Coach Pete Lembo spent his week watching film of Temple, not Oklahoma, to prepare for Saturday's 2 p.m. kick off against Temple on Homecoming. But that hasn't stopped him from thinking that he might be preparing for another high-profile opponent.
Specifically, Lembo feels that the Owls' rushing attack belongs in an automatic-qualifying Bowl Championship Series conference.
"I think he's a guy if you put a South Florida uniform on him or you put an Oklahoma uniform on him, you would not know the difference between the guys we played on those teams and Bernard Pierce," Lembo said. "The [offensive line] averages around 315 and it's not a sloppy 315. This is what a BCS O-line should look like."
For now, Temple is not in a BCS conference, it is just another member of the Mid-American Conference. There are rumors that the Big East is interested in bringing the Owls back to the conference they played football in from 1991-2004. Temple has been a part of the MAC since 2007, but resurgence in football and the ever-changing landscape of conference realignment might bring Temple full circle.
Its future conference alignment notwithstanding, the Owls (3-2) have played like one of the best teams in the MAC so far this season. Temple routed Maryland 38-7 on the road and almost upset Penn State for the first time in 75 years.
The Owls have built their reputation around defense and Pierce, playing a physical form of football that former coach Al Golden said was meant to evoke images of Philadelphia's tough neighborhoods. With Pierce as the featured piece of the offense, Temple wants to play smash-mouth football.
Pierce has established himself as the MAC's best running back in the last three years and already has 571 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. He leads the conference in almost every rushing category and is second in the nation in rushing touchdowns.
Lembo said Ball State won't be able to stop Pierce and will instead focus on limiting the damage he creates.
"What you're trying to do is contain him and make sure a five- or six-yard run doesn't turn into a 15- or 16-yard run or a 40- or 50-yard run," Lembo said. "So you've got to do a great job tackling."
Temple is holding opponents to 13.4 points per game, and in its three wins, that drops to 5.67 points per game.
"When you look at Temple, it starts with their defense," Lembo said.
Offensively, Ball State is trying to recover from scoring just six points a week ago at Oklahoma. While the task will surely be easier today, Lembo called the Owls' defense one of the best the Cardinals will face this year.
Senior wide receiver Tori Gibson said the Cardinals are still confident in themselves, despite last week's big loss.
"We feel good about ourselves," he said. "We have a lot of confidence especially coming from Oklahoma, holding them down to 10 points in the second quarter and that's the No. 1 team.
"We've got a lot of confidence coming from that game."
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