Temple Owls at Connecticut Huskies: Preview, prediction, TV info

Good friends Paul Pasqualoni of UConn and Steve Addazio of Temple will put their friendship aside on Saturday afternoon as their teams square off in East Hartford. Temple looks to remain undefeated in conference play; UConn looks for its first Big East win.

Temple RB Matt Brown scores on a 15-yard run in last week's win over USF. Brown will be counted on heavily against a stout UConn run defense. (US Presswire)

Temple (2-2, 1-0 Big East) at Connecticut (3-3, 0-1 Big East)

Kickoff: Saturday, 1:00 p.m. ET (ESPN 3)

Spread: UConn by 5.5

Watchability: Medium. Both teams need every win they can get in order to become bowl eligible. There’s a possibility the Big East might only send three teams to bowl games; Temple and UConn could be in the mix for the fourth spot. The coaching staffs are extremely familiar with each other. Temple coach Steve Addazio’s first coaching position came under UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni at Western Connecticut State (1985-1987). The two were joined by Temple TE coach Frank Leonard, who spent the 1987 season as the Colonials’ offensive coordinator. Addazio also served on Pasqualoni’s staff at Syracuse (1995-1997) where he coached the offensive line and tight ends. Expect a tight, low-scoring game highlighted by hard hitting and ball control.

Shining stars: Temple: RB Montel Harris. The reigning Big East Offensive Player of the Week is coming off his best game in his short Owls’ career. Harris rushed for 133 yards last week vs. South Florida and clinched the win with a 35-yard touchdown. Pasqualoni describes Harris as a tough, powerful downhill runner. The Boston College transfer forms an explosive 1-2 duo with fellow senior Matt Brown. Unlike Harris, Brown is more of a threat on the perimeter. UConn: LBs Yawin Smallwood and Sio Moore. Both are off to stellar seasons and could eventually be playing for a long time on Sundays. The linebackers will be facing a quarterback in Chris Coyer who has a lot of Tim Tebow in him. It is likely that either Smallwood or Moore will assume a spying role on Coyer to prevent him from sneaking out of the backfield on read-options. Smallwood already has 11.0 TFLs, while Moore is close behind with 7.5.

Who could steal the show: Temple: Coyer. The junior quarterback is a threat to run the ball on nearly every offensive snap. Addazio has strived to become more balanced by having Coyer drop back more often. Coyer threw for a career-high 178 yards in a Week 2 loss against Maryland, despite battling a 101-degree fever. In a 24-13 loss last month to Penn State, Coyer attempted a career-high 26 attempts while adding 64 yards on the ground. UConn: QB Chandler Whitmer. The sophomore quarterback has had an up and down season. He appeared to show signs of breaking out with a 333-yard, 3 touchdown performance against Western Michigan. Since then, Whitmer has four interceptions and has completed just 53.7 percent of his attempts. Whitmer doesn’t appear on the same page with sophomore WR Shakim Phillips.

You going? Ranking the road trip: It should be a festive atmosphere for homecoming weekend if expected clouds in the East Hartford area can pass. If not, the temperatures could be cool and might not hit the low 50s.

Magic number for Temple: 2.46. In two losses this season, the Owls have rushed for only 165 yards on 67 carries (2.46 yards per carry). In two wins, Temple has rushed for 517 on 5.27 yards per carry. The Owls’ run average must be closer to the latter if they hope to leave Rentschler Field with a win.

Magic number for UConn: 74.2. The Huskies allowed just 74.2 rushing yards per game until they surrendered 117 to Rutgers RB Jawan Jamison last week. The slip up is understandable considering Jamison has emerged as one of the top backs in the nation. UConn will look to keep Harris and Brown under the century mark.

The game comes down to: The run. Temple can’t get discouraged early if the Huskies’ stifling run defense contains Harris & Company. On the other side, there were high expectations placed on UConn RB Lyle McCombs coming into the season but he has largely underperformed. McCombs has just one 100-yard game through six contests. Last week, McCombs had 32 yards on 12 carries. McCombs wore a soft cast on his left hand in Tuesday’s practice, the Hartford Courant reported. If McCombs is sidelined he’ll likely be replaced by Martin Hyppolite. The junior is averaging 4.2 yards per carry.

Prediction: Temple 20, UConn 16.

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the Big East, follow bloggers Evan Hilbert and Matt Rybaltowski @CBSBigEast.