Back From Bye, Temple Ready For Stretch Run

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Temple Owls are back from their bye week and preparing for the home stretch of their regular season, which begins Saturday with a road game at Tulane.

Temple is 7-3 on the season with two games remaining and head coach Matt Rhule says his squad took advantage of the week off.

"The bye came at the right time," Rhule tells KYW Newsradio. "It was a chance for our guys to get recovered, to heal their bodies, to get themselves mentally fresh for these last two games. So as we come back and get ready for Tulane, I think we have a healthier team than we've had in quite some time."

Listen to the entire interview with Temple's Matt Rhule:

The Owls are 5-1 in the American Athletic Conference and tied for first in the East Division. The situation is pretty simple for Temple going forward. If they win their final two games, they will make their second straight appearance in the conference title game. Rhule talks about the approach with so much on the line.

"I think it's just being locked into each game as a playoff game, as a championship game, because it is," Rhule says. "If you lose, you're basically out. Anytime you're in a championship, playoff-type situation you can't think about what's ahead, you can't think about two weeks down the line, you better be really focused on each week."

Tulane is just 3-7 this season (0-6 in the AAC), but the Green Wave have played a lot of close games this season and Rhule says they'll be tough on Saturday.

"They can run the football," Rhule says. "They operate out of a spread triple-option. Historically, that's given us a little bit of trouble. Defensively, they are the (23rd)-ranked defense in the country. So when you have a team that can run the ball and play defense, usually that results in a lot of wins and they've been really, really close, they haven't just been able to put everything together. It's our job this week to make sure that they have to wait one more week before they put it all together."

Last season, these two teams met at the Linc, the Owls winning, 49-10.

Saturday's game down in New Orleans starts at 3:30pm.