It’s been a painfully long time since the Temple Owls defeated Penn State in football.
Just how long? The last time Temple beat the Nittany Lions, Franklin Roosevelt was in the middle of third term as U.S. president, Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was still two months away, Citizen Kane had just been released and a 14-year-old Joe Paterno had recently enrolled at Brooklyn Prepatory School.
The date was October 18, 1941. The Owls posted a 14-0 shutout against Penn State before 25,000 fans at Temple Stadium in Philadelphia. It was the Owls’ third win in four meetings against their in-state foe, but little did they know that it would end up being Temple’s last victory against the Nittany Lions.
Since that day, it’s been complete domination in this series by Penn State. In the 39 meetings between these two teams since 1941, the best result Temple has been able to muster up was a 7-7 tie in 1950.
But is this the year that the Owls finally pull off the upset and end their 74-year drought? With a defense like Temple’s, it’s certainly within the realm of possibility.
Just last year, the Owls looked like they might be on the verge of ending their drought against the Nittany Lions. The two teams sat deadlocked at 6-6 well into the third quarter, but touchdowns runs by Akeel Lynch and Bill Belton gave Penn State a 20-6 lead.
On the first play of the ensuing Temple possession, P.J. Walker connected with Jalen Fitzpatrick to pull the Owls within seven. However, the Nittany Lions would tack on another two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to give them a 30-13 victory.
Now, Temple will look for some major redemption when it welcomes its cross-state into Lincoln Financial Field, which will be sold out for just the second time in its 12 years as the Owls’ home. Of course, that means there’ll probably be more than a handful of Penn State fans who make the voyage from Happy Valley to Philadelphia, but it’ll be an electric atmosphere nonetheless.
Temple head coach Matt Rhule, a former Penn State linebacker, has tried to downplay the significance of what a win would mean for his program.
“You can’t put too much on one [game],” Rhule told media members. “It’s not the name, it’s how good of a team they are.”
His team will be getting a tough test against a heck of a squad, one that boasts a quarterback, Christian Hackenberg, who could be among the country’s best signal callers by the end of the season. It’ll likely to come down to how well the stout Owl defense can limit Penn State’s offense. They’ll need to both keep Hackenberg check and avoid being pummeled on the ground like they were when these two teams met last year (Penn State ran for a season-high 254 yards, while Temple had just 248 yards of total offense).
If the Owls’ defense can rise to the occasion, then they just might pull off the upset. And despite what Rhule has said, there’s no doubting what the significance of a win over Penn State would mean for Temple football.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
