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Ohio at Temple Football Betting Odds

Written by Jimmy Boyd

Ohio heads to Temple for a Tuesday night MAC East battle to get Week 9 college football action kicked off. You can do your college football betting on this game live on ESPN 2 with the home Owls favored by 3.5 points.

The Ohio Bobcats will be glad when this game is over and they get a chance to make a little run with three straight home games. It’s been a tough 2-5 start for Ohio, but that was expected with the Bobcats playing six of their first eight games away from home.

The Bobcats are just a half-game back in the MAC East and a win at Temple this week would give them just as good of a shot as anyone else at bringing home the title.

The Bobcats have discovered a running game under the normally pass-happy Frank Solich and that will be the offensive element which carries this team to a MAC East title if they do indeed find a way to pull it out. Running back Donte Harden has 323 yards over the last three games while the offense has had more rushing than passing attempts during that stretch. Ohio has also dominated the time of possession over its last five games and I think playing this way gives the Bobcats the best chance to win.

The Bobcats have been hit hard by injuries on the defensive front, but they have found a way to weather the storm to remain competative. Lots of different blitz packages and a hightened focus on creating turnovers has served the defense well. Ohio was at -5 in terms of turnover ration after the first four games, but is now at +2 the last three weeks. The major downfall of this type of defense is that it can lead to big plays for the opposition, but that’s a risk the Bobcats have to take.

QB Boo Jackson, not to be confused with the great Bo Jackson, is still learning and gaining experience but appears to have a big upside. The kid is a great scrambler, but sometimes his superior athletic ability gets him into trouble as he does not know when to simply eat it.

If Jackson can keep his composure, I’m expecting a big game from tight end Andrew Mooney. Temple will likely stack the line to try to limit Ohio’s newly discovered running attack. This should give Mooney plenty of one-on-one opportunities to make plays. If you think the Bobcats can take it to Temple on the road, bet Ohio at +3.5 at Bookmaker and receive a 20% cash signup bonus.

After back-to-back weeks on the road in MAC play, the Temple Owls return home and look to improve to 2-3 in the conference. Temple may have to try to win again without starting QB Adam DiMichele who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury. Chester Stewart has had a rough go of it in the backup role and it would be a huge lift for the Owls to get the leader of their team back.

With DiMichele out, the Owls have been forced to find a running game and they had to look to the defensive side of the football to do it as Kee-ayre Griffin has switched over to offense and made teams respect Temple’s run at least marginally.

The Owls are near the bottom of four main offensive categories—100th in passing, 108th in rushing, 115th in total offense and 110th in scoring, but have still managed to remain competative in every game this season outside of the Penn State contest.

The defense has been the side of the ball keeping the Owls in football games. Led by defensive end Junior Galette, who had a huge game last week, the Owls are stringing together solid performance. They have especially been tough when their opponents are in the red zone, rabking 32nd nationally in red zone defense. If you like the Owls’ chances at home, bet Temple at -3.5 at Bookmaker.

Check out all of the football odds this week at Locksmith Sports as Jimmy has an up to the minute live odds feed from the top sportsbooks on the web. And make sure you’re betting World Champion handicapper Jimmy Boyd’s NCAA football picks for a guaranteed winner on this game.

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