Thursday, October 1, 2026
79 ° Clear
79 ° Clear
The Temple Owls might be the resident team at Lincoln Financial Field, but Saturday afternoon’s scrap against the 16th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions will largely feel like a road contest. While both teams enter with matching 1-0 records, Penn State is a heavy favorite in the first meeting between the PA-based institutions in over a decade.
The last time the two schools matched up represents arguably the biggest win in Temple football history. The Owls scored a 27-10 upset over the Nittany Lions on Sept. 5, 2015, in front of nearly 70,000 fans in South Philadelphia. Temple’s defense recorded 10 sacks in a suffocating effort that resulted in fans storming the diamond-themed cherry end zone near the university’s marching band.
That matchup represents an outlier in a 4-40-1 record against Penn State in 45 matchups. In fact, it’s the only positive result the Owls have had over the Nittany Lions since a 14-0 win in Philadelphia all the way back in 1941. Temple won three of the first four matchups against Penn State before snapping the decades-long losing streak 11 seasons ago.
The schools matched up again the following season at Beaver Stadium in State College, PA in 2016. This time, the Nittany Lions offense defended their home turf by scoring three rushing touchdowns in a 34-27 win over the Owls to avoid another stunning upset.
Saquon Barkley recorded 75 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, including a game-high 55-yard dash; meanwhile, Chris Godwin led the way with 117 receiving yards and a touchdown on seven catches for Penn State. Jahad Thomas paced the Owls' offense with 57 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns in the loss.
There have been no meetings in the Temple-Penn State series since Barkley stomped all over Temple fans' hearts in 2016. Which brings us to an exciting matchup in South Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
ESPN’s matchup predictor has a 94.2% chance of a PSU victory this weekend, which still leaves a bit of room for Temple to pull out another shocking upset in 2026.
Rocco Becht, the son of former NFL tight end Anthony Becht, led Penn State to a 45-0 victory over Marshall behind a 13-18 performance for 271 yards and four touchdowns. Koby Howard was on the receiving end of the majority of nearly half of those passes, finishing with 161 yards and a touchdown on six catches.
Keveun Mason led Temple’s offense with 158 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a 38-14 win over Rhode Island last weekend in South Philly. Temple’s defense limited the Rams to 97 rushing yards in the victory, but they will have a more difficult assignment against the Nittany Lions talented backfield.
It’s going to be a matchup that local football fans will want to tune into this weekend as they settle into a full day of college football action. The game will be carried nationally on ESPN 2 with kickoff scheduled for 12 pm.
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