Miami (Ohio) at Temple: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Miami (Ohio) RedHawks at Temple Owls (-12.5, 42.5)
When it comes to weekday football, the Mid-American Conference is where it’s at. The MAC is in the spotlight Wednesday when the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks visit the City of Brotherly Love to face the Temple Owls.
The RedHawks won the most recent meeting between the schools, dropping the Owls 23-3 in Fred Yager Stadium last November. Temple has won three of the five all-time meetings straight up but is just 2-3 against the spread.
Line moves
Temple opened as high as a two-touchdown favorite but has since been bet down to -12.5. The total opened around 42.5 points.
Weather
For November night football, it doesn’t get much better than Wednesday’s forecast. The temperature at Lincoln Financial Field will be in the mid 50s with a slight 4-mph breeze blowing ESE from corner to corner. There is an 18 percent chance of rain later in the evening.
Ups and downs
Temple took on some stiff competition to start the schedule, but appeared to be the team to beat when conference play began. The Owls, however, have dropped back-to-back games and sit 3-3 in MAC play heading into Wednesday.
Miami (Ohio), on the other hand, has won two games in a row and four of its last five, posting a profitable 4-1 ATS mark in that span. The RedHawks rolled over the basement on the MAC East, taking down Buffalo and Akron the past two weeks.
"We are at home against an outstanding Miami team," Owls head coach Steve Addazio told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "They are averaging 22 points per game. They are second in the MAC in passing offense (271.1 yards per game). Their quarterback (Zack Dysert) is a heck of a player."
Dysert has been picking up steam heading into this contest. He’s completed almost 72 percent of his passes and thrown for seven touchdowns and just one interception during Miami’s two-game streak. He’s also been a weapon on the ground, rushing for 32 yards and a score in the win over Akron.
Dysert ranks fourth among non-seniors with 7,381 career passing yards, trailing OU's Landry Jones, BU's Robert Griffin III, and USC's Matt Barkley.
"We have our work cut out for us," Addazio said. "We are here at 5-4 right now. We hope we are an edgy football team."
Pierce by piece
Most programs would be pushing the panic button after losing the conference’s top running back to injury. But not Temple.
The Owls are playing the waiting game when it comes to Bernard Pierce’s head injury (questionable), suffered against the Ohio Bobcats last Wednesday. Pierce has also been slowed by a leg injury this season, but his replacement Matt Brown is just as explosive.
Brown, a junior, is ninth in the MAC in rushing, totaling 577 yards on 99 carries – an average of 5.83 yards per attempt. He’s found the end zone twice this season and could get the lion’s share of the rushing game if Pierce is unable to play.
"Hey, if you are going to tote the ball, and you are going to run a power run game, and you are going to carry the ball 20 to 25 times a game, you are going to get whacked by a high velocity by a lot of people,” Addazio told reporters about Pierce and other injuries on the Owls roster.
Quarterback Chris Coyer, who took over as Temple’s No. 1 QB after a solid performance off the bench in the loss to the Bobcats, also picks up the slack in the rushing game. Coyer rushed for a team-high 184 yards, to go along with 123 yards and three passing touchdowns.
“They threw me in there and I knew I was gonna play some throughout the game - I didn’t know I was gonna play that much,” Coyer told the media. “But I felt ready and I felt prepared and we went with it and I felt great.”
Trends
* Under is 4-1 in the last five meetings.
* Underdog is 4-0 ATS in their last four meetings.
* Redhawks are 5-2 ATS in their last seven conference games.
* Owls are 1-4 ATS in their last five games in November.
NCAAF Week 11
Underdogs covered last four Miami-Temple games, with Owls winning three of the four, but only one of the three wins was by more than seven points. Miami lost its last two visits here, 34-32/24-17. Red Hawks won four of last five games after an 0-4 start; they're 5-8 in last 13 games as a road underdog, 1-2 this year. Temple lost its last two games by total of seven points; they're 8-7 in last 15 games as home favorite, 1-1 this year. Double digit home favorites are 6-5 vs spread this year in MAC games. Seven of eight Temple games stayed under the total.