Temple Football Aiming For Third Win vs. Top 25

The Temple Owls escaped Week 7 with 30-28 win over #23 Memphis, giving them their second win against Top-25 competition this year. Yes, there was some controversy surrounding the win, but the play in question wasn’t a scoring play and by no means would it have meant a loss for the Owls.

Now 5-1, the Owls have the second-best defense in the AAC — allowing just 19 points per game — and they’ll have an opportunity in Week 8 to secure their third win this season against ranked opponents. Besides their win vs. #23 Memphis, the Temple football program also beat a ranked Big Ten team (#21 Maryland) and an ACC school (Georgia Tech). In Week 8, their sights will be set on #19 SMU, their highest-ranked opponent of the season.

No other team in the AAC has more than one win vs. Top-25 competition, let alone three.

While not likely because this is a conference game, the Owls will need to avoid a letdown. The last time they went on the road after a Top-25 win, they lost as 14-point favorites to Buffalo, a game that now signifies the low-point of their season.

That loss to Buffalo, which saw the Bulls leading 24-7 at halftime, seems like a lifetime ago and, given the situation they’ll enter this week at SMU, you could argue it was a good thing because they know what will happen if they don’t really bring it.

The Temple-SMU game will kickoff at 3:30 P.M ET on Saturday on ESPN2.