Temple vs. Cincinnati Odds, Picks: Our Top Over/Under Bet for Friday Night (October 8)
Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images. Pictured: Desmond Ridder.
Temple vs. Cincinnati Odds
| Temple Odds | +30 (-115) |
| Cincinnati Odds | -30 (-105) |
| Moneyline | +1800 / -4500 |
| Over/Under | 53 |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute college football odds here. | |
Temple rolls into Nippert Stadium under the Friday night lights as the first team No. 5 Cincinnati will face in AAC play.
While the Bearcats are 29-point favorites, the Owls certainly have a chance to cover the spread.
Temple — currently 3-2 and on a two-game win streak — could push Cincinnati and make the most of a potential letdown spot. But to do so, it will need to fix a lot, and fix it fast in a short week.
Temple's two losses have come against Boston College and Rutgers in blowouts and Cincinnati is clearly better than those teams by a wide margin. The Bearcats have played two good Power Five opponents and have yet to struggle against either of them.
Cincinnati hasn't lost a regular-season game since Dec. 2019 and it hasn't lost a home game since Nov. 2017.
Does Temple have any chance against this potential playoff team? More importantly, can it cover a 29-point spread?
Temple vs. Cincinnati Betting Preview
Temple Owls
Temple Offense
The Owls have lost five of their last six road games.
Quarterback D'Wan Mathis is completing 61.9% of his passes for 762 yards and the Owls' offense averages 7.4 yards per pass attempt (77th in the FBS).
Temple's 80th-ranked scoring offense averages 27.4 points per game. The Owls are also the 72nd-ranked offense in the FBS in terms of committing turnovers (six).
Temple averages 362.8 yards per game to rank 90th in the FBS.
On Monday, coach Rod Carey said that wide receivers Randle Jones and Jadan Blue are day-to-day. Jones has missed Temple's last two games, while Blue had to be helped off the field late in the third quarter of Saturday's 34-31 victory over Memphis.
On a short week, keep an eye out to see if Jones and Blue are confirmed to play Friday night. If not, this game may be over before it starts for the Owls.
Temple Defense
The Owls are allowing 30.2 points and 313.4 yards per game on defense.
William Kwenkeu has three sacks while M.J. Griffin leads the Owls with 29 tackles.
Temple's pass rush is one of the worst in the country, ranking 107th with three sacks this season.
The best chance this Temple team may have to stop Cincinnati will be when Luke Fickell pulls the starters.
Cincinnati Bearcats
Cincinnati Offense
Desmond Ridder has thrown for 1,045 yards, has completed 63.5% of his passes (73-of-115) and has tossed nine touchdowns and two interceptions this year. He's also carried the ball 30 times for 98 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 24.5 yards per game.
The Bearcats' offense is one of the best at protecting the passer, giving up only three sacks so far (18th in college football). Cincinnati also has the 17th-ranked offense in the FBS (38.3 points per game).
Along with Ridder, another critical piece of this offense has been Jerome Ford. Ford has carried the ball 67 times for a team-high 367 yards (91.8 per game) and has scored six touchdowns this year.
Between Ridder's dual-threat play style and Ford's ability when his number is called, the Bearcats should be able to tear apart this Temple defense, which currently allows 192 rush yards per game.
Cincinnati Defense
Cincinnati is allowing just 14.5 points and 309.3 yards per game.
Deshawn Pace leads the Bearcats with 32 tackles, Darrian Beavers has two sacks and Archon Bush has two interceptions.
The Bearcats' defense is allowing only 5.2 yards per passing play (fifth in college football) while limiting teams to just 3.4 yards per rush (25th overall against the rush). They've also created turnovers, as they rank 11th in College Football with nine forced turnovers through four games.
It's hard to see Temple scoring on this Cincinnati team, which is currently ranked 12th in Finishing Drives.
If the Owls can get into the red zone, points will be anything but a given.
Temple vs. Cincinnati Matchup Analysis
Toggle the dropdowns below to hide or show how Temple and Cincinnati match up statistically:
Temple Offense vs. Cincinnati Defense
Cincinnati Offense vs. Temple Defense
Pace of Play / Other
Data via College Football Data, FootballOutsiders, SP+, PFF and SportSource Analytics.
The Owls are 35-16 ATS in their last 51 conference games and 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games overall. The Bearcats are 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall.
The under is 12-5 in Bearcats' last 17 home games. The Owls are 5-0 ATS in their last five meetings.
Temple vs. Cincinnati Betting Pick
Oddsmakers have finally adjusted to how good Cincinnati truly is. However, I'm not sure I'm ready to lay nearly 30 points on a short week in a letdown spot.
There's rain projected in the forecast, and if Cincinnati does get out to a significant lead, I would assume it would pull its starters. Even if Cincinnati doesn't play its starters in the second half, I can't see anyway Temple puts points up against its defense.
So, I'm taking the under at 54 (-110), and I would take it as low as 52.5 (-110).
Pick: Under 54 (Play to 52.5)
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