Temple's defense looks to bounce back vs. Memphis
It wasn't only the fans from Philadelphia who were unsuccessfully rooting for Temple on Saturday night in a 44-23 loss at South Florida. While his team was losing a 35-34 heartbreaker at Houston, Memphis coach Justin Fuente also had a rooting interest for the Owls.
It wasn't only the fans from Philadelphia who were unsuccessfully rooting for Temple on Saturday night in a 44-23 loss at South Florida. While his team was losing a 35-34 heartbreaker at Houston, Memphis coach Justin Fuente also had a rooting interest for the Owls.
A Temple win would have clinched the American Athletic Conference East Division title and a berth in the conference championship game. Now the Owls (8-2, 5-1 AAC) lead USF by a game with two left for each team heading into a meeting with Memphis on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.
"I was kind of hoping they would have won and had this clinched and [coach] Matt [Rhule] would take it easy on us, but it didn't go my way," Fuente said Monday, tongue-in-cheek, in a conference call with reporters.
A few weeks ago, this game with the Tigers appeared as if it could have been a championship preview. Now Memphis (8-2, 4-2) has been eliminated in the West Division after dropping its last two games to Navy and Houston, teams that are a combined 18-1, 12-0.
Saturday's game could be called the "Reeling Bowl" because both teams are looking to stop skids.
Temple has gone 1-1 in its last two games but has allowed 84 points, including a 60-40 victory at Southern Methodist.
Despite the plethora of points allowed, Rhule doesn't believe that the Owls' psyche has taken a hit. "I am confident we will play pretty well this week," he said on the same conference call.
Who will do the playing remains to be seen.
Freshman running back Ryquell Armstead, tight end Colin Thompson and receivers John Christopher and Marshall Ellick have various injuries. Rhule said he didn't know their status for this week.
Temple will try to get its defense back to form after two subpar games. But the Owls will face Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch, the 6-foot-7 redshirt junior who is a potential top-10 NFL draft pick. Lynch has thrown for 3,292 yards with 21 touchdowns and three interceptions.
"Nobody has really been able to slow Memphis down," Rhule said. That will be the task in yet another highly challenging week for the Owls.
UConn game time
The AAC announced that Temple's Nov. 28 game against Connecticut at Lincoln Financial Field will kick off at 7 p.m.
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