×

Once-lowly Temple savors historic victory

PHILADELPHIA – Impressive upstart victories aren’t overly rare for coach Matt Rhule’s Temple football team.

But victories over Penn State, however, are the rarest of wins.

For the first time since Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office, the Owls have defeated the Nittany Lions. For Penn State fans, Saturday’s historical match wasn’t a pretty one.

The rivalry between Temple and Penn State is obvious geographically, but the on-field competition has been sub-par for generations. The Lions’ 47-0 beatdown of the Owls in 2006 was one of the more lopsided games in Happy Valley history.

For 74 years, Penn State owned Temple in what more closely resembled a school-bully beatdown than a fierce rivalry. But a change of philosophy is all it took to flip history.

“The reason why I believe that we won, besides having good players that do what we ask, is because we focused on ourselves and not Penn State,” Rhule said after the game. “We didn’t play Penn State music, we didn’t have the scout team wear blue jerseys. We just focused on us, and the players bought into that.”

For Rhule, the win is personal as well as historical.

Born and raised in State College, Rhule walked on to the Penn State football team and enjoyed four years of success from 1994-1997.

However, Rhule tried to downplay any personal significance after the game, trying to focus more on his team’s performance.

“After last year when we lost the game (to Penn State), my family was all still living in State College and I went to the church right by my house,” Rhule reflected. “And it hit me as I was thinking about the old U.S. Olympic hockey team that team lost 10-3 and then a few months later came back to win the gold. They figured out what they did wrong to beat them and then came back. We took our game from last year and said ‘if we want to win, we need to eliminate these things,’ and I think our kids bought into it. I’m just really happy for the kids. I’m so happy we won.”

For the Temple football program, a win of this magnitude could turn a lot of things around. Rhule joked during the postgame conference that he was planning on calling all of his recruits as soon as he got home.

Just two years removed from a dismal 2-10 season, the Owls barely missed a bowl invitation last year after going 6-6. The opportunity to pounce on an unsuspecting Nittany Lions squad was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.

Rhule admitted himself after the game that it didn’t look like the odds were in their favor after they fell behind 10-0 early in the game. Whether it was overconfidence from James Franklin’s squad or lack of motivation, the Owls were able to find gaps in Penn State’s game plan and executed.

“I’m really proud of our players, to think that we would be down 10-0 and it looked like it was going to go one way,” Rhule said. “It’s not just that we came back, but that there was no finger-pointing and we kept fighting and fighting and fighting. I’m also proud that they didn’t celebrate until the game was over.”

In retrospect, ‘game was over’ for the Nittany Lions after the first quarter ended. After racking up 126 yards of offense in the first period, the Lions only managed 57 yards for the entire rest of the game.

After protecting Hackenberg well enough to orchestrate two scoring drives in the first quarter, Rhule and Temple defensive coordinator Phil Snow recognized the protection ineptness of Penn State’s offensive line and capitalized for 10 sacks.

Pass-rushing pressure aside, Temple’s front seven had Christian Hackenberg’s number throughout the contest, which was made most evident by defensive lineman Sharif Finch’s interception in the second half.

Hackenberg, who has been touted as a future NFL first-round pick, displayed many of the same struggles that frustrated Penn State fans last season. His tendency to hold the ball for too long behind a shaky offensive line played right into Rhule’s gameplan. Rhule’s defensive staff also managed to hold DaeSean Hamilton, last year’s Big Ten leader in receptions, to just one catch.

Of Hackenberg’s 11 completions, zero went to tight ends, which also points to a succesful implementation of Rhule and Snow’s strategy. By sending more pass rushers, Franklin and PSU offensive coordinator John Donovan were forced to employ tight ends Mike Gesicki, Kyle Carter, and Brent Wilkerson as extra blockers.

Nine years removed from the 47-0 drubbing in Beaver Stadium and just two seasons after going 2-10, a win of this magnitude could boost Temple from football irrelevancy to the national attention they feel that they deserve. Rhule repeatedly said after the game that if they can’t build off this week’s performance, than it was all for not.

But there are few sweeter ways to jump out of the blocks to start a season than to snap a 37-game losing streak.

“I’m just really proud of Temple. I’m proud of ours fans, I’m proud of our students, I’m proud of our trustees, our president, everyone that has stuck with us through the dark times,” Rhule said. “Hopefully this won’t be the (only) highlight of the season.”

Once-lowly Temple savors historic victory

PHILADELPHIA – Impressive upstart victories aren’t overly rare for coach Matt Rhule’s Temple football team.

But victories over Penn State, however, are the rarest of wins.

For the first time since Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office, the Owls have defeated the Nittany Lions. For Penn State fans, Saturday’s historical match wasn’t a pretty one.

The rivalry between Temple and Penn State is obvious geographically, but the on-field competition has been sub-par for generations. The Lions’ 47-0 beatdown of the Owls in 2006 was one of the more lopsided games in Happy Valley history.

For 74 years, Penn State owned Temple in what more closely resembled a school-bully beatdown than a fierce rivalry. But a change of philosophy is all it took to flip history.

“The reason why I believe that we won, besides having good players that do what we ask, is because we focused on ourselves and not Penn State,” Rhule said after the game. “We didn’t play Penn State music, we didn’t have the scout team wear blue jerseys. We just focused on us, and the players bought into that.”

For Rhule, the win is personal as well as historical.

Born and raised in State College, Rhule walked on to the Penn State football team and enjoyed four years of success from 1994-1997.

However, Rhule tried to downplay any personal significance after the game, trying to focus more on his team’s performance.

“After last year when we lost the game (to Penn State), my family was all still living in State College and I went to the church right by my house,” Rhule reflected. “And it hit me as I was thinking about the old U.S. Olympic hockey team that team lost 10-3 and then a few months later came back to win the gold. They figured out what they did wrong to beat them and then came back. We took our game from last year and said ‘if we want to win, we need to eliminate these things,’ and I think our kids bought into it. I’m just really happy for the kids. I’m so happy we won.”

For the Temple football program, a win of this magnitude could turn a lot of things around. Rhule joked during the postgame conference that he was planning on calling all of his recruits as soon as he got home.

Just two years removed from a dismal 2-10 season, the Owls barely missed a bowl invitation last year after going 6-6. The opportunity to pounce on an unsuspecting Nittany Lions squad was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.

Rhule admitted himself after the game that it didn’t look like the odds were in their favor after they fell behind 10-0 early in the game. Whether it was overconfidence from James Franklin’s squad or lack of motivation, the Owls were able to find gaps in Penn State’s game plan and executed.

“I’m really proud of our players, to think that we would be down 10-0 and it looked like it was going to go one way,” Rhule said. “It’s not just that we came back, but that there was no finger-pointing and we kept fighting and fighting and fighting. I’m also proud that they didn’t celebrate until the game was over.”

In retrospect, ‘game was over’ for the Nittany Lions after the first quarter ended. After racking up 126 yards of offense in the first period, the Lions only managed 57 yards for the entire rest of the game.

After protecting Hackenberg well enough to orchestrate two scoring drives in the first quarter, Rhule and Temple defensive coordinator Phil Snow recognized the protection ineptness of Penn State’s offensive line and capitalized for 10 sacks.

Pass-rushing pressure aside, Temple’s front seven had Christian Hackenberg’s number throughout the contest, which was made most evident by defensive lineman Sharif Finch’s interception in the second half.

Hackenberg, who has been touted as a future NFL first-round pick, displayed many of the same struggles that frustrated Penn State fans last season. His tendency to hold the ball for too long behind a shaky offensive line played right into Rhule’s gameplan. Rhule’s defensive staff also managed to hold DaeSean Hamilton, last year’s Big Ten leader in receptions, to just one catch.

Of Hackenberg’s 11 completions, zero went to tight ends, which also points to a succesful implementation of Rhule and Snow’s strategy. By sending more pass rushers, Franklin and PSU offensive coordinator John Donovan were forced to employ tight ends Mike Gesicki, Kyle Carter, and Brent Wilkerson as extra blockers.

Nine years removed from the 47-0 drubbing in Beaver Stadium and just two seasons after going 2-10, a win of this magnitude could boost Temple from football irrelevancy to the national attention they feel that they deserve. Rhule repeatedly said after the game that if they can’t build off this week’s performance, than it was all for not.

But there are few sweeter ways to jump out of the blocks to start a season than to snap a 37-game losing streak.

“I’m just really proud of Temple. I’m proud of ours fans, I’m proud of our students, I’m proud of our trustees, our president, everyone that has stuck with us through the dark times,” Rhule said. “Hopefully this won’t be the (only) highlight of the season.”

Starting at $2.99/week.

Subscribe Today