Welcome to Week 6 of the college football season. Last week brought two huge upsets as Oregon and Florida fell to unranked conference foes. We could have another major contender fall this week as Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Georgia, Penn State, and Iowa have looming matchups that could change the landscape of the nation.
Cincinnati is an especially interesting domino as they fight for legitimacy. Their huge win against Notre Dame has them set to run the table and make a playoff push. But Temple is a quality foe and has pulled big upsets over better teams over the last decade.
Both teams have an interesting betting profile for us to consider as we preview how they stack up.
We have you covered from every angle of this matchup. Let’s dig in.
Friday, October 08, 2021 – 07:00 PM EDT at Nippert Stadium
Here is a look at the Week 6 betting odds between Temple and Cincinnati odds courtesy of BetOnline.
Here’s a look at the preview between Temple and Cincinnati for Week 6.
No one should confuse the Cincinnati offense as especially efficient or dominant. They rank 17th in scoring, but only 41st in passing yards and 84th in rushing yards. Quarterback Desmond Ridder sometimes completes around 60% of his passes, and the run game often hovers around four yards per carry.
This unit does find chunk plays especially well, though. They’re 25th in yards per play, making up for the fact they’re 110th in time spent on the field. This adds up because their defense has been fantastic at creating advantageous field positions for the offense to capitalize on.
Playmakers Jerome Ford and Alex Pierce will be massive influences this week. The Temple defense is fourth in the nation at stopping the pass, so the Bearcats should embrace their powerful run game with Ridder and Ford to create opportunities. Getting too pass-heavy isn’t really in Cincinnati’s DNA anyways, but trap games are usually lost when a team loses their identity.
Temple isn’t overly great at anything on offense. They spend the 10th-most time on the field and grind outdrives with balance. Generally, that’s not a great sign for a team trying to box above their weight class since their baseline isn’t high and their identity lacks upside.
The question mark at quarterback is of course the looming issue. D’Wan Mathis is good enough to lead a good passing attack but his foot injury has left him week-to-week. Backup Justin Lynch has been more efficient but isn’t efficient when running and I think that hurts the offense more than helps despite presenting a run threat.
The running game has been largely ineffective. Cincinnati has stopped scoring drives well and is able to slow any offense to a good degree even if they’re not elite. Temple should keep their balance but has to be aggressive when passing to avoid three and outs.
Temple has only covered four of their last thirteen contests and won three of their last ten. They’ve covered their last five games against Cincinnati, though.
The Bearcats have covered four out of their five games. The under has hit thirteen of their last twenty.
Cincinnati will easily win, but this is a lot of points to lay after a big win. For my college football pick, I think Temple comes with their best shot and Cincinnati sleeps at the wheel a bit. I don’t want to touch this many points but do see an over.
NCAAF Pick: Over 52.5 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.