It’s all about the University of Cincinnati football team.
Cincinnati, re-entry college football playoff rankings No. 25 on Tuesday night and tied at three in the USAAF standings. The Bearcats (8-2, 5-1 AAC) are tied with Central Florida (8-2, 5-1) and Tulane (8-2, 5-1).
UCF (No. 20 CFP) is in a league of its own, beating Cincinnati and the Green Wave (No. 21 CFP) in the tiebreaker over the past three weeks.
Cincinnati Bearcats Football:UC narrowly beats ECU, continues hunt for 3rd straight AAC title
If Cincinnati wins its final two regular-season games, it will earn a berth in the AAC Championship Game for the fourth straight season.
If the two-time defending AAC champion Bearcats go on to win their third straight AAC title, they will play in the Cotton Bowl, part of this season’s New Year’s Six bowl lineup. The game will be played Jan. 2 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where the Bearcats lost to No. 1 Alabama in last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal.
But none of that will matter if Cincinnati doesn’t win at Temple on Saturday (4 p.m. ESPNU).
“The scary thing about them is they played their best ball in November, and that’s something we’re proud of,” said Bearcats senior wide receiver and captain Tre Tucker.
Cincinnati has been 3-8 when Temple hosts Cincinnati. The Bearcats last visited Philadelphia on Oct. 20, 2018, in a 17-24 overtime loss to the Hooters. Tucker was a senior at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in northeastern Ohio at the time.
“I know Temple has been a problem for us,” he said. “Even before I came here. I remember my senior year,[the Bearcats]were undefeated, and they went out there to play Temple on the road and they lost. That was one of their only losses that year outside of UCF. Temple is always a tough place to play, they’re always a tough team. So, I think everyone will be on high alert. Obviously, we know what we’re going to get next week (November 25 at Nippert Stadium No. 21 Tulane University), but this week is just as important just because of the way they play and who they are. So everyone is going to make sure they focus and have a good practice week.”
Our first glimpse of a temple owl
Record: The Owls are 3-7 on the season (1-5 AAC), and their only conference win came at home against South Florida on Nov. 5 (1-9, 0-6). Temple beat the Bulls 54-28.
Temple’s other two wins were also at home against FCS Lafayette (3-7) and Independent Massachusetts State (1-9). Owls have a touchdown loss (43-36) at Houston (6-4, 4-2) last week and a single-game loss (27-20) at Navy (3-7, 3-4) on Oct. 29 .
head coach: Stan Drayton is in his first season at Temple and his first as a head coach. The Owls hired the 51-year-old Cleveland native in December 2021 after Drayton spent four years at Texas as an associate head coach, running backs coach and running game coordinator.
Drayton previously coached running backs for the Chicago Bears (2015-16), Tennessee (2008) and Florida (2005-07 and 2010). Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickel and Drayton both worked at Ohio State from 2011-14.
key person; main force; important member: Temple quarterback EJ Warner led the nation with 830 yards in November. The 6-foot, 190-pound freshman is one of only six quarterbacks this month to have multiple games for 300 yards.
Warner, who turned 19 on Nov. 3, passed PJ Walker (2,084) for the most freshman passing yards in school history. Warner had 2,334 yards in the air with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Warner has completed nearly 59 percent of his passes (202 on 344 passes).
Warner’s primary target is wide receiver Jose Papen. The 6-foot, 185-pound grad leads the Owls in receiving yards (54) and receiving yards (727). Barbon’s five games with more than 100 receiving yards are the most in a single season in program history.
Second-year running back Edward Saydee led Temple’s rushing offense this season with 126 carries for 575 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensively, the Owls rank second in the AAC in passing yards allowed (181.2) and lead the league in tackles for turnovers (79) and sacks (32, tied with Cincinnati). Temple has the No. 1 opponent conversion rate in the AAC (34.5 percent).
The Owls were led by linebacker Layton Jordan. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound teenager had 45 tackles (32 solo), 15 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, two An interception and a goal recovery.
Series History: Cincinnati has been 9-13-1 against Temple, including its last two wins. The Bearcats beat the Owls 52-3 at Nippert Stadium last season. Cincinnati beat Temple 2-2 under Fickell.
Fun fact: Saturday’s win would give Cincinnati its fifth straight season with nine wins, a feat never achieved in the program’s 135-year history.
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