UAB's road skid meets Temple's home skid with a new quarterback

Two teams on losing runs meet at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday at 1:00 PM ET, and only one of those runs can survive. Temple has lost four straight games overall and four straight at home, while UAB has lost four straight on the road. The factors most likely to shape the game are whether Temple's offense steadies after a recent change at quarterback, and whether UAB's long run of low-scoring games continues.

Temple's trouble is the broader of the two. Beyond the four-game skids overall and at home, the Owls have lost seven straight in non-division, in-conference games at home, and they have failed to cover the spread in three straight games. Those runs describe what has happened rather than what comes next, but they show a team that has been short on the scoreboard and against the number.

Temple also changed passers between its last two games. Jaxon Smolik led the Owls with 26 pass attempts against Navy Midshipmen on November 7, after Ajani Sheppard led them with 20 attempts against East Carolina Pirates on October 31. Smolik has led the team in pass attempts in only 1 of its last 3 games, so his body of work as the primary passer is small. Keveun Mason has 27 carries over the last 3 games as the top back, and Colin Chase has 12 receptions as the top wideout.

UAB brings more continuity at quarterback. Ryder Burton has led the Blazers in pass attempts in each of their last 3 games, including 29 attempts against Charlotte 49ers on November 7. The backfield is shared: Bam McReynolds and Rod Robinson II each have 29 carries over the last 3 games. CJ Smith has 12 receptions and EJ Reid has 11 over that span, so the passing targets are split fairly evenly between two receivers.

The most notable pattern is on the total. UAB has gone under in 8 straight games overall and 3 straight on the road. That points toward lower scoring, though a streak is a description of past games, not a forecast. Temple's quarterback change adds uncertainty about how its offense will operate, which could push scoring in either direction. The forecast is 44°F with a 6 mph wind from the northwest and partial cloud, light enough that weather is unlikely to be a major factor.

UAB and Temple have not met in the last 400 days, so there is no recent head-to-head to anchor the picture. What remains is a collision of streaks that conflict: Temple's home losing runs and spread failures point against the Owls, while UAB's four straight road losses point against the Blazers. The under streak is the one pattern with a clear direction, and it comes from a single team. Beyond that, the evidence is thin and fairly balanced, with the Temple quarterback situation the main source of uncertainty.