Nittany Lions Look to Secure Bowl Eligibility With Win Over Temple
After winning their first game since September, Penn State (5-4, 2-4 B1G) will look to make it two in a row when they host the Temple Owls (5-4, 3-3 American Athletic) at noon in Happy Valley Saturday.
Penn State beat Indiana in what was a less than stellar performance, but the 13-7 victory snapped a four game losing streak. This week they face a team who beat previously ranked East Carolina two weeks ago, but then lost to a mediocre Memphis team last week. Needless to say, they have been about as up and down as Penn State, if the past two weeks have been any indication.
Penn State only needs one more win before they are bowl eligible for the first time since the NCAA imposed sanctions against the university in July of 2012. With that in mind, Happy Valley will be bubbling in anticipation.
Penn State’s offense, which has been anemic at best this season, will face a stiff test when they go up against the 10th ranked Owls’ defense that is one of the best in the nation at forcing turnovers. They have forced 25 takeaways on the season (8 interceptions and 17 fumbles) and have also scored six defensive touchdowns.
"Watching them on film, they do all the things that we preach all the time as well, which is playing hard and running to the ball," coach James Franklin said at his weekly presser Tuesday. "When you have an opportunity to be aggressive and make a play on the ball in the air, go after the ball. When you're making a tackle, secure the tackle first, and then the next two or three guys coming in strip the ball out.”
Penn State is no stranger to good defense, as they boast the best rush defense in the nation as well as ranking third in total defense. Against Indiana they held one of the best running backs in the nation, Tevin Coleman, to under 100 yards for the first time all season. They also held Indiana to 68 yards through the air and forced two interceptions. One of the keys for the Nittany Lions in sustaining such a good run stopping defense is the fact that they can rotate two full units up front, both capable of stopping the run.
"You look at the fact we’re two deep on the defensive line, I think you could make the argument it's one of the better [defensive lines] in the Big Ten in terms of a two deep," said Franklin. "Having two deep at defensive line and rotating those guys and keeping them fresh and active has been really helpful."
Since the two defenses are fairly even, this matchup will come down to who can be more efficient on offense. Once again, both teams are similar in this regard as they struggle on offense. Bill Belton had Penn State’s first 100-yard rushing game of the season against Indiana. His performance included a 92-yard touchdown run, the longest in Penn State history.
Still, other than that big run, the ground attack was very similar to the one Penn State fans have seen all season. Christian Hackenberg has also continued to regress in his sophomore campaign. He only threw for 168 yards and two interceptions against an Indiana team that was giving up more than 30 points per game.
On the other side of the ball, Temple also has a sophomore under center. P.J. Walker has been similarly inconsistent this season, throwing for 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He is more of a threat on his feet than Hackenberg, but Temple prefers not to use him in the ground game if they don’t have to.
"You look at their play makers, P.J. Walker, their quarterback is the guy that kind of stands out to you. He can make plays with his feet as well as his arm,” said Franklin.
Since it is Military Appreciation Day, Penn State took part in the "Seats for Soldiers" campaign once again. Penn State fans donated more than 6,000 tickets to active-duty and veteran military personnel, along with their families.
ComRadio has complete coverage of Penn State’s in-state clash with the Temple Owls starting at 9 a.m. with the Tailgate Show from outside the All-Sports Museum.
(Photo Credit: AP Photo/PennLive.com, Joe Hermitt)
Jack Milewski is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jbm250@psu.edu.
