Temple Sets Attendance Records In 31-0 Loss To #25 Penn State :: Crowd of 69,029 is largest for a home game for Temple and the MAC

Nov. 10, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - #25 Penn State's Rodney Kinlaw ran for a career-high 168 yards and a touchdown as the Nittany Lions beat a Temple, 31-0, on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. The attendance of 69,029 was the largest home crowd in the history of Temple football and the largest home crowd in Mid-American Conference history. Sophomore QB Vaughn Charlton completed 26-of-43 passes for a career-high 238 yards to lead the Owls.

Despite the final score, the Cherry and White was in the game for three full quarters, trailing 17-0 until Kinlaw's 10-yard scamper made it 24-0 early in the fourth stanza. Unlike last year's match-up in Happy Valley, which was decided after a quarter of play, Temple kept things interesting for most of the contest.

Unable to move the ball on the ground against the ninth-best run defense team in the country, TU went to the air. Charlton attempted a team season-high 43 attempts and found seven different receivers. Junior WR Bruce Francis led the way with six catches for 75 yards, extending his consecutive streak to 26 games with a reception. Travis Shelton had five catches for 50 yards.

Even though Penn State (8-3) scored 31 points, the most against TU since Army scored 37 on September 29, the Temple defense kept the team in the game for 45 minutes. Redshirt sophomore Dominique Harris had a career-high 13 tackles, while freshmen Jamal Schulters and Jaiquawn Jarrett each added 11 stops.

It was TU's best defensive showing, in terms of points allowed, against a ranked opponent since a 30-16 loss to #21 Pittsburgh on November 22, 2003.

Temple's first half proved to be a case of missed opportunities. Despite three trips to the red zone, the Owls could not put any points on the scoreboard. TU compiled 194 yards of total offense, including 175 through the air, against the vaunted Penn State defense.

Unlike last season when the Owls had a tough time moving the chains, the Cherry and White drove 71 yards down the field on its first possession. Consecutive completions to Francis and junior TE Kevin Armstrong gave TU a first down at the PSU 12-yard line.

Two Jason Harper rushes and a Charlton sack gave redshirt sophomore Jake Brownell a 23-yard field goal attempt, but the kick was wide left and gave the visitors the ball for the first time.

Morelli drove the Nittany Lions down the field and found Jordan Norwood in the corner of the end zone from 15 yards out to make it 7-0. The PSU defense stopped Temple on its next drive, but Morelli and Norwood connected again in the right corner of the end zone to extend the Penn State lead to 14-0.

Charlton, who was 17-for-25 for 175 yards in the half, completed eight passes on the next TU drive to take his team down to the 13-yard line. The signal caller looked much more comfortable in the pocket in his second start in place of injured QB Adam DiMichele.

Temple couldn't punch it in the end zone and Brownell came out to attempt his second field goal of the game. The attempt turned out to be a fake and Charlton, the holder, scrambled and fired a spiral to an open freshman TE Matt Balasavage in the endzone. But Balasavage could not hold on, leaving the Owls scoreless in two trips to the red zone.

Temple's defense responded by forcing Penn State to punt and the offense quickly found itself in the red zone after a 21-yard completion to freshman Daryl Robinson. But the Owls fumbled an end around for their first turnover of the contest.

Penn State was in great position to make it 21-0 on its next drive, but Morelli fumbled on the Temple one-yard line. TU did not make another trip deep into PSU territory and a Kevin Kelly field goal right before half-time made it 17-0, Nittany Lions.

After a scoreless third quarter, Kinlaw capped an eight-play, 38-yard drive with a 10-yard run with 13:54 to play. The Nittany Lions completed the scoring on a Deon Butler 14-yard touchdown reception with 9:20 remaining.

Penn State QB Anthony Morelli completed 22-of-33 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns for Penn State. Derrick Williams had seven catches for 104 yards to pace the receiving corps.

Temple (3-7, 3-3 MAC) will host Kent State (3-6, 1-4 MAC) in its final home game of the season on Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcast on WPHT 1210 AM with Harry Donahue and Steve Joachim on the call. The Owls will honor seniors Josh Bundy and Abioye Oyeyemi prior to the game.