No. 17 USF looks to stay unbeaten vs. Temple
Thursday's TV game
Temple (2-1) at No. 17 South Florida (3-0)
Time/TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN. Surface: Grass.
Line: 19½ as of 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday. Sagarin difference: USF by 10.89.
Synopsis: It required a bit of a juggling act, but the American Athletic Conference and its members were able to work out a full league football slate following numerous weather-related postponements. This one will go on as scheduled, but it is now the league opener for both as the Bulls had to move their trip to UConn.
USF’s preseason ranking appeared somewhat shaky after uninspiring wins against San Jose State and FCS member Stony Brook. But the Bulls then put on their best performance of the campaign to date in a romp past Illinois. QB Quinton Flowers was much sharper with his decisions in that most recent outing, and the dual threat figures to make life difficult for safety Delvon Randall and the Owls defense.
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Temple was overmatched in its opening loss at Notre Dame, and the Owls’ offense didn’t light it up even in their subsequent wins against Villanova and UMass. On the plus side, however, QB Logan Marchi has not been picked off this season and has five TD throws. He’ll have to be careful, though, as the USF defense has snagged eight interceptions to date, led by SS Devin Abraham and CB Mazzi Wilkins with two each.
Line furnished by pregame.com. Jeff Sagarin's power ratings show the relative strength of teams. 2.41 points are added to the home team’s rating to calculate the difference.