Temple Owls 2016 NCAA Football Preview
TEMPLE OWLS
American Athletic Conference – East Division
2015 Record – 10-4
ATS – 9-5
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
East Division #3
Conference #4
2015 Recap
Now that was fun. Every season there is a team or two that rises up and catches the attention of the college football world. Last year Temple started out with a bang beating Penn St for the first time since the WW II era (seriously) and made it into the top 25. They won the AAC East Division crown but fell to Houston in the Title game. They disappointed in the Boca Raton Bowl vs Toledo but still finished with an excellent 10-win campaign.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
The Owls were pretty efficient last season scoring 29.8 points per game while averaging 367 yards in offense per contest. Their best offensive output came against weaker defenses (UMass, SMU, Memphis) and was not always reliable against stiffer competition.
The two key pieces of the offense are back in QB PJ Walker and RB Jahad Thomas. Walker returns for his senior season and will have to be a bit better this season. Temple was 9th in the AAC in passing efficiency and Walker only connected for 19 TDs on 433 attempts. The offensive line did a very nice job allowing only 18 sacks but have to work in three new starters this year.
RB Jahad Thomas was the entire offense in many respects last season carrying the ball 276 times for almost 1,300 yards and 17 TDs. We think that they will balance the load at RB a bit more this year. When the dust settled they still only rushed for 150 yards per game as a team and they are down a couple of key starters from last season’s OL. Hopefully they can still do some good work as they do have some size.
Leading receiver Robby Anderson is gone but Ventell Bryant had a fine freshman season and looks like a legit #1 receiver.
DEFENSE
Temple has a huge hole to fill at LB as tackling machine and multiple award winner Tyler Matakevich moves on to the NFL (7th round NFL DC). Temple has only allowed more than 23 points per game twice in the last seven seasons so we are optimistic they can have another good year (#1 total defense AAC in 2015).
JUGGERNAUT ALERT – DB Sean Chandler is going to move to safety this season, or at least that is what the initial plan is early in August camp. Chandler is a great athlete and was a 2nd Team AAC performer at CB where he tallied 4 interceptions, 10 PBUs and 5.5 total TFL.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Owls were ranked #2 in the FBS in blocked kicks (7) last season (BYU – 8, Alabama – 6). PK Austin Jones was a rock solid 23/28. The return unit was average. Everyone is back this season and that is very important for a team that will be involved in a lot of close games.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 7.0
MEGALOCKS says:
They are calling this the season of unfinished business. They had a fine campaign in 2015 but surely left the field with a bad taste in their mouths after losing the last two games of the year. Three of their first four games are against Army, Stony Brook and Charlotte so a 3-1 start at a minimum seems likely. The other game is a road match-up at Penn St who will likely not get caught with their pants down two years in a row.
Overall, we give the OWLS a 7.0 ATS Value Rating (Average) this season. They are scrappy. We like that. Any team that plays good defense and runs the ball a lot is typically a MEGALOCKS staple. Frankly, even though they had a nice season last year we jumped on board too late. We think you can still find value in 2016 with the Owls. Matt Rhule is a very nice 23-15 (60.5%) ATS in his three seasons leading Temple and we do not think you are gonna get rich fading this team. We will have them in mind most weeks but not when they are a large favorite.
Want more Temple Owls football?
Website
http://owlsports.com/index.aspx?path=football
Forum
http://www.scout.com/college/temple/forums/3506-the-cherry-and-white-forum
http://temple.247sports.com/Board/Temple-Owls-Message-Board-Forum-59459
News
http://temple-news.com/category/sports/football/
http://bleacherreport.com/temple-football
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports
https://templefootballforever.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/Temple_FB @Temple_FB
https://twitter.com/sjnard @sjnard Marc Narducci