Bowl Season 0-0
Been looking at this game a lot this evening, seems that covers and the general public LOVE FIU tonight. 61% of bets on FIU last I checked, yet the line is holding steady at Temple -7. Why? There are a few things that I like about Temple tonight. 1) Temple can generate quite a bit of pressure up front which will disrupt the FIU passing attack that is already without its biggest weapon at WR. The Owls have 32 sacks on the year, allow 4.4 yards per carry on the ground, and 58% pass completion against. That pressure is something FIU QB Alex McGough hasn't seen a whole lot of this year as he's been sacked just 21 times. After a brutal start, the Temple defense has improved some. The Owls gave up 400+ total yards in the first 4 games of the year, and then only allowed that number once the rest of the year (401 to Cincy).
On the other side of the ball, Temple has also made significant improvement with QB Frank Nutile under center. Here is where I really like the Owls. FIU's defense allows roughly 66% of passes to be completed, and don't generate the type of pressure to rattle the red hot QB for Temple. Temple also can run the ball effectively, which should further keep the FIU defense off balance.
Temple hasn't had much luck against Florida teams this year with 2 blowout losses to USF and UCF. Really think Temple's passing offense is a massive advantage tonight which will lead to FIU turning into a pass heavy team as well. Not a winning formula as the Temple pressure will cause problems. There are some positives to FIU tonight (game location, senior laden team, good coach, great redzone offense, solid offense on 3rd downs) however the lack of line movement tells us the heavy players are on Temple tonight. I'll lean Temple -7 as well and also like the over 57.
Haven't bet much of anything this bowl season aside from doing a pick 'em tournament, not looking for tails or anything just offering up an opposite point of view from what I've been reading on this forum today. GL to all whatever you play!
Temple 38
FIU 23
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