Know the Foe: Temple

[bullsmeanbusiness]

A look at Temple, which plays No. 21 USF on Thursday at Raymond James Stadium

Nickame: Owls
'16 record: 10-4 (7-1 AAC). Won AAC title, lost to Wake Forest 34-26 in Military Bowl
'17 record: 2-1 (lost to Notre Dame 16-49; def. Villanova 16-13, def. Massachusetts 29-21)
Coach: Geoff Collins (first season, 2-1)

The breakdown: The nine sacks the Owls recorded against winless UMass represent the highlight of their young season. Clearly, this isn't the same team that embarrassed USF en route to the league title last year. Collins, Florida's defensive coordinator the previous two seasons, had to rebuild the first and second levels of Temple's defense, and find a quarterback to replace 16-year veteran Phillip Walker. Despite facing a winless team and a I-AA foe (Villanova), Temple still ranks 98th nationally in total offense (356.7 ypg), 118th in total defense (488.7 ypg), and 90th in ESPN's Football Power Index (For advanced-metrics fans, the Owls' Offensive S&P ranks 96th nationally.). One returner Bulls fans will recognize is 240-pound FB Nick Sharga, who mostly annihilated USF's would-be gap-fillers as Temple ran for 319 yards last season. Also back is RB Ryquell Armstead (210 rushing yards vs. the Bulls) and Jefferson High alumnus Ventell Bryant 
(54 receptions in 2016). New QB Logan Marchi hasn't thrown a pick in 106 attempts, but Armstead and Co. haven't gotten it going on the ground (94.3 ypg). On the other side, the Owls held both UMass and Villanova to fewer than 100 rushing yards, but were absolutely gashed by Notre Dame (422). On Friday, they face the nation's 13th-ranked rushing offense (281.3 ypg).

Odds and ends: Bryant and fourth-year junior DB Jyquis Thomas (Plant City) are the Owls' only two bay area players. ... Owls redshirt freshman DE Quincy Roche, who had three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery against UMass, was named the AAC's Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. ... PK Aaron Boumerhi nailed a career-best 52-yard field goal against the Minutemen. 

Audible: "They have that aura about them where they're a physical football team, and you see that. Offense, they do a lot of different things, they give you a lot of different personnel groupings. ... Defense, they're very aggressive. They want to push the tempo on defense." -- USF Charlie Strong

[SpikeBull]

Philip Walker was a 16 year veteran?

Even Bluto wasn't at Faber College that long.

[NewEnglandBull]

1 hour ago, SpikeBull said:

Philip Walker was a 16 year veteran?

Even Bluto wasn't at Faber College that long.

I think it was D day who was there the longest according to Dean Wormer