Temple Readies For Saturday Visit From Tulsa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Temple Owls will return from their second bye week of the season on Saturday as they host Tulsa in an American Athletic Conference game on Homecoming.
The 3-1 Owls last played on September 27th when they rolled UConn on the road, 36-10. Tulsa played this past weekend at Colorado State, losing on Saturday, 42-17. Temple head coach Matt Rhule talks about whether there is any advantage when you are coming off a bye week and playing a team that played the week before.
"I think you maybe have a little bit of an advantage in terms of just being rested, just being healthy, getting a couple of kids back," Rhule tells KYW Newsradio. "But you also have to really be prepared for being lethargic, and coming out and being a little bit rusty. So we're going to have to practice really, really hard this week to make sure there is no rust come Saturday."
Tulsa is just 1-4 this season. They opened the season with an overtime win against Tulane, but since then they have lost four straight. In their five games, Tulsa has allowed 212 points, for an average of 42.4 points per game, and they surrender 511 yards of offense per contest. But Rhule thinks the Golden Hurricane defense is better than the numbers indicate.
"They have a bunch of kids that run around and fly to the football," Rhule says. "They've played some really good teams. They played Colorado State who beat (Boston College) the week before. They've played Oklahoma (lost 52-7 on 9/6), who at the time was #1 in the country. So while the stats aren't always maybe what they want them to be, it is a little bit skewed based upon who they've played. We're prepared for a dogfight."
On offense, Tulsa scores at a pace of 23.4 points a game and Rhule says they like to press the issue when they have the football.
"They are a fast, no huddle, spread team," Rhule says. "They're going to throw it all over the lot. So it should be a really exciting, dynamic game to view. I might not feel that was as the game goes on, but it should be a really good football game with both teams that like to throw the football and play fast."
Temple Head Football Coach Matt Rhule joined KYW's Matt Leon on Monday.
Temple and Tulsa will kickoff at noon on Saturday.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
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