BCI Summer School 2018: Temple Week Kickoff

BC Interruption is dedicated to giving you opponent previews all this summer, and today we kick off our week of Temple coverage. As always you can expect an interview with an opposing writer, a break down of recent games, a Playa Haters Ball and a “what will BC need to do to win” post. Today let’s kick off our coverage of the Temple Owls, a team that finished 7-6 capped with a win against FIU in the Gasparilla Bowl on December 21st.

Of course the story lines write themselves for this game, as Boston College lured Steve Addazio away from Temple in 2012 to take over in Chestnut Hill. Temple fans were a bit perturbed as he had called the Owls a “dream school” before packing his bags and chasing greener pastures. But Temple can’t be too mad, as they had a lot of success since then, especially under Matt Rhule, who is now at Baylor.

Last season was definitely a lot of ups and downs for the Owls. They won barely against UMass and Villanova, lost to UConn at home (!!!) but still ended up beating Navy, Cincy and Tulsa to end the season. Wait a minute, let me rewind a minute.....they LOST TO UCONN AT HOME???? Putting that fail monster aside, they did improve near the end of the season on both sides of the ball, and all signs look to a dangerous team in 2018.

Bill Connolly of SBNation has Temple projected to be a 9-3 or 8-4 team this year (don’t worry, he still has BC’s win probability at 69%). Nice. They look to have a pretty dynamic offense led by quarterback Frank Nutile, who threw for 1600 yards, 12 TD’s and 7 ints. They have some pretty talented wide outs still on the roster in Isaiah Wright, and Ventell Bryant. On the defensive side of the ball their two sack leaders Sharif Finch and Jacob Martin have graduated, but they have a talented sophomore Quincy Roche who is ready to step up and make plays. Of course the stat BC fans are going to want to know is run defense, where Geoff Collins’ crew ranked 77th in the country last year, including giving up 422 yards against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 314 against Tulsa, and 248 against South Florida.

The Eagles get Temple nine days after the Owls face off against Tulsa on a Thursday night. Will that long lay off factor in the decision? AAC games are usually considered a slam dunk for ACC teams, but Temple looks like it is not a team to be taken lightly. Will Steve Addazio and Co. be ready, or will they have overlook a very dangerous team?