Temple at Duke 9/2/22 - College Football Picks & Predictions

The Temple Owls visit Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina on Friday to play the Duke Blue Devils. Temple was 3-9 overall and 1-7 in the American Athletic Conference last season. Stan Drayton will start his first head coaching job in college this season for the Owls. D’Wan Mathis is the leading candidate to start at quarterback for Temple. Last season Mathis threw for 1,223 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions. 

The leading rusher returning from last season is Edward Haydee, who gained 330 yards with three touchdowns. Texas A&M transfer Darvon Hubbard will also see plenty of action as will Jakari Norwood, a transfer from Illinois. The receiving corps is the strength of Temple's offense and is led by Jose Barbon, who last season caught 39 passes for 431 yards with a pair of touchdowns. The Temple defense returns seven of 11 starters.

The Duke Blue Devils finished last season 3-9 overall and 0-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Riley Leonard is expected to be the starting quarterback for Duke but last season through for only 381 yards with one touchdown. Leonard has mobility and can be hard to bring down if he gets room to run. the lead running back this season will be Jordan Waters last season Rush Row in 197 yards as a backup.

The receiving Corps returns Jaylen Calhoun who last season led the Blue Devils with three touchdown receptions. Darrell Harding and Eli Pancol are two big targets that Leonard will look for often across the middle and on the sidelines.  Duke's defense was atrocious in 2021 allowing 40 points and 518 yards per game. The strength will be the linebacker corps led by Dorian Mausi and Shaka Heyward.