Penn State and Temple will face off at Beaver Stadium at 12:00 PM. Penn State hasn’t been playing well lately but they did record a win against the Indiana Hoosiers. Penn State is trying to become bowl eligible this week, and be able to play in the postseason. On the other side Temple is trying to do the same thing as PSU, trying to become post-season eligible. So two teams playing for the same thing...this should get interesting, here’s your preview:
Passing:
Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg had high expectations entering the seasons, and he matched those expectations in the first four games. But in the past few games, he hasn’t been doing well, and he doesn’t have a clean sheet (No interceptions thrown in a game) this whole season. Penn State is 49th in the nation in passing, after starting out really well.
Temple is ranked 94th in the nation in passing with about 196 yards each game. Their QB has thrown for 1679 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
Advantage: Penn State
Rushing:
Penn State is DEAD LAST in the nation in rushing yards per game. That’s out of 125 national teams, that’s not a rank you want to have for your team. James Franklin is trying to run the ball, but it has become very hard with a young offensive line that is still learning. Bill Belton did have a 92 yard rushing touchdown in the game against Indiana, but that was the only positive in the running game against Indiana.
Temple’s running game has been pretty good the past few games and they’re currently ranked 108th in the nation, their running back has 371 yards on the ground this season, and is averaging a very good 5.2 yards per carry.
Advantage: Temple
Receiving:
Penn State has one of the best receiving corps in the nation lead by Geno Lewis (Sophomore), DaeSean Hamilton (Freshman), and Chris Godwin (Freshman). Geno Lewis started out very well but hasn’t had his name been called that often in the past few games, the lights have been on freshman DaeSean Hamilton, who has been making several catches and gaining quality yards every game, Chris Godwin also has a catch in every game.
Temple has a decent group of wide receivers, their leading receiver, Fitzpatrick has recorded 512 yards this season, and is averaging 13.8 yards a catch. Their other leading receiver has 10 catches and is averaging about 25 yards a catch.
Advantage: Penn State
Defensive:
Penn State has a very good defense this year after struggling last year. Every defensive player has stepped up, and Penn State’s Mike Hull is one of the best defensive players in the nation. They currently are ranked 6th in the nation in points given up.
Temple is also a very good defense ranking 10th in the nation in points given up. They can wrap up the ball carrier very well, and only give up about 16 points per game.
Advantage: Penn State
Special Teams:
Sam Ficken for Penn State has been pretty good kicking field goals this season with only a few misses. The punting game however has not been very good as the punters are only averaging less than 30 yards a punt.
Temple
Both sides have been decent for Temple, their kicker has made 8/13 field goals on the season, their punter is averaging 42 yards a punt.
Advantage: Tie
Overall advantage: Penn State
With the way Penn State has played in the past few games there should be a little worrying feeling about this game, however PSU is getting Donovan Smith and Miles Dieffenbach back for the offensive line, so that should help the run game.
Prediction: Penn State: 21 Temple: 14
It will come down to the end for the PSU defense, but I think they can stop Temple on a fourth down and the offense can knee it to end the game.