Tulane @ Temple preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 6, 2014 ) Temple 10, Tulane 3

It was a rough beginning to the season for Tulane, but the Green Wave are rolling at the start of American Athletic Conference play. Tulane will try to secure its first road win of the campaign on Saturday when it travels to Temple, which has yet to suffer a loss.

The Owls are flying under the radar a bit despite impressive wins over the likes of Penn State and Cincinnati but are beginning a stretch with three of four at home as they try to stay on top of the AAC. Temple wrapped up a three-game road swing with a 37-3 pounding of Charlotte last week, marking the first back-to-back-to-back road wins in program history and earning the team its first 4-0 start since 1974. “(The Owls are) probably the best team in the conference right now,” Green Wave coach Curtis Johnson told reporters. “They’re playing well and playing at a high level.” Tulane brought up its level of play over the last two games as well and put up 83 points in back-to-back wins after totaling 17 in a pair of losses to begin the season.

TV: Noon, ET, ESPNews. LINE: Temple -16

ABOUT TULANE (2-2, 1-0 AAC): The Green Wave faced a pair of tough defenses in Duke and Georgia Tech to start the season, and quarterback Tanner Lee struggled accordingly. The sophomore picked up his play in the last two games and threw four touchdown passes in a 45-31 win over UCF last week before getting the final series off. “(Lee) just played so well,” Johnson told reporters. “He looked so comfortable back there. I almost put him in for another series but he got hit late and I didn’t want him to get hurt, so I said, 'You’re out.'”

ABOUT TEMPLE (4-0, 1-0): The Owls are controlling the tempo on offense behind junior running back Jahad Thomas, who totaled 503 yards on 100 carries in the first four games. Thomas scored a pair of touchdowns at Charlotte and has six on the season, giving Temple an option on the goal line to take the pressure off quarterback P.J. Walker. The junior signal-caller was held under 150 yards passing in three of the first four games, including an 11-of-23 performance for 116 yards last week, but has five touchdowns and just two interceptions.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Walker threw for 255 yards and a late TD to lead Temple to a 10-3 win in the regular-season finale at Tulane last season.

2. Walker needs 239 passing yards to pass Lee Saltz (5,371) for third on the school’s all-time list and three TD passes to move past Adam DiMichele (40) for second.

3. The Green Wave are 10-for-10 in the red zone with seven touchdowns and three field goals.

PREDICTION: Temple 35, Tulane 24