Syracuse is hurdle facing Temple in bowl bid

WEST POINT, N.Y. - A historic day by Montel Harris in a rout of Army may not be of any help to Temple this week.

In their regular-season finale, the Owls will host the Big East's hottest team, Syracuse, on Friday morning at Lincoln Financial Field.

Temple (4-6, 2-4 Big East) received a confidence boost with a 63-32 rout of the Black Knights after four consecutive lopsided defeats.

Harris set Temple and Big East records with 351 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.

"I told our team we are playing for a bowl game right now," Temple coach Steve Addazio said. "We have to finish 5-6. We've got to beat that team in Philadelphia at 11 a.m."

Five victories could provide a bowl bid if the NCAA does not have enough teams with the six wins needed to become bowl-eligible.

There are 63 bowl-eligible squads. The magic number is 70 - two teams for each of the 35 bowl games.

But a victory against Syracuse (6-5, 4-2) may be hard to get. The Orange have won four of their last five games.

Temple rushed for 534 yards Saturday against the Black Knights (2-9), who are ranked 118th among 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in rushing defense at 238.37 yards per game.

The Owls' defense was equally as bad. After surrendering 495 yards (407 rushing) against Army, they have allowed an average of 500.7 yards in the last four games.

The Orange lead the Big East in total offense (473.3 yards) and rank third in scoring offense (28.5 points per game).

Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib, a former Malvern Prep star, leads the conference in passing yards (3,404) and touchdown passes (23).

"He's a first-round draft pick," Addazio said. "He's the best quarterback in our conference. Best! And he can throw the heck out of it.

"I've never seen a guy throw so few inaccurate passes. They are always on the money."

Harris honored. Harris was named the College Football Performance Awards national performer of the week for his effort Saturday.