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West Virginia @ Temple 12:00 PM EST
Temple +6.5 over West Virginia (3 Units)
After getting hammered in the second half against the top-ranked Miami Hurricanes, West Virginia hopes the going is much easier against longtime doormat Temple... however, something amazing has happened to the Owls over the past few weeks, as they have discovered a very effective defense which played their hearts out in a 20-10 loss to Virginia Tech last week... In holding Lee Suggs to a career-low 49 yards rushing and effectively shutting down Kevin Jones (held to 72 yards), Temple's defense shut down a Virginia Tech offense that was averaging nearly 300 yards rushing per game... now Temple finds themselves facing a similarly run-oriented West Virginia team, and should come into this game well-prepared for what to expect...
It's not as if Temple hasn't played the Mountaineers close already, as the last three games between these two have been decided by five points or less, leading to three straight Temple covers in the series... additionally, the Owls have now covered three straight games overall this season by allowing 24 points or less in their last three games... on the season, the Owls are allowing just 108.9 rushing yards per game, and if they are able to slow down the West Virginia rushing attack with an effort similar to last week, the Mountaineers may find themselves lucky just to win this game straight up, let alone against the spread...
West Virginia certainly hasn't been a strong play when they hit the road, as they are just 1-4 ATS as a single-digit road favorite, and 0-4 when favored by nine points or less... and a big part of West Virginia's downfall on the road is a defense that has allowed 24+ points in 16 of their last 17 games on the road, and an average of 30.8 PPG In those contests... in those 17 road games, West Virginia has only won four times straight up, with three of those wins coming by a touchdown or less, so expecting WVU to cover a touchdown spread here is really asking a lot against an improving Temple squad...
While Temple is a pedestrian 4-4 ATS as a single-digit home dog, that number is slightly skewed by two half-point losses... in other words, Temple is tougher than you might think as a home dog, and could very easily be 6-2 ATS in that role... the best team that West Virginia has beaten this year has been Cincinnati, and even then they only won by a mere field goal... we look for a similar result in this game, as Temple moves to 5-1 ATS against the Mountaineers in a game decided by a field goal or less
FINAL PREDICTION: WEST VIRGINIA 24, TEMPLE 23
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