SMU vs. Temple Prediction, Odds, Trends and Key Players for College Football Week 8

Tulane is leading the AAC, but there are a few teams breathing down its neck, including the 4-2 SMU Mustangs who are 2-0 in conference play. Last week, SMU took down East Carolina on Thursday night and now this Friday the Mustangs will face the Temple Owls in Philadelphia.

Temple fell to 2-5 with a 45-14 loss to North Texas last week and are last in the AAC with a conference record of 0-3 We’ll deep dive this Week 8 matchup, but for a look around the entire landscape this week, check out BetSided college football betting expert Reed Wallach’s weekly column and preview. 

When you’re betting on the Week 8 CFB slate, make sure you take advantage of this great promo from the FanDuel Sportsbook. Just sign up below and bet $5 to receive $200 in bonus bets, win or lose!

SMU vs. Temple Odds, Spread and Total

Temple and SMU Betting Trends

• Temple is 1-6 ATS
• The UNDER is 4-3 in Temple games
• SMU is 3-3 ATS
• The UNDER is 5-1 in SMU games

SMU vs. Temple How to Watch

• Date: Friday, October 20
• Time: 7:00 PM EST
• Venue: Lincoln Financial Field
• How to Watch (TV): ESPN2
• SMU Record: 4-2
• Temple Record: 2-5

SMU vs. Temple Key Players to Watch

SMU

Preston Stone, QB: In the Mustangs' win over ECU last week, Stone was a distributor, finishing the game 19/38 for 276 yards and three touchdowns. Eight players caught a pass from him and no player had more than three grabs. Stone has a 14-5 TD-interception ratio and is averaging 7.4 yards per attempt despite a 57.1% completion rate. 

Temple

Quincy Patterson II, QB: Last week was a forgettable one for Patterson the passer, he threw for just 105 yards and completed just 12 of his 30 attempts with three interceptions. However, as a runner, he led the team with 113 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Starting QB EJ Warner missed the game with a lingering injury.

SMU vs. Temple Prediction and Pick

The Temple Owls are not a good team, but they were in an even worse spot last week with Quincy Patterson starting at quarterback on short notice. EJ Warner was scratched in pregame with an injury that has been lingering and that turned Temple into a service academy offense with 242 yards rushing and only 105 through the air. Even if Warner returns this week, his numbers are not great, but the pace of Temple’s offense might dictate my bet more than its effectiveness. 

The Owls are 12th in the country in plays per game, which makes it surprising that they are 4-3 to the under. SMU on the other hand is 44th averaging 72.4 plays per game, but is 5-1 to the under. However, against Temple’s defense, the Mustangs will find their footing offensively and we’ll see a high-scoring affair. 

SMU is 49th in total offense and 56th in yards per play, averaging 6.0. Last year, the offense attacked aggressively through the air with Tanner Mordecai, and this season the Mustangs are only 46th in pass attempts and 44th in yards per completion. Preston Stone has a low completion rate, but Temple allows opposing QBs to complete 64.5% of their passes which ranks 111th. Temple also gives up 13.5 yards per completion and ranks 120th in total defense and 125th in yards per play allowed. 

SMU’s defense has been good this year, ranking 19th overall and only allowing 4.5 yards per play which is 16th best. That unit is 25th in yards per rush, so it’ll be difficult for Temple to move the ball, but the pace is what matters to me more. That will speed this game up and force it to go over the total. The over is 5-0 all-time in head-to-head matchups between SMU and Temple. 

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change