one.
