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The Temple Owls are showing signs of life. This team looked dead in the water after how we saw it perform in its non-conference schedule, but has hung tough with every one of its opponents since it got blown out by South Florida.
As for the Cincinnati Bearcats, it’s been a tough season. The Bearcats hadn’t won a game since mid-November prior to their upset win over Tulane last week. They still have a shot at a bowl at 3-6, but need to win out.
This matchup in Week 11 of the regular season will take place on Friday, November 10, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. This game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Temple -2.5
Cincinnati +2.5
Odds Analysis
Cincinnati failed to cover four in a row prior to its last two games. The Bearcats lost by double digits to four straight opponents and looked like one of the worst teams in the conference. However, Cincy showed it still has some fight after covering the spread in a close game against SMU and got the outright win as a 6.5-point underdog against Tulane last week.
The Owls have looked much better in recent weeks. Temple has covered four of its last five games, with the lone exception being a loss to Connecticut when it was a big favorite. Unfortunately, it has only won two of those games, but the big win over Navy last week kept its bowl hopes alive.
Player to Watch
Temple may have found something in quarterback Frank Nutile. Nutile was the back-up to Logan Marchi at the start of this season, but replaced him two weeks ago against Army. He performed well enough to earn another start against Navy with Marchi limited by a lower-body injury.
Nutile must love playing against the service academies. He threw for 290 yards and a touchdown in an impressive performance against Army and followed that up last week with an even better outing against Navy. Nutile completed over 70 percent of his passes and threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns against the Midshipmen to lead the Owls to a 34-26 victory. It’s tough to lose your job due to an injury, but it seems that Nutile will be the guy going forward.
Matchup to Watch
Speaking of quarterback play, Cincinnati has long been considered one of the best developers of quarterbacks for a mid-major school. With coaches like Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, and Tommy Tuberville calling Cincy home in the last decade or so, it’s no surprise that the Bearcats have sent a lot of guys to the NFL for at least a cup of coffee.
Under new head coach Luke Fickell, that no longer looks to be the case. Hayden Moore has not looked good in his first year under Fickell and is dinking and dunking all over the place. Moore is averaging just 5.9 yards per attempt and to make matters worse, he is only completing 55.7 percent of his passes. That has led to a lot of offensive woes.
Free ATS Pick
Depending on the number, the under is a good play. Fickell and Temple head coach Geoff Collins are both defensively minded and will have decent gameplans.
However, Temple is going to be too much here. The Owls can run on a Bearcats defense that has been allowing over 200 yards per game on the ground and Nutile will have enough success in the air. Backing short favorites is a dangerous proposition, but it’s the right call here.
College Football Odds: Temple 23, Cincinnati 17
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