Friday Five: Temple Week Wednesday Special
A Commentary on USF Football
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The University of South Florida Bulls will retake the national stage on Thursday night, hosting 5-3 Temple. The Owls hold a 3-2 lead in the all-time series and the Bulls have historically struggled in Thursday night games on national TV, which this game will be (ESPN). While Temple’s record is only one win better than the Bulls, they have wins over then #21 Maryland and #23 Memphis and two of their losses came against then #19 SMU and a UCF team that is just outside of the top 25 rankings. Their only bad loss is against Buffalo. Other than that loss, which looks more like a fluke today, they’re a solid team. USF isn’t the favorite, but they can win this game if they solve the equation for this week’s Friday Five.
1. Block Ifeanyi Maljeh. Maljeh leads Temple’s defense with six sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss. Currently, he is ranked #30 in the country in sacks #44 in tackles for loss. For perspective, only one player ranked higher than him in either category has played less than eight games. Thursday’s tilt with the Bulls will be game eight for the Owls.
2. Protect the quarterback. This one has become a fixture in this feature and needs special emphasis because of what was pointed out above. The Bulls have lost season starter at quarterback, Blake Barnett for the season and his replacement, Jordan McCloud, has been nursing injuries all season. Bulls’ quarterbacks have been sacked 29 times through seven games. Only nine teams in the FBS have allowed more sacks. McCloud is reportedly healthy, now. The line needs to make sure he stays that way.
3. Score at least four touchdowns. Temple scored eight touchdowns in their season opener to Bucknell. In every game since, they have scored exactly three touchdowns, a six-game streak. The Owls have scored more than 28 points just twice in this season, in the win over Bucknell and in the Memphis win.
4. Find turnovers. Temple has turned the ball over 15 times this season, the 98th worst total in the nation. Conversely, the Bulls are tied for #2 in the nation in turnovers gained (20).
5. Get in the backfield. While they haven’t been world-beaters in the sack department, USF is ranks 7th in tackles-for-loss with 73. The Temple offense hasn't had to deal with much of this this season, only having 38 of their plays tackled for a loss.