High noon on Saturday at Heinz Field will renew the
Pitt-Temple rivalry….ok, so it’s just for one year, but it is nice to see the Owls back in Pittsburgh. I was glad to see Temple get the invite back
into the Big East, as I always felt like they should not have been kicked
out. For some reason though, getting
kicked out of the Big East made the north Philly school look harder at their
football program, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Temple has been to a few bowl games lately and
performed well in the MAC before coming back home. They are holding their own pretty well in the
Big East this year and bring in a 3-3 record (2-1 in the Big East). Do not overlook the Owls! I’m warning you now Panther fans.
The Owls rank 120th in passing, which bodes well
for the Panther secondary that comes in ranked 27th against the
pass. Yes…despite the Louisville and
Youngstown State game, Pitt has played nicely against aerial attacks for the
year. Due to the low passing rank,
Temple likes to run the ball. They come
in at 60th in the country in that category and are 88th
in points for in the FCS.
The offense of Temple runs through Junior QB, Chris
Coyer. I am glad Pitt went up against
Alex Zordich on Saturday, because it was the same type of QB they will face
this weekend. Coyer’s passing is not
impressive. He only has 727 yards on the
year and 7 TDs to go along with 3 picks and he has been sacked 12 times. However, like this past weekend, the Panthers
defense better be ready for the running of Coyer. He has 332 yards and 2 TDs.
When Coyer does not keep the ball, his supporting cast
consists mostly of Senior RB, Montel Harris.
Harris is averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
His total yards right now stands at 391 yards and 3 TDs. The Owls’ receiving leaders are Sophomore WR
Jalen Fitzgerald (236 yards and 2TDs) and Junior TE Cody Booth (87 yards and 2
TDs).
Temple has leaned a good amount on their defense this
season. They do not rank high, but the
unit is opportunistic. They have 9
fumble recoveries and 4 picks on the year and are 29th in turnover
margin. Freshman LB Nate D. Smith leads the
team with 48 tackles and has also chipped in two sacks this year. DE Marcus
Green also has two sacks on the year and the Senior is a leader on the
defensive line.
Temple lost on Saturday to Rutgers after hanging tough for a
while. It should be pointed out that
Rutgers was trailing and then threw 4 TD passes in the second half, while the
Owls were without DB leader, Vaughn Carraway due to suspension. Carraway missed the game due to a flagrant
foul against UConn. They also hung in
with Penn State before bowing late to the Nittany Lions. As a matter of fact, Temple’s three losses
came to teams that have a combined record of 16-5!
Pitt should get Shane Gordon back for this game, as well as
maybe Hubie Graham and Drew Carswell, which would be a nice boost. Unfortunately they could be without LB Manny
Williams for a while, as he is out with an ACL injury. Pitt needs to come out on fire, because the second
half has been one of Temple’s problems.
Pitt also needs to protect the ball and Tino Sunseri, as Temple is
averaging almost 3 sacks per game. I
think Pitt will do that and bounce back from a sloppy effort in Buffalo. It will be close and that’s not because Pitt
sucks, but more because Temple is not as bad as people think. Pitt wins a close one 24-20.
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