Temple's 4-game skid hasn't all looked the same. A 17-9 loss at East Carolina was ugly. The losses to Charlotte and Navy were both by a touchdown, and the Owls put up 31 and 35 in them. At Navy they fell behind 28-0, then scored 35 of the next 42 points. JoJo Bermudez's 78-yard punt return on the last play of the first half started the comeback, and a Smolik-to-Jayce Freeman touchdown tied it 35-35 with 5:35 left. Navy scored the winner with 1:14 to go. Smolik threw for 173 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 1 interception.
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The matchup to watch is UAB's front against the Temple offense that showed up in the second half at Navy. The Blazers just made Charlotte one-dimensional. Temple can score in bunches when it gets going, but it also spotted Navy 4 touchdowns before waking up. If UAB's pass rush gets home early, the Owls could find themselves chasing again, this time without a fake-punt stop to bail them out.
The early forecast for South Philly calls for 39 degrees, light drizzle and a 9 mph wind. That's no problem for a UAB team built around Robinson and Simkins, and it's tough on anyone who has to throw to come back. Still, the Blazers have to show they can win a game like this away from Birmingham, and Temple has been within 1 score in 2 of its last 3.
