Penn State celebrated an expected opening-week win before getting back to work as the 16th-ranked Nittany Lions hit the road for the first time Saturday afternoon when they take on Temple in Philadelphia.
In its season opener, Penn State (1-0) outgained Marshall 487-147 and waltzed to a 45-0 victory. Rocco Becht passed for 271 yards and four touchdowns to help Matt Campbell earn a win in his Nittany Lions coaching debut.
Koby Howard was another standout for Penn State with six catches for 161 yards and a touchdown.
“I feel like (the season opener) was just a test, but you know it really doesn’t stop here,” Howard said. “I’ve just got to keep proving myself and keep showing the coaches that they can trust me, so that when those big moments come, they’re ready to call my number.”
Defense dazzled with the Nittany Lions limiting the Thundering Herd to 1-for-11 third-down conversions and 1.7 yards per carry.
“It’s game one,” cautioned Penn State defensive end Caleb Bacon, who had five tackles and a sack. “We’ve got a game next week. You can’t let your highs get too high. You can’t let your lows get too low.”
The Nittany Lions, among other goals, would prefer to have a more consistent rushing attack against the Owls. Penn State managed just 3.6 yards per run against Marshall, and none of the team’s 45 rushing attempts went for more than 16 yards.
Penn State only committed four penalties and did not have a turnover.
“If there is one mantra, we would like to be, we’d like to be tough, we’d like to be disciplined and we’d like to be together as a football program,” Campbell said. “I think you want to turn the videotape on and you want to be able to see that. When you see it, you’re able to recognize positivity.”
Temple (1-0), meanwhile, saw plenty of positives in its season-opening tape. The Owls trounced Rhode Island 38-14 last weekend with Keveun Mason (158 rushing yards, two TDs) doing much of the heavy lifting. A pair of pick-sixes were icing on the cake.
On a less exciting note, the Owls’ quarterbacks – Ajani Sheppard and Jaxon Smolik – combined to go just 9-of-16 for 142 yards with a TD.
“It’s an ongoing competition,” Owls coach K.C. Keeler said. “…Ideally, we’d prefer to not play two equally, but we won’t live by any creed. If we play them both 50-50, I’m good with that. If we play one and it’s a package for the other, I’m good with that. We’ll do what we need to do to help the team win.”
This is the first meeting between the teams since 2016. The last matchup on Temple’s home field was in 2015, when the Owls upset the Nittany Lions, 27-10, to earn their first win in the series since 1941.
“This is an opportunity to have a great moment,” Keeler said. “Every day we walk past that iconic picture of the Temple-Penn State game in 2015, so we’ll lean into that. … It sounds like it’s going to be a great atmosphere there. Let’s enjoy it for about 15-20 seconds, and then let’s worry about playing the football game.”
–Field Level Media
