The Temple Owls are favorites against the Duke Blue Devils in the Walk-On’s Independence Bowl. The afternoon game will get going at 1:30 p.m. ET and ESPN will showcase the action.
Betting Preview: Temple Owls vs. Duke Blue Devils
In this Thursday matchup, Temple is labeled as the favorite and is currently giving up 4 points. The Owls are also receiving -175 moneyline odds while the Blue Devils are +155. This tilt should provide several decent in-game betting opportunities, and Vegas has set the over/under (O/U) at 55.5 points.
This game’s total was initially set at 56.5, but the sharp action has been siding with the under.
The Owls are 8-4 against the spread (ATS) and have gained 1.3 units this season. The team has posted an O/U record of 5-6.
The Blue Devils are down 2.5 units for moneyline bettors this year. They’re 6-6 ATS and have an even O/U record of 6-6.
The Owls have gone 8-4 straight up (SU) in 2018 while the Blue Devils are 7-5 SU.
Temple enters this contest on a zero-game losing streak while Duke has won each of its last zero. The Owls are coming off a resounding 57-7 win over Connecticut on November 24Their defense allowed the Huskies to run for 113 yards on 55 rush attempts. Kevin Mensah had a productive day for the Huskies in that one with 94 rushing yards on 24 attempts. Offensively, Frank Nutile completed nine passes on 12 attempts for only 184 yards and one interception. Todd Centeio (32 yards on six rush attempts, one TD) and Jager Gardner (57 yards on six carries, one TD) led the ground attack in the win while Branden Mack (two receptions, 62 yards) and Chris Myarick (two catches, nine yards, one TD) handled the receiving duties.
Back on November 24, Wake Forest knocked off this Duke team by a score of 59-7. The Blue Devils defense allowed the Demon Deacons to kill the clock by rushing for 340 yards on 57 attempts, including three rush TDs. Cade Carney torched the defense, putting up 223 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 31 attempts for Wake Forest. For Duke, Daniel Jones completed 17-of-36 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Deon Jackson (30 rushing yards on eight attempts) led the ground game in the defeat while Jackson (seven receptions, 45 yards, one TD) and Helm (two catches, 20 yards) led the pass-catching corps.
Temple has run the ball on 53.9 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Duke has a rush percentage of 50.5 percent. The Owls have rushed for 164.5 yards per game and have 26 touchdowns via handoffs this year. The Blue Devils are logging 162.7 rushing yards per game and have 16 total rush TDs.
It appears that the Owls ought to own an advantage along both the offensive and defensive fronts. Their offensive line has allowed just 20 sacks while the D-line logged 39 sacks. The Blue Devils offensive line has allowed 29 sacks and their defense has sacked opposing QBs on just 29 occasions.
The Owls offensive scheme has logged 255.8 yards/game through the air overall and has 19 passing scores so far. The Blue Devils have put up 229.9 pass yards per game and have 26 total pass TDs.
Defensively, Temple appears to have the upper hand in both facets. The team has allowed opponents to rush for an average of 190.3 yards and pass for 166.3 yards per game. The Duke defense has given up 197.1 yards per game to opposing passers and 222.3 yards per game to opposing runners. The Owls are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of only 3.49 to opposing QBs, while the Blue Devils have given up a 6.18 ANY/A.
Jones has connected on 183-of-308 passes for 2,093 yards, 17 TDs and seven INTs. Jones’ adjusted net yards per pass attempt stands at 6.02 for the season and 2.88 across his last two outings. In the other locker room, Anthony Russo is up to 2,335 passing yards this season, and has connected on 173-of-299 attempts with 13 passing touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Russo’s got a 6.28 ANY/A, including 5.89 over the last two outings.
Temple Owls at Duke Blue Devils Free Pick
SU Winner: Duke, ATS Winner: Duke, O/U: Under
Team Betting Notes
- Temple has averaged 5.1 yards per carry over its past three games and 4.8 over its last two.
- Duke has averaged 4.6 yards per carry over its last three contests and only 3.0 over its last two.
- The Duke offense has lost 10 fumbles this season while Temple has lost five.
- Temple has won seven of its last eight games SU, with a November 1st defeat to UCF accounting for the only loss over that span.
- The Owls offense has recorded 12 pass plays of 40 or more yards, while the Blue Devils have accounted for 10 such plays.
- The Temple defense has allowed two pass plays of 40+ yards, while Duke has given up four such plays.
- The Temple offense has created 16 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while Duke has created 18 such runs.
- The Owls defense has allowed 20 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while the Blue Devils have given up 22 such runs.
- The Temple defense has 32 sacks on the year while Duke has just 21.
