UCF vs. Temple Prediction, Pick, Odds: Can John Rhys-Plumlee and UCF Jump Ahead Early AAC Matchup on Thursday?

UCF vs. Temple Prediction, Pick, Odds: Can John Rhys-Plumlee and UCF Jump Ahead Early AAC Matchup on Thursday?

UCF vs. Temple Start Time, Where to Watch, and Odds

• Date: Thursday, October 13, 2022
• Start Time: 7:00 pm ET
• Where to Watch: ESPN

Click Here for UCF vs. Temple Odds

The UCF Knights host the Temple Owls in an AAC matchup in Orlando tonight. UCF is riding a three-game win streak after knocking off SMU in a Wednesday night game last week, 41-19. UCF is now 4-1 on the season and looks to knock off Temple as significant 23.5-point favorites. Temple will surely have their hands full in this game. The Owls enter this game with a 2-3 record after losing 3-24 in their last game against Memphis, which was their AAC opener. Can UCF cover as 23.5-point favorites in this home game?

UCF vs. Temple Prediction

Temple has been struggling to start the season, especially on offense. The Owls are 2-3, which doesn't look that bad on paper, but one of their wins was against an FBS opponent, and the other was against maybe the worst team in FBS, Umass. Also, both of their wins were at home. On the road? Temple is 0-2 on the road. Even worse, Temple has scored just three points in 120 minutes of game time on the road. Temple has had 25 drives on the road this season and has one field goal to show for it. The Owls rank dead last in the nation with 11 points per game against FBS opponents. They haven't even been playing a tough schedule, either, as they rank in the bottom ten in strength of schedule. So yeah, that pretty much explains where this offense stands right now. UCF is also the best defense Temple will have faced this season thus far.

Defensively, Temple has been average. For as much as the defense has been on the field, you have to give them props. The defense was able to shut out Memphis in the first half last game, but that was more a poor performance by Memphis, who isn't an offensive juggernaut, to begin with. However, Temple will have their defense truly tested against John Rhys Plumlee. The senior transfer from Ole Miss can literally do it all. He even played wideout at Ole Miss last season, as well as being as threatening on the ground as through the air. He is, in my opinion, one of the hardest quarterbacks to prepare for. You just don't know how he will attack the defense any given week. In week four, Plumlee only threw for 49 yards against Georgia Tech, but he rushed for 100 yards on only 16 attempts en route to a 27-10 win. Then, in week six against SMU, Plumlee threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns while only recording 27 yards on the ground. He can sometimes be inconsistent through the air, but for a UCF offense that runs in on 61.4% of plays (16th most in FBS), they can rely on their run game when needed. Even if Plumlee can't get it going through the air early, the option should prove effective early.

Temple is 3-13 against the spread against conference opponents in the last three seasons. They are not a great road team lately and have yet to even score a touchdown on the road in two games. Now, they are facing the best defense they have seen all season. On the other side of the ball, they have to deal with dual-threat John Rhys Plumlee. As inconsistent as Plumlee has been at times, he is still a difficult player to prepare for. I'm not sure I can trust that he is stellar all game, as he has shown flashes of missing open receivers and stalls on offense through quarters of the game. However, I think his style will prove dangerous early in this matchup. The books were kind enough to give us less than a touchdown on the first-quarter spread. Even if Temple receives the ball first, I don't see them putting up points in the first quarter against this defense. It could take just a score of 7-0 to cash this bet, which is the most likely outcome to me. Grab UCF to cover the first-quarter spread tonight.

UCF vs. Temple Pick

• 2U Pick: UCF 1st Quarter -6 (-122) (Bet $122 to win $100)

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