Penn State offense inept in loss to Temple

Steve Petrella

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Penn State offense inept in loss to Temple image

Penn State allowed 10 sacks Saturday. It punted nine times. It completed 11 passes.

As a result, if you couldn't already tell, the Nittany Lions lost to Temple for the first time since 1941, snapping a 31-game winning streak. Quarterback Christian Hackenberg remained in until the 27-10 drubbing mercifully ended. Coach James Franklin offered a hilarious explanation.

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Franklin must have watched a different game. Here's the lowest-light in a day of lowlights — a Temple sack with just a two-man rush. The Nits had 80 yards on 28 carries, nine first downs and 183 total yards at Lincoln Financial Field. There was plenty of blame to go around — the line stunk, Hackenberg made some poor decisions, and offensive coordinator John Donovan didn't make a single adjustment (or his adjustments didn't work at all).

Penn State's offensive second half looked like this. Eight possessions, 24 plays, 31 yards. Drive-by-drive:

— 3 plays, 18 yards, punt

— 3 plays, 6 yards, punt

— 3 plays, -10 yards, punt

— 2 plays, 8 yards, INT

— 3 plays, -9 yards, punt

— 3 plays, -4 yards, punt

— 5 plays, 18 yards (!), turnover on downs

— 2 plays, 4 yards, end of game

The Nittany Lions' offense held the defense back in a major way last season. They allowed 44 sacks to rank 119th in the country. Hackenberg, a blue-chip prospect who excelled during his freshman season under Bill O'Brien, took a step back.

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Hackenberg is still being touted as a top-10 pick in next year's NFL Draft, but didn't look anything like the part Saturday. He finished 11 of 25 for 103 yards with an interception — a near-pick six that set up a Temple score to put the Owls up 17-10. With Penn State leading 10-0 in the second quarter, he overthrew a wide-open Daesean Hamilton, who would have walked into the end zone to go up three scores. The Nittany Lions punted, then the wheels came off.

Temple's defense did look stellar, which shouldn't come as a surprise. It allowed 4.8 yards per play last season, 18th best in the country, and returned all 11 starters.

But this is supposed to be Penn State's commonwealth. The vaunted Nittany Lions don't to lose to Temple.

Some former Penn State offensive linemen didn't take the loss well. Donovan Smith, who left after his junior season and was selected in the second round of the NFL Draft by the Bucs, says he departed because the offense and offensive line were atrocious, essentially.

Smith isn't wrong. Penn State has some major issues up front, and defensive lines in the Big Ten must be salivating.

Steve Petrella