The 16th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions took down the Temple Owls, 27-9, at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday afternoon. The hometown Owls nearly survived the first half with a tie ballgame against their ranked opponent, but a late touchdown before halftime provided some much-needed breathing room for the visitors at halftime. In the second half, the Nittany Lions shut down the Owls to open up a double-digit lead to cruise to their second win of the season.
Penn State nearly shot themselves in the foot early in this contest. Their first drive featured a 56-yard pass to Koby Howard, which placed the visiting Nittany Lions into the red zone. However, the Temple defense stood tough to force a 33-yard field goal from Ryan Barker that sailed wide left to keep the ballgame scoreless.
A few series later, Owls quarterback Jaxon Smolik tried to force a pass through tight coverage, but it was picked off by Tony Rojas, who returned the ball inside Temple’s five-yard line. Instead of taking the early points, Penn State head coach Matt Campbell elected to go for it on fourth down, but Becht could not complete the short pass required to punch the ball into the end zone.
Temple took over possession, marching down the length of the field for a 15-play, 91- yard drive that took over eight minutes off the oversized scoreboard. Carl Hardin was called on to convert a 24-yard field goal for a slim 3-0 lead for the home squad.
The Nittany Lions faced the adversity head-on and tied the score on the very next possession via a 10-play, 83-yard drive that resulted in a successful field goal attempt from Barker to tie the score 3-3.
Temple drained nearly five minutes off the second quarter clock on their next drive, but the Owls were forced to punt the pigskin back to the players in the white, blue, and navy colors with 1:52 remaining in the first half. That was enough time for Becht to orchestrate a 10-play, 83-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by a 23-yard touchdown reception from Ben Brahmer with just eight seconds remaining before the scheduled rest period.
Temple threatened to score out of the halftime break, but Penn State was able to hold the home squad off the scoreboard to start the new half of football. After the opening drive of the second half stalled, Hardin was called upon for a 52-yard field goal that was blocked by cornerback Daryus Dixon to keep the scoreboard at 10-3.
The Nittany Lions used a mix of pass and run plays to march down the field, where Chase Sowell caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Becht to open up the score to 17-3. After another failed Temple possession, Barker connected on a 39-yard field goal attempt to extend the lead further, 20-3, with eight seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Penn State’s defense suffocated Temple’s offense in the fourth quarter, while the Nittany Lions offense continued to pile on the points. Becht connected with tight end Brett Eskildsen on a seven-yard touchdown pass with 8:19 to extend that advantage even further to 27-3.
Temple punched in a late touchdown, but the Owls were denied on the resulting two-point conversion, leaving the score at 27-9.
Penn State maintains its unblemished record, improving to 2-0 on the early season. The Nittany Lions host the Buffalo Bulls at 12 p.m. next Saturday in Happy Valley before the schedule truly starts to ramp up with Big Ten action against Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Southern California over the coming month.
Temple falls to 1-1 on the 2026 campaign after falling to Penn State. The Owls take their first road trip of the new season as they battle the Toledo Rockets in Toledo, Ohio, next Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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