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Temple Army Line, Spread & Football Picks

Written by Jimmy Boyd

On Friday, August 29th at 7 PM EST, living on ESPN Classic Temple will head to West Point to take on the Army Black Knights to get both schools seasons kicked off. The early college football odds at Bookmaker show Temple as a 7-point favorite.

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Temple is coming off a 4-8 season in which they won all four games in Mid-American Conference play, which was their most wins since 2002 and matched the total number of victories from the previous four seasons combined. Temple hadn’t won four conference games in 40 years so many called 2007 a success.

Army was only 3-9 a year ago, losing their last six games, but if a bright spot can be found it’s that the team is playing at home, where they have won seven of their last 12. Neither one of these teams has had much success opening the season, Temple not winning on opening day since 2002 and Army since 1996. Last year belonged to the Black Knights though as they took a 37-21 win away from Temple.

Temple returns every starter on offense from a year ago, but that team was pretty bad in averaging only 16.4 ppg. Things should be better this year as the offensive line seemed to be improving, which should benefit Marquise Liverpool, who is making the transition from wide receiver to tailback. Quarterback Adam DiMichele should have plenty of options at wideout, including Bruce Francis, who we think will be one of the top pass catchers in the MAC this year, especially if the line gives DiMichele enough time to deliver him the ball.

Not only does the offense return everyone, but the Temple defense will have 11 starters returning in 08. The front line was bad in allowing 165 rushing yards per game last year, but that’s a big jump from the more than 200 ypg the two prior years. The experience of toughness of that group should help decrease that number further. The linebackers are led by Amara Kamara while the secondary has the most experience of any group on the team. If you want to lay the 7.5 points then bet on Temple at JustBet.

Army is going back to the option offense, which is a good thing since the team is loaded up at running back but doesn’t have any experience at receiver. Carson Williams is the starting quarterback, but he threw more picks than touchdowns and helped Army rank 95th in passing, and won’t be improved with Jeremy Trimble, the school’s leader in catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns gone. More bad news for Knights fans is that the team ranked near the bottom of the pack in rushing nationally in 2007.

Army gave up 423 ypg last year, with 233 ypg coming on the ground, numbers bad enough to put the Black Knights among the worst in the nation. The front line saw plenty of time last year, but were responsible for those horrid numbers so improvements are going to have to be made. Linebacker will probably be the stength of the defense with a couple of promising players in Frank Scappaticci and John Plumstead. The secondary will most likely have some problems in the secondary with two new starters at the safety positions and inexperience at corner. Army is getting 7 points on the point spread at the Pig.

Oddsmakers Predicted Score:

Temple 25
Army 18

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