No. 24 Temple (10-3) takes on Wake Forest (6-6) in the ninth edition of the Military Bowl. While the game hasn't been around very long, this will not be either team's first time playing in the game.
Wake Forest was actually the first Military Bowl champion (though it was then known as the EagleBank Bowl), beating Navy 29-19 in the inaugural 2008 game. Temple played in the game the following season, losing to UCLA 30-21.
This will be the second ever meeting between these two schools, but the last one took place in 1930. Temple won that game 36-0, so you know Wake Forest is out for revenge.
Viewing information
Date: Tue. Dec. 27
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium -- Annapolis, Maryland
TV: ESPN
Live streams: WatchESPN / WatchESPN apps
Storylines
Temple: This will be Temple's second straight game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, as the last we saw the Owls they were beating Navy 34-10 in the American Athletic Conference title game. The difference is that the Owls were coached by Matt Rhule in that game, but Rhule has since left to take over at Baylor. The Owls will be coached by Ed Foley in this game, who has been at Temple since Steve Addazio was in charge, and a win over the Demon Deacons would give Temple its first 11-win season in program history.
Wake Forest: First things first for Wake Forest, it needs to keep any members of its radio team from giving Temple its entire playbook before the game. Should it be able to keep that from happening, that's already a major step forward for the Deacons this season. Elsewhere, the Deacons will be looking for their first bowl win since that 2008 EagleBank Bowl win over Navy. A win would also leave the Deacons with a 7-6 record, which would be the first time they finished a year with a winning record since 2008 as well.
Players to watch
Temple: Philip Walker and Jahad Thomas will be playing in their final games for Temple, and the quarterback-running back duo has been very important to this program's recent success. Walker has thrown for 10,273 yards and 72 touchdowns in his career -- both are school records. Thomas has rushed for 2,564 yards in his career and needs 72 yards in this game to reach 1,000 yards for the second straight season. Ryquell Armstead has split the load with Thomas out of the backfield this year, and he's rushed for 918 yards and 14 touchdowns himself, so it's a potent backfield.
On defense, the Owls are led by defensive lineman Haason Reddick, who has 9.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss. Only Houston's Ed Oliver had more tackles for loss in the country this season.
Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons do not have a potent offense. Quarterback John Wolford has thrown for only 1,591 yards and seven touchdowns (with nine interceptions), though he's also rushed for 523 yards and six more scores. Matt Colburn leads the team in rushing with 566 yards, but fullback Cade Carney is used more than a lot of fullbacks these days, finishing with 518 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensively is where this team shines. Linebacker Marquel Lee (98 tackles) and safety Jessie Bates (93 tackles) have been tackling machines. Lee makes tackles all over the field as well, as he also finished with 7.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. Defensive lineman Duke Ejiofor is a load in his own right, leading the team with 10 sacks.
Prediction
It's always an extra degree of difficulty to predicting a bowl game when one of the teams is playing under an interim coach, but even if Matt Rhule were still at Temple, I think Wake Forest's defense is strong enough to keep the Deacons within the 13.5-point spread. Plus, I expect this to be a lower-scoring affair, so when you can get nearly two touchdowns, it's hard to pass that up. Pick: Wake Forest +13.5