Boston College @ Temple – Offense Preview

BC’s opponents slowly get better

The Boston College defense will try to get its legs back under itself after an oddly mediocre performance against a bad UMass offense last week that started a freshman QB. Temple’s offense has been very hit-or-miss, with their only success coming against one of the FBS’s worst defenses, so there could be an opportunity here for the Eagles to rebound. But if Temple’s good fortune and BC’s bad fortune continues into this week, look out for an upset.

Quarterbacks

Temple’s starting QB is D’Wan Mathis, a 4-star recruit who transferred from Georgia in the offseason, but he got hurt at the end of week 1 against Rutgers and is still day-to-day.

He had a pretty poor game against Rutgers, going 8/24 passing for 148 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT, and 3 sacks. He also rushed 9 times for 6 yards total, including a 3-yard TD. If Mathis indeed comes back to play, he may be vulnerable as he comes back from an injury and a game in which he greatly struggled to get anything going offensively.

Temple’s back-up QB is freshman Justin Lynch, who had a much easier time in his full game against Akron last week. Lynch went 19/23 passing for 245 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, and 0 sacks. He also rushed 6 times for 34 yards and a TD.

It should be noted Akron’s defense was one of the absolute worst in the FBS last season, while Rutgers found itself closer to the middle of the pack, so these samples are skewed. Based on what we saw against UMass, BC’s defense is probably worse than Rutgers, so the Eagles could be in for some trouble if Lynch is back in and puts up another impressive performance. Both of these quarterbacks are mobile, too, which could spell disaster for BC’s struggling DL & LB group.

Running backs

Over 2 games, Edward Saydee has been the leading rusher for the Owls, putting up 81 yards and a TD in 21 attempts. There has also been a fair chunk of yards shared by RBs Tayvon Ruley, Ra’Von Bonner, and Kyle Dobbins. It’s a versatile group, but one that isn’t all that skilled and has struggled to find a leader after the departure of Re’Man Davis in the offseason. Expect most of the dangerous rushing to be coming from the QBs, as this RB group is still trying to find what works consistently.

Receivers

Temple’s WR1 is senior Randle Jones, who has caught 8 balls on the season for 208 yards, which included a huge 70-yard TD reception against Akron in the first quarter. The Owls also bring some other experienced receivers, like WRs Jose Barbon, Jadan Blue, and Jordan Smith and TE David Martin-Robinson. It’s a group with a decent amount of experience, but they’ve produced so little in years past for Temple, so we can’t really say we expect a big jump up until we actually see it. Is experience worth much when it’s mostly bad experience?

This Temple offense could be dangerous if the great QB play carries over from their game against Akron, but that’s a tall order for either a freshman QB or another one coming off a leg injury. Either way, expect the Owls to be more challenging an opponent than UMass, which is concerning based on how the BC D played against the Minutemen.