Miami (Ohio) Redhawks vs Temple Owls
After a horrendous 0-4 start Miami has won 4 of 5 and is currently tied for first in the MAC East. Win and they control their own destiny, setting up a showdown with Ohio the last week of the season.
Miami (Ohio) Redhawks vs Temple Owls
Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA
Wednesday November 9 – 8:00PM
Moneyline: Temple -465, Miami +370
Spread (ATS): Temple -12.5
Over/Under: 42.5
Odds courtesy of 5Dimes
Miami
Lose and it their season is probably over as they might not get the 6 victories they need to qualify for a bowl. You have to love these early week MAC games for intrigue and significance.
The RedHawks have been winning with defense this year. Other than a blowout by Toledo they have not given up more than 23 points in any of their conference games. They have been stingy against the pass but their run defense has not been as good. That is the wrong mix when facing a dominant running team like Temple featuring Bernard Pierce.
Miami hasn’t fared well against Temple since the Owls joined the MAC, beating them just twice in 5 tries. One of those victories was in Philadelphia but that was back in 2005 when the Temple program was still in the dumps. A couple of years ago they had the Owls on the ropes but gave up a FG with 3 seconds left to lose on the road.
Temple
Temple vs Ohio last week wasn’t quite as exciting at Toledo vs. Northern Illinois, especially for Owl fans who saw their team lose. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Temple still has a shot at the MAC East title but they can’t afford another loss, my apologies if you have read that before. It’s still true and this week they have the advantage of home field as they try and tighten things up a little more.
The Owls own the eighth best rushing attack in the land but Bernard Pierce is currently listed as questionable for the game on Wednesday. He already has more than 1000 yards and 19 touchdowns so
clearly it would be a huge loss. Without Pierce it will be up to Matt Brown. He is a much smaller back who can have success but isn’t designed to take the pounding at just 5’5”.
If Pierce is out that will be a big problem for the Owls. They are looking to exploit the RedHawks defensive deficiency against the run and even though Matt Brown provides a new dimension they prefer him as a change of pace. Lucky for Temple they still have the best defense in the conference. If they need to they can try and turn this one into a low scoring affair. Not good for backers but good for the win column.
ATS Pick: Miami +12.5
Over/Under Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Temple 20 – Miami 10
