Photo by: Michael Corsey @ Michael Corsey Photography

Penn State’s opener leaves answers to questions nobody wanted to ask.

By Tim Blasco

Penn State showed up in style in Philadelphia. Several people marveled at the miles of tailgaters wearing blue and white. The press box made light of having to move someones camping gear just to get a parking spot. Football had finally started. As the game started and fans rolled in for another year things began to unravel. The first quarter looked like every other quarter in the age old duel of the Penn State and Temple contests. Many years for Penn State Football it seemed Temple would get very close, and then break their fan’s hearts. The Owls would not be dismayed this year.

After the first quarter Penn State’s Joey Julius had tacked on 4 points total with a PAT and a 34 Field Goal attempt from the first drive. Running Back Akeel Lynch had run 42 yards for the first and only touchdown by the Nittany Lions for the day. The rest of the game was a Temple Owls Football clinic. The first thing everyone wanted to know was what QB Christian Hackenberg was going to do. Hackenberg was going to get sacked and unfortunately for him fail to innovate. It was as if he had settled in for the day was going to just “Netflix and chill” but he forgot his account name and password after the first quarter. Hackenberg failed to innovate and continued to try the same pocket presence and style for the whole game. Patriot News Reporter David Jones even asked Coach Franklin why Hackenberg was left in for so long. Nothing was working. Anyone who had come to see Penn State’s thoroughbred QB were highly disappointed, this was after all a Temple Owls clinic.

Photo by: Michael Corsey @ Michael Corsey Photography

Hackenberg has had 2 years and two different coaches. He doesn’t really have that good of an offensive line, and he’s a pocket passer without a pocket. Unfortunate as all of that is, this kid failed to innovate and even that’s not entirely his fault. The Penn State coaching staff failed to make adjustments. One instance was in defensive audibles. Temple would often line up in an odd formation. Penn State would come to the line set, and then Temple would audible into a different formation. Hackenberg would run a check at the line and go, every time! He rarely moved his puzzle pieces, instead he just kept trying to run forward. He defined insanity and needed to take a deep breath and do something different. No one wearing Blue and White figured that out until after at least 8 sacks.

Photo by: Michael Corsey @ Michael Corsey Photography

The offensive line looked sluggish. After so much talk about Junior College transfer Tackle Paris Palmer their was very little action. Palmer looked confused, missed assignments and was dazed for most of the game. Offensive Line Center and leader Angelo Mangiro in the post game was noticeably upset. He did a great job of focusing on the fact that Temple had played well and that Penn State had been beaten. He also noted that Penn State had a lot of adjustments to make before Buffalo University came to Penn State next week. Several questions about being shocked and dismayed weren’t even entertained. Mangiro looked determined as if he knew that just one more play would have flipped the cards. He certainly didn’t look enthused about next week’s practice.

Photo by: Michael Corsey @ Michael Corsey Photography

The Penn State Defense looked okay. Although for being the strongpoint of the team they have major work to do. They lost MLB Nyeem Wartman-White for the season to a leg injury after a punt return. Why is Penn State’s leading tackler in on special teams? The Defensive Line however looked like a crew of Goliaths against Temple’s Offensive Line. Anthony Zettel’s Lions only brought down Temple QB P.J. Walker twice with one major turnover. The Defense didn’t show up against Temple plain and simple. Sadly Penn State has a history of a lackluster offense, if the defense goes down there is little hope for the season at all.

Temple QB P.J. Walker looked rough. He played most of the game injured.but his play was way better than last year. In the last Temple Penn State Football contest Walker threw three interceptions. This time around he completed 15 of 20 attempts and scored a touchdown on his feet. RB Jahad Thomas played the game of his life and ran in 2 touchdowns with 160 yards and 29 attempts.

Photo by: Michael Corsey @ Michael Corsey Photography

Post game Temple Head Coach Matt Rhule a former Penn State walk on Linebacker, looked a little shocked at the press conference. After a quick mike check he was brought to the podium. He laughed and said in his several years at Temple he had never actually had a mike check. This must be a big deal. He went on to say that he had challenged his defense to try to get at least 40 sacks but that he was happy with just 10. His squad had just played the game of their lives and made history. Temple has not beaten Penn State in over 75 years. Their last win over Penn State was in 1941.