Georgia Tech at Temple: Five things to watch

Both Temple and Georgia Tech will be coming off difficult losses when they meet at 3:30 Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Owls lost, 38-22, on Saturday at Buffalo, and Georgia Tech, which had a bye last week, fell, 27-24, in overtime to visiting The Citadel on Sept. 14.

Here are five things to watch:

Trailing, 24-7, last week at halftime against Buffalo, the Owls basically avoided the run in the second half, with just eight carries. Temple is facing a Georgia Tech team that is 129th (next-to-last) among Football Bowl Subdivision schools in rushing defense. The Yellow Jackets allow 274.3 yards per game.

Temple should attempt to establish the run early, especially since Georgia Tech is first among FBS schools in passing defense, allowing 140 yards per game. Of course, a major reason for that passing-defense stat is that teams are running at will against the Yellow Jackets.

Freshman Re’Mahn Davis leads the Owls in rushing. He has run for 211 yards (6.8 avg.) and one touchdown. Look for him to get more carries in this game.

In last week’s loss at Buffalo, Temple quarterback Anthony Russo completed 25 of 51 passes for 258 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. He wasn’t helped by the fact that there were several dropped passes, but the interceptions were killers.

After the game, he apologized to his teammates for his performance. Russo vowed it wouldn’t happen again. He is going up against a Georgia Tech team that likes to play man-to-man. Maryland also opened by playing a lot of man-to-man, and Russo made the Terps pay in the Owls’ 20-17 win. A bounce-back game is vital for Russo.

Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins was Temple’s head coach the previous two seasons. He has five assistant coaches who were with him at Temple. So Collins knows the Owls well. And Temple players are familiar with Collins’ tendencies.

This week, Russo said he spoke to some Temple defensive players and asked them about different things that Collins and coordinator Andrew Thacker (who was also at Temple) like to employ.

Both teams have loads of information on each other. Temple coach Rod Carey cautioned about information overload. Regardless, both teams shouldn’t have too many surprises for each other and the knowledge should balance out.

Against Buffalo, Temple was just 2-for-16 in third-down conversions. Even in the Owls’ win over Maryland‚ they were just 3-for-14. If the Owls don’t improve in this area, Georgia Tech, an 8.5-point underdog, will have a chance to pull the upset.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Tobias Oliver is a major running threat for Tech. His most impressive work has come on kickoffs.

Oliver has appeared in all three games and made one start at quarterback. He has returned three kickoffs for an average of 37.3 yards. Oliver is the only FBS quarterback this decade who has a kickoff return of at least 30 yards. His best this season is a 52-yarder against The Citadel.

Saturday, 3:30 p.m. Lincoln Financial Field.

TV/Radio: CBS Sports Network/97.5 The Fanatic.

Records: Georgia Tech, 1-2; Temple, 2-1.

Coaches: Georgia Tech, Geoff Collins (1-2; overall, 16-12); Temple, Rod Carey (2-1; overall, 54-31).

Series: This is the first meeting.

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