Temple Owls 

@

Tulane Green Wave

By: Patrick Harkness

Spread: Tulane -26.5

Total: 49.5

The Temple Owls (2-6) are traveling to the Big Easy to square off against The Tulane Green Wave (7-2) in another AAC matchup. Temple is coming into Nola after getting handed a 56-34 loss to ECU last week. They are led by head coach Stan Drayton who is in his 3rd year with the team and an overall record of 8-24. The owls are returning 8 starters from last year, 5 on offense, 2 on defense and their punter. Just like Tulane in the offseason Temple pulled a lot of talent from the transfer portal. Total of 43 newcomers including recruits that shape up this revamped roster. The Temple offense has mostly been running in a pass heavy shotgun/pistol/single back offense ranking 68th in passing (228 avg), 128th in rushing (91 avg), and 117 for scoring at almost 21 points per game. The Owls defensively have been running a 3-4 defense with some very good linebacker play all season. They have been giving up 35 points per game which ranks 124th in the nation. The defensive unit of Temple as a whole have been giving up an average of 394 yards, 180 passing, and 213 rushing. Let's get into positional breakdown of both teams. 

Offense

Quarterback

It looks to be another quiet game for the young freshman quarterback. This Temple defense has not been doing very well stopping the run so expect a lot of handoffs but don't be surprised if offensive coordinator Joe Craddock decides to open up his playbook and surprise Temple with some Play action when the defense starts to creep up and stop the run. Tulane definitely has the better skill players on the outside so let's hope the Green Wave gets a little pass happy. Should be able to take advantage of this defense in the screen game as well.       

Ty Thompson

Ty should get a little more involved in this game than the previous. Temple has been having trouble stopping the run and the special packages they have been using with Ty should allow him to move the ball efficiently.

Temple QB

Forrest Brock was the original starter to begin the season after a strong spring but fell into some trouble as the season progressed. After throwing for 541 yards with 1 touchdown and 6 interceptions, Temple's head coach benched him and went with Junior Rutger transfer Evan Simon. Evan has had more success and even jump starting this Temple offense amassing 1,271 yards passing with 13 touchdowns and 6 picks. He's more of a game managing QB but he's smart and goes through his reads pretty well. Do not underestimate him. He doesn't seem to panic when pressure gets in his face as well.  They're most likely going to try to the ball out quickly.

Running Back

It should be another stellar game by Makhi Hughes. Expect Tulane to utilize Makhi early and often with this lackluster defense of Temple. The owls do have two very good Middle Linebackers in Tyquan King (ECU transfer) and DJ Woodbury. King is leading the owls with 70 tackles, 2 sacks and a forced fumble. DJ is second on the team with 66 tackles and a sack. They are the quarterbacks of this defense and probably the only guys you need to worry about. It'll be essential for our offensive line to get to the next level and stop these two athletes if Tulane wants to have a successful in the ground game. Arnold Barnes and Shadie Clayton continue to battle for that RB2 spot so whoever has the hotter hand expect them to get more handoffs. Clayton came off one of his best game last week. Look for Shadie to be utilized in the screen game could be effective against Temple.

Receiving Game

Is this game the day we finally get to see Dontae Fleming and Shazz Preston lined up on the outside and Mario Williams and Yulkeith Brown in the slots. I sure hope so, there's still a whole entire dimension of this Tulane offense that we haven't seen and is waiting to be unlocked. It may not fully happen with Temple being a lesser opponent but with some tough games down the road be ready for the playbook to be wide-open. As of right now Mario leads the team with 34 catches for 561 yards and 3 touchdowns. Dontae is second with 25 catches for 467 yards and a touchdown. Yulkeith is 3rd with 25 catches for 324 yards and 4 touchdowns while tight end Alex Bauman has 10 catches for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

Temple has 3 guys at the corner position who are decent 7th year transfers from UTEP Torey Richardson (1 int) who plays well in man coverage and will probably be lined up against Dontae all game. Jamel Johnson, a guy who can line up in the slot and/or the outside has an interception on the year. Their best corner Jaylen Lewis who leads the group in tackles with 37, an interception, 5 passes deflected, and a forced fumble, is an ascending player and should be watched out for.    

Offensive Line

The success of the power run game has all come down to the offensive line play. They have been nothing but impressive week in and week out. They have only allowed 13 sacks on the year and are boasting an average run game of 216 yards a game which is 11th in the nation. They are also allowing the offense to score 40 points a game which ranks 7th in the nation. Look for this unit to keep building these numbers against this poor temple defense.  I wouldn't be surprised if all 5 starters get all conference awards at the end of the season.

However, there are some guys who will look to disrupt Tulane on the defensive line of the Owls DT Latrell Jean (big body power rusher), DE Diwun Black (speed threat off the edge), and DE Trae Thomas(smaller edge rusher/bandit) who all have 2 sacks on the year.

X Factor: Run the Ball which Should open Up passing Lanes

Defense

Defensive Line 

Temple is only returning one player from last year on the offensive line and he is by far their best player from the unit right guard Wisdom Quarshire. Other than that Tulane's stout defensive line should have a field day. Temple really struggles to run the ball forcing them to pass. The defensive line of Tulane has to attack the quarterback of Temple very quickly because they will be getting the ball out fast to counter this defensive line. On the year Tulane's defensive line Kam Hamilton has 3.5 sacks, Pat Jenkins has 3, Adin Huntington has 2 and so does Mathew Fobbs White.

Linebackers

Sam Howard got carted off the previous game and x rays came back negative and sounded like it was a sprain. Not sure if he'll be back for this one. May save him for Navy or Memphis with a bye before Memphis Thanksgiving night. Dickson Agu and Chris Rodgers have been playing very well as backup/passing down specialists look for both of them to be the next man up and help slow down the passing attack of temple. Tyler Grubbs continues to be the backbone of the defense by leading the team in tackles 39, 2nd in sacks with 3, and tied for first with 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and 1 defensive touchdown.

Temple doesn't have much of a running game, but two guys standout Terrez Worthy a speedy back has 51 carries for 280 yards (5.5 avg) and 2 touchdowns while Antwain Littleton a power back has 59 carries for 181 yards (3.1 avg).

Secondary

Micah Robinson has been playing very well as of late and has settled in nicely as Tulane's number one corner. With two picks on the year, he leads this secondary unit. Micah will most likely be lining up against Dante Wright by far their best receiver threat. Dante is a really good route runner and may even see him in the slot where Javion White the freshman spear/nickel corner could line up against him as well. Dante on the year has 42 catches for 517 yards and 4 touchdowns with a long of 91. Rayshawn Pleasant or Javion White will help out against Antonio Jones and 5-9 deep threat (17 catches, 143 yards, 1 TD) and Jonathan Edwards or Caleb Ransaw most likely line up against the big body physical receiver Ashton Allen who has 14 catches, 230 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Jalen Geiger and Jack Tcheinchou will continue to rotate and protect the deep part of the field and Bailey Despaine and Kevin Adams will help out with coverage on Temple's receiving threat at Tight End Landon Morris 15 catches, 240 yards, and 2 touchdowns.   

X Factor: Tight Coverage for quick passes

Special Teams

Kicker/Punter/Return Game

K-Jacob Barnes is 24/25 on XP and 7/9 on FG with a long of 47. He's been pretty reliable so far this season

P-Will Karrol is a game changer and helps this team more than people realize. He can really boom the ball but every now and then can lay a doozy.

Roll Wave!!

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This is Patrick Harkness and you can follow me on X @RollDatWave and @BeInTheKneaux everywhere.