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The Temple Owls and the North Carolina Tar Heels have had some time off and are no doubt ready to hit the field. Temple and UNC will compete for holiday cheer in the Military Bowl on Friday at Jack Stephens Field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium at noon ET test. Both teams are strolling into their contest after big wins in their previous games.
The Owls' and the Connecticut Huskies' matchup four weeks ago was close at halftime, but the Owls turned on the heat in the second half with 35 points. The Owls were the clear victors by a 49-17 margin over UConn. Temple's success was spearheaded by the efforts of WR Branden Mack, who caught five passes for two TDs and 171 yards, and QB Anthony Russo, who passed for two TDs and 247 passing yards on 23 attempts in addition to punching in one rushing touchdown. Near the top of the highlight reel was Russo's 63-yard TD bomb to Mack in the first quarter.
Temple's defense was a presence as well, and it made life painful for the quarterback and got past UConn's offensive line for a total of four sacks for a loss of 24 yards. Leading the way was DE Quincy Roche and his two sacks. Roche now has 13 sacks through Week 14.
Meanwhile, UNC ran circles around the NC State Wolfpack four weeks ago, and the extra yardage (600 yards vs. 288 yards) paid off. UNC blew past NC State 41-10. RB Javonte Williams was the offensive standout of the game for the Tar Heels, punching in two rushing touchdowns in addition to snatching one receiving TD. Williams didn't help his team much against the Mercer Bears five weeks ago, so this was a nice turnaround for him. Williams' sharp performance set his single-game rushing touchdown high for the season.
The Owls are expected to lose this next one by 4.5. They might be worth taking a chance on against the spread, however, as they are currently on a four-game streak of ATS wins.
Their wins bumped the Owls to 8-4 and the Tar Heels to 6-6. We'll see which team can carry over their success and which team inevitably falls when the Owls and UNC clash.
