Blue White Illustrated

They still had to hang on, putting down Temple's comeback bid only aAer recov- ering an onside kick and then ending the Owls' last possession with a John Reid interception. So while the mood was up- beat as fans filed out of Beaver Stadium, there was some bad mixed in with the good. Here's the breakdown: THE GOOD • The Lions topped 30 points for the third time in as many games. They may have leA a lot of points on the field against Temple, settling for field goals on a pair of second-half drives and squandering an- other great scoring chance when Miles Sanders fumbled. But this is what progress looks like. A year ago, the Lions topped 30 points three times in 13 games. The offensive resurgence that began in the second half of last week's loss to Pitt continued in the first half against Tem- ple. Even with Barkley missing, the Lions scored three touchdowns. They scored on a quick strike, as Chris Godwin darted into the end zone on a 52-yard comple- tion. And they also scored on a long, me- thodical possession, with Trace McSorley engineering a 69-yard, 13-play drive that ended with a 3-yard touch- down run by Andre Robinson. • There were some strong individual performers on defense, including tackle Parker Cothren (seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and an assist on a sack by Garrett Sickels) and safety Malik Golden (a team-high nine tackles). The Lions also got solid showings from their reserve linebackers, who have been pressed into emergency duty due to a wave of injuries. One of the standouts was Brandon Smith, who had eight tackles and played a leadership role on the field. "I'm so happy for Brandon Smith," Franklin said. "From the day we arrived here, all he does is try to be the best team- mate he possibly can be, and he keeps getting better and better. For him to go in there and have eight tackles and be really productive, call the defense, communi- cate with the defense, that was big-time." • Temple was flagged for 13 penalties, one of which negated a touchdown. The Nittany Lions might not have been re- sponsible for the 118 yards that the Owls lost, but they were definitely the benefi- ciaries. If Temple hadn't been so sloppy, the result might have been a lot different. • For a team that's far from the Top 25, the Nittany Lions have proven adept at making plays that belong on the Saturday night highlight reel. Add Mike Gesicki's one-armed catch in the third quarter to a list that also includes DeAndre Thomp- kins' one-hander last week against Pitt and Joey Julius's collision with a Kent State kickoff returner on opening day. Gesicki finished with two catches for 62 yards, continuing his strong start. THE BAD • For the third week in a row, Penn State turnovers led directly to touch- downs. McSorley threw a third-quarter interception that gave the Owls posses- sion at the PSU 9-yard line, and Penn State later gave Temple the ball at the 1 when a line-drive punt grazed Amani Oruwariye. Those miscues didn't cost Penn State the game this time, but with the Big Ten season just around the cor- ner, you can bet the Lions' luck won't hold. Said Franklin, "We've got to stop turning the ball over on offense. It puts our defense in a tough spot." • The injuries are really piling up on de- fense. Four starters – cornerback Grant Haley, linebackers Brandon Bell and Jason Cabinda and defensive end Evan Schwan – missed the game entirely, and Nyeem Wartman-White leA aAer suffer- ing what appeared to be a leg injury on a punt return. This is not the kind of defense that can afford even a little attrition, and only three weeks into the season, it's already suffered a lot of attrition. You'd be hard pressed to think of another team in the country that has lost as many starters in such a short period of time. Against the Owls, those absences were noticeable at times. For example, the Lions gave up 52 yards in 34 seconds on Temple's final drive of the first half, as the Owls ma- neuvered into position for an unlikely field goal heading into the locker room. THE TAKEAWAY So... onward to Ann Arbor. The Nittany Lions are 2-0 in Big Ten openers under Franklin, but both of those games were SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 9:35 PSU Godwin, Chris 52-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 2 plays, 55 yards, TOP 0:42.........................................................0-7 8:54 Temple Thomas, Jahad 8-yard run (Jones, Austin kick) 2 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:41...........................................................7-7 2:50 PSU Robinson, Andre 3-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 13 plays, 69 yards, TOP 5:57.......................................................7-14 2ND 7:15 PSU McSorley, Trace 2-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 9 plays, 53 yards, TOP 3:14.........................................................7-21 0:04 Temple Jones, Austin 45-yard field goal 6 plays, 52 yards, TOP 0:34..................................................... 10-21 3RD 9:03 PSU Davis, Tyler 40-yard field goal 6 plays, 48 yards, TOP 3:50....................................................10-24 1:56 Temple Walker, Phillip 1-yard run (Jones, Austin kick) 4 plays, 9 yards, TOP 2:09....................................................... 17-24 4TH 12:45 PSU Davis, Tyler 30-yard field goal 7 plays, 71 yards, TOP 4:05.......................................................17-27 8:10 Temple Thomas, Jahad 2-yard run (Jones, Austin kick) 3 plays, 1 yard, TOP 1:44.......................................................... 24-27 7:20 PSU Barkley, Saquon 55-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 2 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:50................................................... 24-34 2:10 Temple Jones, Austin 34-yard field goal 12 plays, 48 yards, TOP 5:10................................................... 27-34 S E P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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