Final Score
Temple - 0
Penn State - 47
Judging by Hunt's uniform, he had a pretty good day
Game Recap
There was an "oh crap" moment when Anthony Morelli threw an interception to Temple cornerback David Reese on his first pass giving the Owls a first down at the 50 yard line. For a second the Penn State faithful asked themselves, "Could we be trailing Temple here soon?" But Mr. Posluszny would have none of that. On Temple's first play from scrimmage Poz knocked the ball away from Travis Shelton and Tim Shaw fell on it. Two minutes later Tony Hunt was scampering 22 yards into the endzone and the route was on.
Game Balls
Tony Hunt
Tony had a career rushing day with 167 yards on 16 carries with 3 TD. He also caught a TD pass and finished with 25 yards on two catches.
When Tony Hunt can do this to you, you're pretty bad
Derrick Williams
The sophomore slump has bitten DWill much of this season. But Williams finally showed some big play potential in an electrifying 75 yard punt return. Williams caught the ball and spun around to avoid a defender. Then he reversed field and streaked up the left sideline to paydirt.
About. Time.
Paul Posluszny
In limited play Poz finished with 7 tackles. Three tackles were for a loss and one was a sack.
Impressions of the Game
Temple is really really bad. The hapless Owls couldn't manage anything on offense only recording 2 first downs and 74 yards of total offense. They never entered Penn State territory the entire day. On defense they had no answer for Tony Hunt. Hunt left, Hunt right, Hunt up the middle, it didn't matter. Tony probably broke 20 tackles on the day. And when an Owl or two managed to wrap him up, he still got another five yards carrying them down the field.
But the plus side is Temple is a young team that has played 20 freshmen this year, and many of their coaches including head coach Al Golden and defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio are former Penn State players or coaches. Now they supposedly have a university administration that supports the program and will give them the resources they need to succeed. They will get this team turned around in a few years.
The Penn State defense played as close to a perfect game as one could expect. The Temple offense was a display in ineptitude, but even when the starters on defense were pulled, the domination continued. But we can't take too much away from the performance. We can only say they did what they were expected to do.
This pretty much sums up the day for the Temple offense
Although the Lions managed to put up 47 points, the offense was not that good. Seven points came off of a Derrick Williams punt return. The defense gave them a short field to play with all day long as Penn State's average starting position was the PSU 49 yard line. Six drives started in Temple territory including one that started inside the Temple 10. Penn State had an offsides penalty and ended up settling for a field goal on that drive. For each 10 yard run Tony Hunt busted out, there was another play where he was gobbled up in the backfield. The timing between Morelli and his receivers wasn't there. Morelli threw a terrible pass that was intercepted to start the game. Derrick Williams didn't catch a single pass. He and Brendan Perretta both dropped wide open touchdown passes. Granted, the weather conditions were terrible, but this has been happening all season.
Next Up
Penn State meets Michigan State in Happy Valley next weekend in their end of season pseudo-rivalry. This game features the dumbest college football trophy I've ever seen, the Land Grant Trophy. Spartans have already packed it in for the season. With only four wins they are eliminated from bowl contention. To add insult onto injury John L. Smith has already been informed this will be his last game as the Michigan State head coach. The Spartans have nothing but pride to motivate them. Based on their performance this year I don't suspect they will be very motivated.