NCAA football preview: Ohio Bobcats going for first place against Temple Owls
The Ohio Bobcats of the Mid America Conference (MAC) are looking to be in first after their matchup against the Temple Owls, who currently sit in first place in the conference. Even though both teams have a 5-1 conference record, Temple sits in first
because their overall record of 8-2 is better than Ohio’s 7-3.
Temple’s season to date
The Owls started their season on a three-game winning streak over Villanova, Central Michigan and the Connecticut Huskies. They faltered in week four against previously no. 23 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions,
22-13. They responded with an impressive win against Army, but lost the following week to Northern Illinois.
Since the loss to Northern Illinois, the Owls have reeled off four straight wins over Buffalo, Bowling Green, Akron and Kent State, all in conference teams.
Tonight’s game against has several conference implications, especially because Temple ends their regular season against Miami (Ohio), who is in third place and could potentially leap frog one of these two
teams.
Ohio’s previous games
The Bobcats started the season with a victory over Wofford, but proceeded to lose three straight games to Toledo, formerly no. 2 ranked Ohio State and Marshall University.
Ohio has won six straight games since their loss to Marshall, scoring 30 points or more in each of their games. Their victories came against Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green, Akron, Miami (Ohio), University
of Louisiana-Lafayette, and Buffalo.
A win against Temple puts Ohio in first place, as the head to head tie breaker would fall on their side.
Temple’s keys to victory
The Owls need to use their strengths to defeat the Bobcats, and their biggest strength is their defence, which ranks 10th in the country in points against with 17.5 per game. They also sit at the tenth rank for total touchdowns allowed this season
with 20. If their defence shows up tonight it will be a long night for the Bobcats.
Their rushing offence is the Owls strong point on offence. Even though they rank in the middle of the pack in the rushing yards per game with 165.2, their tandem of sophomore running backs have them close
to securing a spot in the MAC title game. Bernard Pierce has rushed for 728 yards on 154 touches with ten touchdowns, while counterpart Matt Brown has accumulated six touchdowns on 128 attempts worth 702 yards.
Ohio’s keys to victory
The Bobcats need to start using a two-dimensional offence to counter the strong defence of Temple. Currently, Ohio’s passing game is ranked 99th in the country, while the rushing game sits at 37th. Senior quarterback Boo Jackson
has thrown for 1477 yards and 14 touchdowns, but his accuracy numbers are sitting at 62.9%.
His leading receivers, seniors Terrence McCrae and Steven Goulet, will have to take on more active roles with this offence, as McCrae has nine touchdowns, and Goulet has zero.
This offence that the Bobcats are running is really predictable and Temple will be able to clog up the line of scrimmage if Ohio tries to run the ball as much as they have been this season.
Prediction: Temple stays in first place: 21-7.
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