Duke vs Temple -3 (o/u 54)
After starting the season 5-1 with quality wins over bowl teams like Army (10-2), Northwestern and Georgia Tech, the Duke Blue Devils (7-5) lost all momentum, losing 4 of its last 6 games against modest competition sans #2 Clemson. On offense, the passing duo of Daniel Jones and Quentin Harris split quarterbacking duties with Jones taking 75% of the snaps. Combined, they did a fine job, passing for 2,671 yards and 24 TDs against only 7 interceptions. They did get a little help in the backfield from RB Deon Harris, who ran for 806 yards and 7 TDs. On defense, Duke had issues with consistency, giving up 43 PPG over its last three games
Temple is coming out of the high-scoring American Athletic Conference where they accumulated a fine record of 8-4. They come into this game with a lot of momentum, winning 6 of its last 7 games with the only loss coming 52-40 against Central Florida, the 8th best team in the nation. The offense ranked 94th in the nation for total offense with more than 420 YPG. The leader on offense was RB Ryquell Armstead, who rushed for 1,098 yards and 13 TDs. On the defensive side of the ball, Temple really excelled. It’s no small achievement to finish the season ranked 7th in the nation in passing defense, only allowing 166 YPG. It’s even more impressive when one realizes they played against some of the best offenses in the country.
Prediction: Statistically, Temple looks superior on both sides of the ball, yet the linemaker pegged them as only 3-point favs. Dukes needs to pass the ball to win this game and Temple has stopped far better passing offenses in the AAC. This is not the time to over-think. Play Temple -3
English
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Spanish
Swedish
Add Comment