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South Florida (6-1) at Temple (4-3)

(Friday, 7:00 PM, ESPN)

F/+ Projected Spread: South Florida -6

When South Florida has the ball: South Florida’s attack is fairly straightforward, but it has worked so far, as USF boasts a top 15 offense. The offense revolves around QB Quinton Flowers, who leads the team in both passing (1535) and rushing (707) yardage with 20 TD, 5 interceptions, and 0 fumbles lost. He has 7.9 yards per play passing and 8.1 rushing. Flowers is the driving force behind a running game that has been very good all-around, but the rest of the offense helps here as well. RB Marlon Mack has 592 yards, 9 TD, and 7.0 ypc, and he’s been one of the more explosive backs in the country. When Mack finds open space, he’s dangerous. The OL has done its job as well – South Florida has converted 88% of short yardage power attempts, the 4th best rate in the country. There’s pretty much no aspect of the ground game where the Bulls haven’t excelled. Temple’s run defense has been above-average, so they should avoid dominance, but they’ve been susceptible to big plays on the ground. South Florida seems to have an advantage here. The South Florida passing game isn’t particularly efficient or even good, but they are capable of breaking big plays. Of their top 6 non-RB targets, all average at least 12 yards per catch, with 3 averaging over 19 yards per catch. Flowers may not complete every pass, but those he does tend to be for big gains. Similar to the job it does against the run, Temple’s pass D is pretty good overall. If there’s a weakness, though, it may again lie with big plays. One thing that will work in Temple’s favor is one of the country’s best pass rushes. Led by speed rusher Haason Reddick, who leads the team in tackles, non-sack tackles for loss, sacks, fumbles forced, and I kid you not, passes defended, the Owls have had one of the nation’s most disruptive defensive fronts. Reddick is the kind of player that has proven himself able to change games so far, and that’s something that could level the field a bit for the Temple defense.
Players to watch: QB Quinton Flowers (1535 yds, 13:5, 58.6%, 7.9 ypp, 707 ruyds, 7:1 TD:FUM, 8.1 ypp) / DE Haason Reddick (29.5 tkl, 14 tfl/sacks, 2 FF, 2 PBU)

When Temple has the ball: The Temple offense isn’t good at any particular thing, and it ranges from average to below-average in most offensive aspects. They aren’t awful at anything, either. It’s all just a little less than mediocre. When the choice isn’t made for them, Temple loves to run the ball with two running backs, senior Jahad Thomas and sophomore Ryquell Armstead. Each has over 350 rushing yards so far, and each has 7 TD. Armstead has been better so far, averaging more per carry, getting a bit more explosion when he is in the open field, and not fumbling, but they’ve been generally similar – both move the line of scrimmage forward fairly reliably, but neither produces a lot of excitement. However, they may have the opportunity to produce excitement against USF. The Bulls’ biggest weakness so far has been run defense. The safeties have done a nice job – USF doesn’t give up a ton of long plays. However, up front, they’ve struggled. Against the run, the Bulls don’t make plays at or behind the line of scrimmage, they give up far too much push from opposing OL’s, and they allow efficient ball movement. So, while Temple’s running game may not be eye-popping, it’s what’s likely to keep the Owls in the game. QB Phillip Walker occasionally finds a big play, but he throws too many interceptions and takes too many sacks. South Florida won’t be mistaken for Clemson, but they’re at least semi-competent at pass defense. Again, Temple needs the running game to work if they’re going to score.
Players to watch: RB Ryquell Armstead (403 yds, 7 TD, 5.7 ypp) / LB Auggie Sanchez (50 tkls, 8.0 TFL/sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR, 3 PBU)