Louk's Closer Look: Bulls Head Back North to Take on Temple
By JIM LOUK
Voice of the Bulls
TAMPA, NOV. 14, 2018 - It'll be another week on the road for the Bulls as they head to Philadelphia to play Temple. It's a bit unusual for USF to have back-to-back northern road games in November, but if forecasts are correct, the coldest weather is already behind them. After enduring temperatures in the upper 20s in Cincinnati, the Bulls are expected to enjoy a balmy 45 degrees this weekend.
USF is running into another opponent playing perhaps its best football of 2018. Temple went on the road and beat Houston, 59-49, last week. After starting 0-2 with losses to Buffalo and FCS Villanova, the Owls are now 6-4. They finish their season on the road with UConn next week.
Running back Ryquell Armstead was the big story for Temple last week. He won conference offense player of the week honors for a 210-yard, six-touchdown performance against Houston. As we've said so often, stopping the run game will be critical for the Bulls. An effort like we saw in the first half against Cincinnati could carry them a long way this weekend.
The USF-Temple rivalry is a short one, but there are some interesting notes:
- The Bulls and Owls have split four games, with the home team winning every time. USF's first win came on Nov. 14, 2015 and it was a big one for the Bulls. It was the sixth win of the season, assuring USF of its first bowl bid since 2010. Last year was the most one-sided game of the series, with USF prevailing, 43-7.
- Jordan Cronkrite needs just 18 yards to hit the 1,000 mark for the season. If he does it, he'll be the fifth USF player to accomplish the mark. It would be the ninth 1,000-yard rushing season in Bulls history.
With seven catches for 90 yards against Cincinnati, Mitchell Wilcox now holds USF single-season tight end receiving records with 35 catches and 468 yards. Wilcox also is the Bulls' new tight end career receiving yards leader with 904.- Temple's football program goes all the way back to 1894. Past coaches include the legendary Glenn "Pop" Warner, Bruce Arians, and Al Golden.
- Temple joined the Big East in 1991, but it was voted out of the conference in 2001. The Owls were allowed to stay in the league until 2004 and ultimately left just before USF entered. The Owls returned to the league in 2012 for a brief stay, and ironically their field hockey program still has Big East membership today.
- Temple has shared Lincoln Financial Field with the Eagles since 2003. Prior to that, the Owls played most home games at Veterans Stadium, moving occasionally to Franklin Field when there was a conflict with the NFL.
- Temple is 3-4 all time in bowl games. The Owls only appeared in two bowl games in their first 85 years, but this season will now mark the fourth consecutive year Temple has gone to a bowl.
This will be an early one for us, with a 10 a.m. start for the pregame on AM 820, 96.7 FM (Hillsborough), 98.3 FM (Pinellas) and USF Bulls Unlimited through the iHeart Radio app. Kickoff is at noon, with TV coverage on ESPNews.
A short holiday week is coming up. Friday football against UCF is next!
Horns up!
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF posted its second straight 10-win season in 2017 (10-2) by winning its second straight Birmingham Bowl with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech. USF is one of just 15 teams nationally to win 20-plus games in the last two seasons (21-4) and posted a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the top 25, reaching as high as No. 13 in Week 8 of the 2017 season. The Bulls have won five of their last six bowl appearances and made nine (6-3) total bowl appearances in 21 seasons, including a current run of three straight bowls. USF won a program-record 11 games in 2016 (11-2) and has posted 14 winning seasons. The USF program, which first took the field in 1997, reached No. 2 in the rankings in 2007 and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and had 28 first-team all-conference selections.
Follow @USFFootball on Twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.
- #GoBulls -
