Temple at Houston Game Preview

Date: Saturday, November 10th

Time: 6:00pm CT

Location: TDECU Stadium (Houston, TX)

Line: Houston -4.5

Houston Cougars Outlook by Joe Broback

It’s time to move on. Let’s be honest, the offense was due for a letdown at some point, but this team should have been good enough to withstand that. They didn’t, SMU won, and we move on because there’s nothing we can do. Ed Oliver’s status might remain a question for the remainder of the season. You can’t question his heart, especially after watching this.

It’s frustrating that a player with his talent can’t play because he was injured on an illegal hit. Houston’s defense needs him now more than ever. His absence has been noticeable the last two weeks, and the struggles on defense cost Houston again.

In a “down” week, Houston’s offense scored 24 points, which isn’t awful. That’s just not going to cut it when your own defense gives up 45. Still, this is an explosive group. Courtney Lark’s absence hurt the offense last week, but Keith Corbin and Marquez Stevenson are two of the best receivers in the conference. D’Eriq King continues to prove why he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country, so this team will be just fine on this side of the ball. Houston remains atop the AAC West, but now is only up by one game. They cannot afford another loss, and the next three games won’t be easy.

Houston 42 Temple 28

Temple Owls Outlook by Joe Serpico

The Owls held their own in the first half against UCF last week, entering the midway point with a 34-28 lead. Anthony Russo matched the Knights offense by throwing four touchdowns and rushing for another, but Temple could only muster six points in the second half as injuries, most notably to Ryquell Armstead and Matt Hennessy, held the offense in check.

What is more troubling is that the defense failed to generate any pressure on McKenzie Milton, and could be even more troublesome this week as D’Eriq King has established himself as the top offensive weapon in the conference. Even with all that, Temple can enter this game with a bit of confidence after last week’s loss.

Temple enters this game knowing they can keep pace with an explosive offense because the Cougars defense is much more suspect than the Knights.

But as Joe noted in his preview above, Houston is coming off their worst game of the season and will look to bounce back at home. Temple keeps it close early, but Houston gets the win late to keep their record against Temple undefeated at 7-0.

Houston 42 Temple 28