Temple Beats PSU for 1st Time Since 1941

Report From Temple University

PHILADELPHIA – Jahad Thomas rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns and P.J. Walker completed 15-of-20 passes for 143 yards and added a rushing touchdown to lead Temple to a 27-10 win over visiting Penn State Saturday afternoon in front of a home record crowd of 69,176 at Lincoln Financial Field.

The win was the first for the Owls (1-0) over the Nittany Lions (0-1) since the 1941 season.

After allowing 10 points on Penn State’s first two possessions, the Cherry and White defense took control, holding the Nittany Lions scoreless the rest of the way.

Senior LB Tyler Matakevich, who entered the game with a nation’s best 355 tackles, recorded a team-high seven tackles, including a career-best three sacks.  In all, the Owls defense sacked Penn State QB Christian Hackenberg 10 times and limited the signal caller to 11-25 passing for 103 yards. Junior DL Sharif Finch intercepted Hackenberg to set up Temple’s go-ahead third quarter touchdown.

After the game, Temple head coach Matt Rhule said, “The reason I believe we won is because we focused on ourselves and the players bought into that and only worried about the next play. After the game I said we won, it’s not about Penn State it is about us. For our guys to do that and focus on themselves shows great maturity.”

Penn State jumped out early, scoring on its first two drives. The Nittany Lions got a 33-yard run from Brandon Polk on their first snap, but the Owls defense clamped down in the red zone, forcing a 34-yard field goal from Joey Julius. Following a second consecutive punt, Penn State took the ball 75 yards in six plays, capped off by a 42 yard touchdown run by Akeel Lynch to make the lead 10-0.

The Owls defense then came to life, and kept the PSU offense in check the remainder of the game. After the two scoring drives, Temple forced four straight PSU three-and-outs as the defense began to dominate the line of scrimmage.

Following a punt to the Temple seven, the Owls offense found some rhythm. Walker and Thomas each took off for first down runs. Walker then found redshirt freshman WR Ventell Bryant for 25 yards on third down and 16. Thomas broke off runs of 12 and 31 yards to give the Owls first-and-goal at the Penn State 2.

Two runs into the line produced just one yard so head coach Matt Rhule dialed up some trickery. With freshman RB Ryquell Armstead in front of Thomas, Walker faked the belly run before tossing a wide pitch to Thomas, who recorded his first rushing TD as an Owl. The 12-play, 93-yard drive was the longest scoring drive for the Owls since the 99-yard march at Lincoln Financial Field last season in the 35-24 win over Tulsa on October 11.

The Owls tied the game on their second drive on the second half. Walker hit redshirt freshman TE Kip Patton for a 20-yard catch and run, followed by a wide receiver throwback from redshirt senior WR John Christopher to Walker for 25 yards. The drive stalled out at the PSU 23, but Austin Jones converted his first attempt of the year from 40 yards out to make it 10-10 with 6:23 remaining in the third quarter.

Finch then intercepted Hackenberg and galloped 26 yards to the Penn State 2. Walker then ran it in from one-yard out to give Temple a 17-10 lead.

Following another Temple defensive stop capped by a Nate D Smith sack to open the fourth quarter, Walker drove the Owls 49 yards in five plays with Jahad Thomas‘ 24-yard TD, a lane-changing scamper capping the drive.  Following another defensive stand, Jones added a 30-yard insurance field goal to extend the lead to 27-10.

Walker was stellar behind center Kyle Friend, connecting with eight different receivers on the day.  Redshirt senior WR Robby Anderson led the way with five catches while Bryant had two catches for a team-high 41 receiving yards.

It was a total team effort on defense. Besides Matakevich, Tavon Young added six tackles while Nate D. Smith had five tackles and two sacks.  Five other Owls, Jarred Alwan, Matt Ioannidis, Haason Reddick, Stephaun Marshall and Jacob Martin, all registered sacks in the contest.

After the game, Thomas discussed the thrill of victory: “It felt great to see the excitement of the fans and players. Temple has been in a drought for the last few years and for us to come out and do this for the fans and for Philadelphia, it felt great.”

The Owls open American Athletic Conference play next Saturday night at Cincinnati. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 PM (ESPNews/97.5 The Fanatic).