Coming off of a deflating 43-36 loss at Houston last Saturday, Temple returns to Lincoln Financial Field for its last two games to conclude the 2022 season, starting Saturday against No. 25 Cincinnati. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

Temple leads the all-time series 13-9, but the Bearcats have won the last two matchups, including a 52-3 rout of the Owls last year in Cincinnati. Temple’s last win was a 24-17 overtime victory in 2018 at Lincoln Financial Field. Current Eagles linebacker Shaun Bradley sealed the win for the Owls by picking off current Atlanta Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder. The two programs have split four games at the Linc.

Cincinnati is 8-2 and 5-1 in the American Athletic Conference. The Bearcats’ nonconference wins came against Kennesaw State, Miami of Ohio and Indiana, and their lone nonconference loss came at Arkansas in week one. In the AAC, Cincinnati has beaten Tulsa, USF, SMU, Navy and ECU. Its lone AAC loss came at the hands of No. 17 UCF three weeks ago. The Bearcats are currently in a three-way tie at the top of the conference with UCF and Tulane.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE

The Bearcats rank third overall in the conference in scoring defense, having allowed just 21.4 points per game. They have seven interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Cincinnati is tied with Temple for the most sacks in the American with 32, led by one of the best defensive players in the nation in middle linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., who leads the conference with 104 tackles and nine sacks on the season. Temple head coach Stan Drayton said Monday that Pace is the best linebacker Temple will see this season, and it would be hard to argue with him.

E.J. Warner has continued to progress, and the true freshman quarterback is coming off the best game of his young career after completing 42 of 59 passes for 486 yards and three touchdowns last week at Houston to earn a spot on the AAC honor roll. The Bearcats only allow 191 passing yards per game and have given up the second-fewest passing touchdowns in the league (13), so this will be a tough test for Warner.

While Edward Saydee couldn’t duplicate what he did against USF (334 total yards, 3 touchdowns) against Houston, the redshirt-sophomore running back continues to be versatile in the passing game, with 16 catches for 184 yards over the last three games. With how good Cincinnati is against the pass, look for Saydee as a check-down option again for Warner. Cincinnati has allowed 144 rushing yards per game and 3.3 yards per carry, which makes it a middle-of-the-pack team in the league in terms of defending the run, but Saydee hasn’t yet been able to sustain two good consecutive games, so Saturday will be another test for him.

Warner has been spreading the ball around over the last two weeks, and that has led to Jose Barbon having two consecutive 100-yard games and more involvement from Amad Anderson Jr. and Zae Baines as Adonicas Sanders works his way back to form following a knee sprain. With a solid Cincinnati secondary led by cornerback Arquon Bush (29 tackles and two interceptions) and safety Ja’von Hicks (49 tackles, two interceptions, one return touchdown), they will need to be sharp to continue their recent success.

After weeks of the tight ends not being factors in the passing game, both David Martin-Robinson and Jordan Smith were valuable receivers for Warner in Houston. Smith had five catches for 53 yards, while Martin-Robinson had 10 catches for 114 yards with a touchdown. Warner taking what the defense is giving him has led to both Smith and Martin-Robinson being featured in the offense. It does seem like this is a recipe for success if both Owls tight ends continue to be factors on offense.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE

Cincinnati has the sixth-best scoring offense in the AAC by averaging just over 32 points per game. And although the Bearcats have the second-worst rushing offense in the league at 127.4 yards per game, they’re still averaging nearly 37 yards more per game on the ground than Temple. The Bearcats still have a pretty good running back in Charles McClelland, who ranks fifth in the conference in rushing with 766 yards and six touchdowns, and they have the fifth-leading receiver in the AAC with Tyler Scott, who has 826 yards and nine touchdowns.

With Desmond Ridder off to the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati is led under center by Ben Bryant, who spent three years with the Bearcats, transferred to play at Eastern Michigan last season and then returned to Cincinnati this season, where he has thrown for 2,602 yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Bryant is more of a pocket quarterback, and the Bearcats have allowed 25 sacks this season, so Temple will once again need to make collapsing the pocket a priority on Saturday. Darian Varner took the team lead last week and now has 7.5 sacks on the season.

Facing an explosive receiver in Houston’s Nathaniel Dell last week, Temple defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot employed a game plan that involved playing soft coverage that didn’t allow Dell to make explosive plays. He certainly got his touches (12 catches, 98 yards and a touchdown), but Temple avoided the big-time plays he usually makes. The secondary played a solid game until the last 44-yard touchdown pass from Clayton Tune to Matthew Golden on a busted coverage. Things don’t get much easier this week, as the Owls will have to contend with Scott, as well as a solid second option in Tre Tucker, who has 40 catches for 598 yards and a pair of touchdown catches.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON SPECIAL TEAMS

Camden Price made his only field goal of the day last week to take him to 11 of 12 on the season, but he did miss his first extra point of the season, which at the time kept Temple at a one-point deficit instead of a tie game, and that became the difference between needing a touchdown and a field goal for the offense later in the game.

Temple also ran a successful fake field goal with holder and punter Mackenzie Morgan scoring a touchdown.

In kick coverage, Temple will have to keep its eye on Cincinnati’s Jadon Thompson if he’s returning kicks Saturday. He took one back for a touchdown against USF earlier this season.

KEY MATCHUPS

Charles McClelland vs. Temple’s front seven

McClelland is one of the better running backs in the AAC, and this is an element of the defensive game script that Temple needs to win or limit in this game. While Bryant is an effective starting quarterback, he isn’t as dynamic as former starter Ridder. The Owls need to win the line of scrimmage on defense or match the Bearcats’ physicality to be competitive in this game.

E.J. Warner vs. Cincinnati’s secondary

This will be the toughest task for Warner to stay as efficient as he has the previous two games. While the Bearcats lost Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner to the NFL, they still have a solid secondary that will test the true freshman, even more so if Temple can’t run the ball again. Warner has completed nearly 73 percent of his passes with no interceptions in the last two games.

Cornerbacks Ja’quan Sheppard, Bush and Taj Ward have the ability to stay with Barbon, Sanders, Baines and Anderson. Bush is tied for the team lead with two interceptions, while Ward has one, and Hicks is a playmaker at safety with two interceptions. Warner’s recent approach of taking what the defense gives him will be especially important against a secondary that can force turnovers.