Its Temple week and for the first time in my life our Nittany Lions are coming into this game looking for revenge from the unimaginable loss to Temple last season. Now let's be real, revenge is quite strong but a loss this weekend would be devastating to this program. Literally destruction. However, there's no way that's going to happen.
Temple started the season losing to triple option Army 28-13. They were dominated and gashed by the Army offense on the ground. Army literally threw 4 passes. Yes you read that correctly. 4 passes. They put up 329 yards on the ground and absolutely wore out the Temple defense. Four rushers had over 50 yards each. Temple really had no answer.
In their last game against Stony Brook this past Saturday, the Owls flipped the script. They overpowered their FCS foe and took to the ground to move the ball. In fact nine players carried the rock for the Owls. While they only put up 177 yards on the ground it is clear that their best option for success is on the ground. Their QB Walker completed less than 50% of his passes for 124 yards.
Sure they won 38-0 but this was a game that they should have won by 60.
Against Penn State we can expect that Temple will copy the Pitt game plan and try to beat us on the ground. Against our secondary they could have major issues. I'd expect to see the Owls rush 80% of the game. Expect them to target our young linebackers with jet sweeps and power up the middle. They will try to get outside of our DTs and go one on one with a LB or Safety that pinches up to stop the run.
The key for this game is our DTs. Against Pitt they got blown off the line opening huge holes for the Pitt rushing attack. If our d line can hold their own it will cause major issues for the Pitt rushing game and force them to look at throwing the ball. This will play greatly into the hands of the Penn State defense.
Offensively Penn State needs to get Saquan going early and often. I expect him to have over 100 yards by halftime. Don't be surprised if he matches his TD total from last weekend. Saquan is currently leading the nation in scoring for RBs.
He now has 6 total TDs. He’s only two scores away from matching his entire rookie season haul.
His 30 points Saturday were the most since former Ki-Jana Carter against Michigan State in 1994. They also are the most from a Big Ten player since Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon in a 2014 game against Bowling Green. Barkley’s four rushing TDs are the most since Larry Johnson against Michigan State in 2002.
And that was only the second game of the year.
I think Franklin and Moorhead learned they have to get him going early to avoid another flat start.
Expect the Penn State offense to carry forward it's momentum from the 2nd half of the Pitt game and score big against a Temple D that is a far cry from last year's defense. Don't be surprised if Trace throwns for 300+ and Saquan adds over 200 on the ground. Temple is going to live on the ground, however they struggled against Army and Stony Brook to really get much going all game.
48-10 Penn State
Temple started the season losing to triple option Army 28-13. They were dominated and gashed by the Army offense on the ground. Army literally threw 4 passes. Yes you read that correctly. 4 passes. They put up 329 yards on the ground and absolutely wore out the Temple defense. Four rushers had over 50 yards each. Temple really had no answer.
In their last game against Stony Brook this past Saturday, the Owls flipped the script. They overpowered their FCS foe and took to the ground to move the ball. In fact nine players carried the rock for the Owls. While they only put up 177 yards on the ground it is clear that their best option for success is on the ground. Their QB Walker completed less than 50% of his passes for 124 yards.
Sure they won 38-0 but this was a game that they should have won by 60.
Against Penn State we can expect that Temple will copy the Pitt game plan and try to beat us on the ground. Against our secondary they could have major issues. I'd expect to see the Owls rush 80% of the game. Expect them to target our young linebackers with jet sweeps and power up the middle. They will try to get outside of our DTs and go one on one with a LB or Safety that pinches up to stop the run.
The key for this game is our DTs. Against Pitt they got blown off the line opening huge holes for the Pitt rushing attack. If our d line can hold their own it will cause major issues for the Pitt rushing game and force them to look at throwing the ball. This will play greatly into the hands of the Penn State defense.
Offensively Penn State needs to get Saquan going early and often. I expect him to have over 100 yards by halftime. Don't be surprised if he matches his TD total from last weekend. Saquan is currently leading the nation in scoring for RBs.
He now has 6 total TDs. He’s only two scores away from matching his entire rookie season haul.
His 30 points Saturday were the most since former Ki-Jana Carter against Michigan State in 1994. They also are the most from a Big Ten player since Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon in a 2014 game against Bowling Green. Barkley’s four rushing TDs are the most since Larry Johnson against Michigan State in 2002.
And that was only the second game of the year.
I think Franklin and Moorhead learned they have to get him going early to avoid another flat start.
Expect the Penn State offense to carry forward it's momentum from the 2nd half of the Pitt game and score big against a Temple D that is a far cry from last year's defense. Don't be surprised if Trace throwns for 300+ and Saquan adds over 200 on the ground. Temple is going to live on the ground, however they struggled against Army and Stony Brook to really get much going all game.
48-10 Penn State
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