Week 3: Temple vs Rutgers 9/17/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Temple Owls and Rutgers Scarlet Knights do battle Saturday afternoon in week 3 college football action at Lincoln Financial Field. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights look for back-to-back 3-0 starts to the season. The Temple Owls look to get a game above a .500 record. 

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have won 4 of their last 7 road games. Evan Simon is completing 72 percent of his passes for 219 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Aron Cruickshank and Joshua Youngblood have combined for 139 receiving yards and 1 touchdown, while Isaiah Washington has 1 reception. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights ground game is averaging 262.5 yards per contest, and Al-Shadee Salaam leads the way with 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. Defensively, Rutgers is allowing 14 points and 231.5 yards per game. Christian Izien leads the Rutgers Scarlet Knights with 11 tackles, Wesley Bailey has 2.5 sacks and Robert Longerbeam has 2 interceptions.

The Temple Owls have lost 4 of their last 7 home games. E.J. Warner is completing 73.7 percent of his passes for 173 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Jose Bardon and Adonicas Sanders have combined for 208 receiving yards on 18 catches, while Amad Anderson Jr. has 4 receptions. The Temple Owls ground game is averaging 105.5 yards per contest, and Edward Saydee leads the way with 71 yards and 1 touchdown. Defensively, Temple is allowing 22 points and 305 yards per game. Jordan Magee leads the Temple Owls with 16 tackles, Layton Jordan has 2.5 sacks and Dominick Hill has 2 pass deflections.

The Scarlet Knights are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 road games and 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games in September. The Owls are 2-9 ATS in their last 11 home games and 5-17 ATS in their last 22 games overall. The under is 7-3 in Scarlet Knights last 10 games overall. The over is 4-1 in Owls last 5 home games. The road team is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings.

The Temple Owls haven’t shown us anything through 2 games as beating Lafetytte doesn’t move the needle, and they got shut out by Duke. I’ve been saying for a couple of years now that the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are a program that’s on the rise as the recruiting has gotten better, and they’ve become more competitive. Rutgers going into BC and winning should have turned some heads. Rutgers has also been covering machines lately, while Temple can’t cover anything. Thick number for a road team, but oddsmakers are telling you how bad Temple is. I’ll lay the points with the Scarlet Knights.