Temple at Ohio: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Temple Owls at Ohio Bobcats (+3.5, 45.5)
It’s the week of the MAC with the conference in action every day, including Wednesday’s showdown between the Temple Owls and Ohio Bobcats.
Ohio has won back-to-back contests against Temple and is 3-1 SU and 3-0-1 ATS in their four meetings, going back to 2007. Both teams are coming off a bye week and looking for the inside track to take the Mid-American Conference East Division crown.
Line moves
Temple opened as a 4.5-point road favorite but has been bet down to 3.5 as of Tuesday afternoon. The total opened at 46 points and has been bet up to 47.
Temple of doom
The Owls head into this weekday matchup ranked second in the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 10 points per game. Temple has outscored its opponents 230-80 and has taken the fight to teams like Penn State and Maryland, building a solid 6-2 ATS record.
However, after pitching back-to-back shutouts over Ball State and Buffalo, the Owls defense leaked 13 points to Bowling Green, and wasn’t able to play catch-up on the offensive end, losing 13-10 on Oct. 22.
A huge cog in the Temple scoring attack is running back Bernard Pierce, who leads the MAC with 951 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns. But, Pierce is nursing a tender hamstring suffered two weeks ago and has been held out of practice since October 14, with his status for Wednesday listed as questionable. Pierce hobbled for 107 yards and a touchdown in the loss to the Falcons.
Despite an injury to his star back and pressure from fans to throw the ball more, Temple first-year coach Steve Addazio wants to stick to the ground this week. He still has No. 2 back Matt Brown, who has rushed for over 100 yards in three straight games.
The Owls are third last in the MAC with only 133.3 yards passing per game. Temple has called 408 of its 541 total offensive plays – more than 75 percent - on the ground this season.
"When you get in those third and longs, they're not real manageable," Addazio told the Philadelphia Enquirer, talking about the dependency on the run. "Your percentage of conversions on third and long is terrible. It's going to be terrible."
The Cat came back
Ohio snapped a two-game skid with a 37-20 win over Akron on October 22, after falling to Ball State and Buffalo – two teams shutout by Temple. The victory over the Zips also marked the first time the Bobcats have covered in their last five games, improving to 3-5 ATS.
"We're going to have to win out I think to be in the game," Ohio coach Frank Solich told reporters after the Akron game. "So we have four more to go in order to get that done and a huge one next week with Temple coming to our place."
Ohio has perhaps one the most balanced teams in the MAC. The Bobcats are second in the MAC in offense, averaging 449.5 yards per outings – including 556 total yards against the Zips. On the other side of the ball, Ohio sits second in the conference in total defense, limiting opponents to just 117.38 rushing yards per game.
Ohio quarterback Tyler Tettleton will get put to the test against the Owls pass defense. He’s thrown for 1,969 yards and 17 touchdowns, but has also been picked off four times in the last three games after throwing just one interception in the Bobcats’ first five contests.
Turnovers have plagued Ohio, leading the MAC with 14 fumbles. Against Akron, the Bobcats coughed the ball up twice on fumbles.
"Three turnovers again today, that's not what we're after, but we were able to overcome that," Solich told the media. "There's a lot of times you don't overcome three turnovers."
Trends
* Owls are 0-3-1 ATS in their last four meetings.
* Owls are 12-4 ATS in their last 16 road games.
* Bobcats are 5-0-1 ATS in their last six games following a bye week.
* Under is 7-0 in Owls’ last seven games overall.
* Over is 9-4 in Bobcats’ last 13 games overall.
NCAAF Week 10
Home team won three of four Temple-Ohio games, with Owls losing its last two visits to Athens, 35-17 (-2)/23-7 (+9); Temple is 3-2 as a fave this season, 2-1 on road, but got upset 13-10 at Bowling Green (-13.5) in last game- they covered seven of last ten games as a road favorite. Ohio is 2-3 in last five games, 1-4 vs spread; Bobcats are 7-4 as home dog this season. Single digit home underdogs are 5-2 vs spread in MAC games so far this year. All seven of Temple's lined games stayed under total; five of seven Ohio games went over.