The UCF Knights are back after the bye week, and back in prime time as they take on the Temple Owls at the Bounce House tonight at 7:30 p.m.

ESPNU will carry the game live.

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Kickoff

When: 7:30 p.m. ET

Where: The Bounce House

Line: UCF -25.5, Over/under 76.5 (OddsShark)

Gametime Weather: Partly cloudy, mid-70s.

Threads:

TV

Network: ESPNU

Crew: Mike Corey (play-by-play) and Hutson Mason (analyst)

Series

All-time: UCF leads 5-2. Temple’s only victories were in 2015 (duh) and 2016 on P.J. Walker’s TD pass with :01 left [shudders].

Last Meeting: Last year, in classic Second Half Randy fashion:

Temple Coming In

This has been a tough year for the Owls. Opt-outs (including their leading rucker) and injuries have dropped them down to 1-4 after last year’s 8-5 bowl season. Their ownly win was in a 39-37 shoot-out at home against - you guessed it - South Florida.

Head Coach: Rod Carey. Carey took over for Geoff Collins, the former UCF assistant who is now heading up Georgia Tech. He came over to Temple after a fantastic tenure at Northern Illinois, where he posted four winning seasons in six full years, including five bowls and two MAC titles.

What to Watch For

When UCF Has the Ball

Photo by Alex Menendez/Getty Images

It’s the #1 passing offense against the #112 passing efficiency defense in the nation. Dillon Gabriel should have little trouble with Temple’s secondary. The one place where UCF could have trouble is if Arnold Ebiketie and William Kwenkeu can cause pressure on Gabriel.

Even so, Temple is 99th in rushing defense, so it’s pick your poison Saturday for the Owls.

When Temple Has the Ball

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Temple’s strength is in the running game, but that took a hit at the beginning of the month when Re’Mahn Davis, their leading rusher, suddenly opted out and entered the transfer portal, leaving the rushing burden to Tayvon Ruley.

Under center, Anthony Russo is back after suffering some injury issues earlier this season. He threw for 199 last year against UCF’s relentless pressure after posting 444 yards and 4 TDs in his last trip to the Bounce House in 2018.

Predictions

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