North Carolina, Temple meet for 1st time in Military Bowl

Published

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Military Bowl: North Carolina (6-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) vs Temple (8-4, 5-3 American Athletic Conference), Friday at noon EST (ESPN).

Line: North Carolina by by 4 1/2.

Series Record: First meeting.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

North Carolina seeks to complete a winning season with its first bowl victory since defeating Cincinnati in the 2013 Belk Bowl. Temple is making its fifth straight bowl appearance after losing three of the previous four.

KEY MATCHUP

Temple defense against North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell. The Owls allowed only 212.5 yards passing per game and had 39 sacks. Mitchell threw for 3,347 yards and 35 touchdowns, most by a true freshman in FBS history.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

North Carolina: LB Chazz Surratt, who played QB last year, had 110 tackles, six sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Temple: DE Quincy Roche, the AAC defensive player of the year, had 13 sacks -- including 10 over the final four games. Roche ranked second in the FBS with 63 quarterback pressures.

FACTS & FIGURES

UNC coach Mack Brown took the Tar Heels to their first bowl since 2016 in his first year back with the program. He coached NC previously 1988-97. ... Temple coach Rod Carey enjoyed a fine regular season in his debut with the Owls after coaching previously at Northern Illinois. ... Tar Heels became bowl eligible by beating Mercer and North Carolina State in final two games. ... Temple only team to beat Memphis this season. ... Owls won three of last four after allowing combined 108 points in successive losses to SMU and Central Florida. ... Both teams have common opponent in Georgia Tech. UNC won 38-22, and Temple prevailed 24-2.

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