American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Matakevich leads Temple vs. Houston.
Temple’s What 2 Watch: Houston
OWLS (10-2, 7-1 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE) vs. COUGARS (11-1, 7-1 AAC) | HOUSTON
TDECU STADIUM, TODAY, NOON, ABC-TV, 97.5 FM THE FANATIC
 P.J. Walker needs to have a big game against Houston for Temple this afternoon. OWLS ARCHIVE 2015DECEMBER 4-Hot coaching commodities 2-Houston has earned it NOVEMBER 30-Takeaways from UConn 26-GAMEDAY: UConn 24-National respect is there 22-Takeaways from Memphis 21-GAMEDAY: Memphis 18-Time to let it rip 15-Takeaways from USF 14-GAMEDAY: South Florida 7-Takeaways from SMU 6=GAMENIGHT: SMU 4-Still facing hurdle in Philly 2-Worried about Rhule 1-Takeaways from ND OCTOBER 31-GAMENIGHT: ND 30-Pressure on Owls 29-They can, but will they? 28-OK to make some noise 27-ESPN missed the boat 26-Takeaways from ECU 22-GAMENIGHT: ECU 20-Leaving no doubt? 19-It's better than 1979 17-Takeaways from UCF 17-GAMEDAY: UCF 15-Time to notice AAC 12-Takeaways from Tulane 9-GAMEDAY: Tulane 6-History-making season 2-Takeaways from Charlotte 2-GAMENIGHT: Charlotte SEPTEMBER 25-Time on Temple's side 22-Owls a great option 21-No longer hard-luck loser 19-Takeaways from UMass 19-Half-take from UMass 19-GAMEDAY: UMass 18-Gotta believe in coach 17-Focus should be on focus 15-Keep the trap shut 14-No sympathy for this devil 12-Takeaways from Cincy 12-Half-take from Cincy 12-GAMEDAY: Cincy 11-Opportunity is there 9-PSU passes on film study 7-Penn State win nice, but ... 7-Philly, Temple's your team 5-Takeaways from PSU 5-GAMEDAY: PSU 2-LB as good as it gets AUGUST 13-Chance to turn heads |  1. Biggest game in program history ... bar none It’s become a broken record: Beating Penn State was great and giving Notre Dame all it can handle before a prime-time national-TV audience was a revelation for the program, but … Seriously, at this point of the season, every time Temple takes the field anymore marks the biggest game, or most important one, in the school’s gridiron history. Faced with must-win situations each of the past two weeks against Memphis and Connecticut, the Owls responded in a fashion that, frankly, has never been seen by the boys from North Broad – fearless, while being fully aware of the stakes of the opposition and fully confident in what they’d accomplish just the same. All in order, like the rest of this season for the ages, to reach today’s inaugural AAC championship game – which had been head coach Matt Rhule and his team’s No. 1 goal in 2015. Temple being strictly a feel-good story to warm the hearts of all the little guys out there has long since passed. The Owls, whether hometown Philly wants to recognize it or not, are a legit top-25 program, as deemed by the nation’s voters in both the polls and the College Football Playoff committee. Then again, so is the team they face this afternoon. On its home turf. With a conference title on the line, not to mention a probable bid for a New Year’s bowl as well. But facing long odds and major obstacles hasn’t deterred this Temple squad one iota, and that’s the true beauty of it. For those expecting, or even hoping, the Owls will roll over or be overwhelmed, we offer a word to the wise: Just don’t bet on it. 2. Ward a weapon like no other The above being said, we’re not talking some run-of-the-mill, flash-in-the-pan, media creation in Houston. The Cougars, under the direction of first-year head coach Tom Herman, won their first 10 games of the season and enter today’s game with a single blemish on their 12-game, regular-season slate strictly due to an injury sidelining electric junior QB Greg Ward Jr. for most of a 20-17 loss at Connecticut. Faced with the possibility of not even making this title matchup a week ago, with smoking-hot Navy and Heisman hopeful Keenan Reynolds paying a visit, the Cougars embarrassed their more-ballyhooed foe 52-31 with a healthier Ward back under center and outperforming his counterpart for the Midshipmen. A former wide receiver, it’s no surprise he makes a dangerous running option (161 carries, 893 yards, 17 TDs this season). But Ward’s lethal qualities really come through with his arm, as he’s completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 2,502 yards and 16 TDs. The Owls were exposed by a dual-threat QB by South Florida’s Quinton Flowers a month ago. Ward is better than Flowers. Much better. With a lot of talent around him in RB Kenneth Farrow (182 carries, 949 yards, 12 TDs) and WRs Demarcus Ayers (89 receptions, 1,140 yards, 6 TDs) and Chance Allen (49, 658, 4), who provide the classic quick-tall tandem capable of testing any secondary. But if Temple learned anything from facing Flowers, or even Ward last season in a 31-10 Houston runaway at today’s same site, and has uncovered a way to contain the Houston QB, or at least make him one-dimensional, the Owls have shown an affinity for just sucking the life out of very good offenses with their defense. 3. Cougars balanced across the board The strengths of these teams are obvious. Temple’s rests with its defense, Houston’s with its offense. The reality, though, is that the Cougars, statistically, are far better balanced across the board, ranking 8th nationally in points scored and 21st in points allowed. The Owls are 51st in points scored and 16th in points allowed. Houston’s offense, in addition to being dynamic, is deadly because it can beat you throw the air or on the ground. It averages 259.2 yards passing and a whopping 240.1 rushing – the latter being a number that should send a neon-bright flashing sign in Temple’s direction to beware, considering the Owls themselves are viewed as a run-based team and don’t come anywhere close to averaging that kinda yardage on the ground. Their 158.3 yards per outing looks positively pedestrian compared to what the Cougars do in that regard. The Owls, without a doubt, have had the better season on defense – but how much better? Both teams allow 117 yards per game on the ground, the Cougars allow less than a FG more per game, they each have 32 sacks on the season and, not for nothing, but Houston ILB Elandon Thomas led the AAC in tackles this season with 127, not conference Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Matakevich, the Owls’ brilliant senior LB. Out of the two teams, Houston is the one that posted a shutout this season, too. Temple, in short, needs to pounce on a weakness … if it uncovers one. 4. No letup allowed This is not the game to bend but don’t break, don’t break, don’t break … and then finally break. Because if the floodgates open, as they did last season when the Owls visited Houston, things could get out of hand. Ironically, this staple of Temple defensive coordinator Phil Snow, where his unit almost seems to entice the opposition to punch itself out, first surfaced when these same two teams kicked off the inaugural AAC season in the 2013 opener at Lincoln Financial Field. In that one, the Owls allowed Houston six trips into the red zone without allowing a TD before finally surrendering one in the final minute to seal a 22-13 loss. They were uncanny at stopping the Cougars near the goal line, stopping them on three separate drives that saw the visitors staring at first-and-goal inside the Temple 5. But Houston is better now, as, of course, is Temple. In this one, Matakevich, as usual, will have to play at a level that hovers somewhere between – or above – All-American and All-Pro, and he’ll have to do a better job in space against Ward than he did vs. Flowers, or the Owls will be cooked. Though he’s not a one-man show, as three teammates (DL Matt Ioannidis, DE Nate D. Smith and DB Alex Wells) joined him on the AAC’s first-team defense announced this week, let’s not kid ourselves – he is the straw that stirs this D’s drink. If he’s playing out of his mind, as he often does, the better off Temple is. 5. Ultimate reality check ... offense will have to win this one Keeping it real, if the Owls are going to get it done at Houston, there is little doubt the offense is going to have to come up big. No matter how great the defense plays, and given the performance it’s unveiled each of the last two weeks “great” is a distinct possibility, if not very likely, of what the description will be to describe T-Mat and Co.’s effort, the thing is, the Owls are going to have to score, and score somewhere probably in the 30s. Though they average 32.3 points per game, that number is skewed significantly by two games – a 49- and 60-point outings against Tulane and Southern Methodist, the two worst teams in the AAC West Division. More typical of a Temple offensive showing would be like it had in wins against Penn State (27-10) and East Carolina (24-14) and the gut-wrenching loss to Notre Dame (24-20). The Owls are capable of being more explosive and efficient on offense. The talent is not lacking on that side of the ball for Rhule’s squad. QB P.J. Walker (2,450 yards and 18 TDs passing) was Ward before Ward even switched positions at Houston, but the Temple coaching staff has, for some unknown reason, transformed him into a run-last pocket passer whose natural ability and instincts are being hand-cuffed for … well, for what it’s not that obvious. His backfield buddy Jahad Thomas has emerged as a very good, 1,000-yard RB who has been somewhat run into the ground this season while seemingly very capable backups Ryquell Armstead, David Hood and Jager Gardner are used sparingly, even in situations where their more physical styles would work better. The receiving corps? Very deep with senior Robby Anderson and newcomer Ventell Bryant, both deep threats, leading the way. In recent weeks, Brandon Shippen, Kip Patton and Romond Deloatch have proven valuable as well. But they have to be utilized, all of them, in order to make a difference, and that will require Rhule and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield to move away from Thomas a bit, which is something that have been very hesitant to do. - Jack Kerwin | [email protected] |
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