The Penn State vs. Temple “rivalry” has not been a very even one. The Nittany Lions have faced off pretty regularly with their in-state opponents for a pretty long time, and almost always trucked them. But today the Owls scored 27 unanswered points to notch a 27-10 victory over the Nittany Lions -- their first since 1941.
Temple beats Penn State for first time since 1941, ending 39-game winless streak
Penn State looked dismal, and Temple broke the longest active losing streak in college football.
The Owls had lost 31 straight against Penn State, the longest active losing streak by one opponent against another opponent in college football and the fourth-longest of all time. (The record belongs to Navy, who lost 43 straight to Notre Dame.)
The happiest Owl in the world is this guy:
According to ESPN, Brodsky has spent 50 years as a Temple ballboy, growing from a Ball Boy to a Ball Man, and never saw a win. Until today.
Once upon a time, Temple had a winning record against Penn State, winning three of their first four games against the Nittany Lions. But since a win in 1941, the Owls are 0-38-1 against the Nittany Lions. (Who can forget that 7-7 tie in 1950?)
The Owls have lost in Philly, the Owls have lost in State College, they even lost a game in the Meadowlands. The last time Temple beat Penn State was two stadiums ago -- they played at Temple Stadium on campus, which has since been torn down, before moving into Veterans Stadium, which has since been torn down -- and Penn State played in a 30,000-seat version of Beaver Stadium. The last time Temple beat Penn State, Joe Paterno was still in high school.
Penn State came out with the first 10 points of the game, and then their defense disappeared. Their offensive line looked absolutely hideous, allowing 10 sacks. This one came against just a two-man rush:
And when Christian Hackenberg -- sorry, likely first-round draft pick Christian Hackenberg -- did get time to throw, he went just 11-for-25 for 103 yards and a pick. (That’s bad.) The pick was bad:
The running game was bad too: Just 28 carries for 80 yards. And a lot of that was on a 42-yard TD rush by Akeel Lynch, Penn State’s only touchdown of the game.
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