Sept. 24, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - Penn State will play its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday when it hosts intrastate rival Temple (3-0) in the 40th meeting between the schools.
The game, which is scheduled for a 3:37 p.m. kickoff, will be nationally televised by the Big Ten Network and will also air on the Penn State Sports Network and www.GoPSUsports.com.
The No. 23/20 Nittany Lions (2-1) are coming off a 24-0 win over Kent State, as Penn State won its 500th game since Joe Paterno joined the coaching staff. Penn State also posted its 41st shutout under the Hall of Fame coach. The Owls are coming off a 30-16 win over Connecticut, improving to 3-0 for the first time since 1979.
The Temple game will mark just the fourth time that Paterno has coached against one of his former players as a head coach. All four meetings have come against Owls coach Al Golden, who played tight end for the Nittany Lions and was a 1991 co-captain. The first meeting came on Nov. 10, 2007, when Penn State played Temple in Philadelphia. The second and third came when the Owls visited Happy Valley the past two years.
In addition to Golden, two other former Nittany Lion players are members of the Owls' coaching staff:
- Assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio played linebacker for the Nittany Lions from 1988-91 and was a teammate of Golden's. He led Penn State in tackles as a junior with 71 and was a co-captain as a senior in 1991, despite missing six games with an injury.Golden, D'Onofrio and Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno were Nittany Lion teammates.
- Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Matt Rhule was a linebacker for the Lions from 1994-97. A State College native, Rhule was selected Academic All-Big Ten in 1997, graduating from Penn State the same year. Penn State receivers coach and recruiting coordina- tor Mike McQueary and Rhule were teammates at State College Area High School and Penn State.
Penn State and Temple are in the midst of playing over seven consecutive years. The Nittany Lions own a 35-3-1 series lead versus Temple, including a 26-0 record under Joe Paterno. The teams have met for the last four years and will play in Philadelphia on Sept. 17, 2011 and back in Beaver Stadium on Sept. 22, 2012. The schools also announced this week that they will meet in 2014, '15 and '16.
Penn State beat Temple, 31-6, in Happy Valley in 2009, getting 134 yards rushing from Evan Royster and two touchdown passes from Daryll Clark.
Penn State improved to 12-1 in its next game after a loss since the 2005 season with its 24-0 win over Kent State last week.
Rob Bolden became the first Penn State true freshman quarterback with multiple 200-yard passing games in the 124-year history of the program, throwing for 217 yards against the Golden Flashes. The Nittany Lions also grinded out 162 yards on the ground against the nation's then-No. 1 rushing defense.
The Penn State defense limited Kent State to 228 total yards of offense, including 58 rushing yards on 25 carries. The Golden Flashes became the 18th Penn State foe the past three seasons to fail to rush for 100 yards. D'Anton Lynn and Derrick Thomas recorded their first career interceptions and Stephon Morris made a game and career-high nine tackles.
In his fifth-year as head coach at Temple, Golden has his Owls off to the program's first 3-0 start since 1979. Last weekend, Temple knocked off Connecticut, 30-16, in Philadelphia for its eighth consecutive victory at Lincoln Financial Field and first win over a BCS school since 2004.
Powering the Temple offense is sophomore running back Bernard Pierce, who has rushed for 301 yards and three touchdowns. Redshirt junior quarterback Chester Stewart has completed 61.4 percent of his passes, throwing for 510 yard and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Michael Campbell has emerged as his favorite target, catching 10 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown. Senior linebacker Elijah Joseph leads the defense with 19 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss, and two pass break-ups.
Tickets for the Penn State-Temple game are available at www.GoPSUsports.com or at the Beaver Stadium Ticket Office at Gate E, starting at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Following the Temple game, Penn State will open its 18th season in the Big Ten Conference when it visits No. 18 Iowa (2-1) on Oct. 2. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT/8:00 p.m. ET at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City and will be broadcast to a national television audience on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2 (network to be announced by Monday). The game also will air on the Penn State Sports Network and www.GoPSUsports.com.