It’s been a decade since Temple and Penn State met. Here are the top moments of their rivalry.
The Penn State-Temple rivalry will be reignited this weekend. While Penn State has won 32 of the last 33 meetings, the history between these two programs goes beyond the final score.
When Temple and Penn State kick off at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday, the programs will renew a 95-year-old rivalry for the first time in a decade.
Penn State holds a commanding 40-4-1 all-time record and has won 32 of the last 33 meetings. However, the history of this series extends beyond wins and losses.
Before the Nittany Lions return to Philadelphia for the first time since 2015, here are some of the top moments from their rivalry.
Temple strikes first
To understand the strife between the programs, you have to go back to the beginning.
Temple and Penn State matched up for the first time on Oct. 10, 1931, when the Owls shut out the Nittany Lions, 12-0, in front of a capacity crowd of 20,000 at Temple Stadium.
Head coach Heine Miller led Temple an 8-1-1 season, which stood as a program record for 42 years until Wayne Hardin’s 1973 team eclipsed it with nine.
The Owls went on to claim three of the first four matchups in the all-time series.
The victory that lasted 74 years
Temple’s third win in four meetings with Penn State, on Oct. 18, 1941,became a frequently cited date.
On a wet, muddy, and slippery day, Temple claimed what would be its final victory against the Nittany Lions for the next 74 years in a 14-0 win at Temple Stadium.
Temple picked off star Penn State quarterback Johnny “Pepper” Petrella four times. Also, four players, two from each team, were taken off the field on stretchers in a game former Inquirer reporter Stan Baumgartner characterized as “bruising and bitterly contested” and both teams “appeared to have their boxing and wrestling squads competing.”
It would take another 39 games for the Owls to sniff a victory over the Nittany Lions.
Temple came within inches
Following Temple’s 1941 victory, an era of struggle ensued.
In 1950 at New Beaver Field, Temple came close to beating Penn State when the two teams tied 7 apiece. Fun fact: Temple’s running back Gene Caterina scored the Owls’ first touchdown in University Park.
The series entered a 22-year hiatus after 1952, and it wasn’t until 1975 when Temple made things interesting again. In front of a crowd of 57,112 at Franklin Field, Penn State snuck past the Owls, 26-25.
Just a year later, in 1976, it was an even more painful finish, this time at Veterans Stadium. Temple trailed by two touchdowns before mounting a late comeback. The Owls drove downfield during the final two minutes but appeared in danger of running out of time near Penn State’s goal line.
Then an unusual interruption occurred: a spectator ran onto the field and officials stopped the clock. Temple scored a touchdown on the next play, making it 31-30. The NCAA did not introduce overtime until 1996, so Hardin faced a straightforward decision: Kick the extra point and accept a tie or attempt a two-point conversion to win. Hardin went for two. The pass went just beyond the intended receiver’s fingertips, preserving Penn State’s one-point victory.
Other notable games were in 1978, the No. 3-ranked Penn State survived Temple on a last-second Matt Bahr field goal to claim a 10-7 win. Then in 1985, a 206-yard, two-touchdown day from Temple running back Paul Palmer wasn’t enough in a 27-25 loss.
Penn State’s 31 game winning streak
Between 1952 to 2014, the Nittany Lions won 31 consecutive matchups against the Owls, with former Penn State coach Joe Paterno leading them to 28 of those wins between 1975 to 2011.
During that time, Penn State outscored Temple 1,068-331 and held an average game score of 34.5-10.7, a 23.8-point average margin.
The Nittany Lions shut out the Owls four times. The most lopsided matchup came in 1995 in Penn State’s 66-14 victory. Its streak survived nine different Temple head coaches, and was played at five different venues.
From Penn State to Temple
Despite the quarrels between the programs, two Penn State products eventually became the most important figures in the revival and progression of Temple football.
Former Temple head coach Al Golden lettered with the Nittany Lions from 1989-1991 and started at tight end for two seasons. He guided Temple to a 20-12 conference record between 2006 and 2010, a tenure which started a golden era of Owls football.
Matt Rhule was also a walk-on linebacker at Penn State from 1994-1997 and got his start as a graduate assistant under Paterno. He eventually found his way onto Golden’s staff at Temple and was named defensive line coach in 2006, before moving to offensive coordinator.
Rhule remained at Temple following Golden’s departure and worked under Steve Addazio before being hired as head coach in 2012. Rhule coached the Owls for four years, taking them to two consecutive bowl games and an American Conference championship in 2016.
The Owls broke through
In 2015, Temple took down Penn State, 27-10, in its season opener at Lincoln Financial Field in front of a then record-breaking crowd of 69,176.
Coming off a 6-6 season under Rhule, Temple entered as a seven-point underdog.
Penn State jumped out to a 10-0 lead before a 12-play, 93-yard drive ended with a Temple touchdown. The Owls tied the game with a 40-yard field goal before PJ Walker ran in a touchdown to give the Owls a 17-10.
They added another score, but the real exclamation came from Temple’s defense, which sacked Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg 10 times, with three coming from All-American linebacker Tyler Matakevich.
In 2016, Temple visited Beaver Stadium and suffered a 34-27 loss. It was the last matchup between these two programs.
