Cincinnati
vs.
Temple
College Football Pick
10/29/16
By Jason Green
Cincinnati is coming off a win and they are over .500, but they are only 1-3 in AAC play. They could really use a win on their resume facing a Temple team that is tied with South Florida atop the AAC East division. The Bearcats are, pretty much, all about the pass on the offensive side of the ball, as they rank 27th in the nation in passing yards per Game, but only 113th in rushing yards per Game.
Temple has won 4 of their last 5 Games including their last 2. Their last win was HUGE beating South Florida 46-30, as now they control their destiny in the division since they hold the tiebreaker over USF. While the Owls don’t rank in the top 70 in the nation in passing or rushing yards per Game they have a balanced offense, a pretty good defense, and they put up 46 points in their last Game.
The road team has covered the spread in the last 6 meetings between these teams.
Cincy beat East Carolina 30-19 in their last Game covering as a 1-point home favorite. In their 46-30 win over South Florida at home the Owls covered the spread as a 5-point favorite.
Cincy racked up 513 yards in the win over ECU, but while their defense gave up 504 total yards they also forced 3 turnovers. Bearcats’ QB Gunner Kiel had a HUGE Game passing for nearly 350 yards with 4 TD and he was not picked off. He has a solid WR corps and in the Game the Bearcats also had a legit rushing attack with Mike Boone and Tion Green combining to rush for 159 yards.
The Bearcats are a pass first team, but they will be facing a Temple pass D that ranks 10th in the nation while their run D ranks 56th. In their win over South Florida the Owls gave up less than 190 passing yards, but did give up 165 rushing yards.
Temple came out on fire in their USF win with 528 total yards. They could not be stopped in the ground rushing for 319 yards with Ryquell Armstead blowing up for 210 yards. QB Phillip Walker had a solid Game passing for over 200 yards and a TD and in his last 2 Games he has 3 TD and only 1 INT.
Cincinnati has had some issues on defense this season only ranking 104th against the pass and 69th against the run.
Cincy is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 Games overall, 2-5 ATS in their last 7 Conference Games, and in their last 5 Games the posted total has gone Under 4 times.
Temple is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 home Games, 7-0 ATS in their last 7 Games overall, and in their last 6 Games the posted total has gone Over 5 times.
Jason’s Pick: After failing to cover the spread in their season opener Temple has covered in 7 straight Games. That trend will continue in their house this Saturday, as their rushing offense will have a big Game and the Owls will win and cover the 7 point spread. Temple -7