Week 2 of the college football season is here and we already have a huge American Athletic Conference game that could decide the outcome of the season. The Temple Owls travel to Ohio to play the Cincinnati Bearcats at Nippert Stadium.
Temple is coming off a huge win at home over the Penn State Nittany Lions which included ten sacks from the defense and a huge performance from Jahad Thomas which included 135 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Temple earned team of the week honors by the Football Writers Association of America for their 27-10 victory over Penn State.
Cincinnati, on the other hand, started off on an easier note by facing the Alabama A&M Bulldogs at home. The Bearcats took down the Bulldogs with ease by a final score of 52-10. QB Gunner Kiel came out and had a day, throwing for 233 yards and two touchdowns on an 81.8% completion percentage. The Bearcats combined for 636 offensive yards, thirty-four first downs, and seven touchdowns.
In last years meeting, the Owls and Bearcats battled it out in a tough, evenly matched game where the Bearcats came out on top, 14-6, thanks in part to a Gunner Kiel touchdown. Temple and Cincinnati had virtually equal yards (267 for Temple and 255 for Cincinnati), both had 14 first downs, and Temple had one additional turnover than Cincinnati.
Since last year’s game, Temple has improved, offensively and defensively. On offense, QB P.J. Walker had developed his game and solidified his game. He now has a variety of receivers to throw to and can pitch it back to Jahad Thomas to pick up yards on the ground. Defensively, it is experience that has made the Owls better. All eleven starters returned from last year’s defense, which was one of the best in the nation, and now they have their eyes set on greater things.
As for Cincinnati, they have improved also since last year’s game, especially on offense. Gunner Kiel is back and is more explosive than ever with his best receiving targets in Shaq Washington and Mekale McKay back at it. However, on defense, they do have a lot to replace. They lost four valuable players on the front line in DT’s Brad Harrah and Camaron Beard along with DE’s Jerrell Jordan and Terrell Hartsfield. They also lost their top middle linebacker in Jeff Luc, which is a blow to their defense in the middle of the field.
Looking at both teams, the keys to game are simple. For Temple, it is their running game. The Bearcats had a lot of reliable pieces who did not return for this year, which leaves a lot of inexperience in their defensive line. The Owls last week had a huge part of their offense come from running the ball and need to continue that over to this week if they are looking to walk out of Cincinnati with a win.
As for Cincinnati, it is their entire offense. While the Bearcats are known for their electric offense, they were held to only 14 points last year against the Owls and now their defense has only gotten better. While Kiel can escape the pass rush better the Penn State QB Christian Hackenberg, he will still be pressured from the Owls’ defensive line and needs to hold his own and keep the offense going if they want to move to 2-0 on the season.
The men in Vegas are expecting big things out of this game, with an over/under of 54.5. As for the spread, Cincinnati is the 7.0 favorite heading into this game. However, Temple was also picked as the underdog for last week’s game too against Penn State so don’t rely solely off of the spread for this game.
One thing also to note for each team’s game last week. Cincinnati gave up 246 yards to Alabama A&M, a member of the FCS. As for Temple, they only allowed Penn State, a tough team from the Big Ten, to gain 183 yards this past week. So be on the lookout for a high powered offense going up against a very talented defense.
Kickoff for the game is at 8:00 PM ET and the game can be seen on ESPNNEWS.