Penn State loses to Temple for first time since 1941: My depressing thoughts

It was January 3rd, 1987. A loyal and true Penn State fan had just fallen into a coma, just one day after the Nittany Lions captured their 2nd national title with a 14-10 win over Miami. The coma lasted 28 years, 8 months, and 3 days. When the fan finally woke in his hospital bed on September 6th, 2015, ESPN was on the television in his room. The first thing he recognized on the screen was Penn State's familiar plain white helmets. The second thing he recognized was the score: Temple 27, Penn State 10

The scenario that I mentioned above is not a true event and is medically improbable, but I will tell you that if that fan had been Joseph Arthur Smeltzer, he probably would have gone straight back to sleep, hoping to go back to the 80's. Losing to Temple should not happen to Penn State. I'm not saying that to disrespect the 2015 Temple Owls: they played a fine football game on Saturday and deserved to win. They were the better team and have a lot to look forward to this season under head coach (and Penn State grad) Matt Ruhle. The reason that this Penn State loss was so shocking is simple: before Saturday afternoon, the last time a Penn State team lost to Temple was before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Since that fateful day in 1941, Penn State's football history has been excellent. Temple's - not so much. How good has Penn State been? The Nittnay Lions built a football empire under Joe Paterno, winning 2 national titles and countless other honors. How bad has Temple been? After the 2004 season, the Owls were kicked out of the Big East Conference after finishing with a record of 2-9. That's right, kicked out. Between 2004-2006, the Owls won a total of 3 football games. While the Owls have done a remarkable job rebuilding their program over the past decade, to me, that thought is only a small band-aid on the Beaver-Stadium-sized wound that was opened on Saturday. For a Penn State team to go 74 years without losing even once to Temple, and then to not only lose to the Owls but be publicly undressed for 3 quarters of the game, shows that this program has fallen from national prominence. While the Nittany Lions have not quite fallen off of a cliff as far as relevance goes, the Blue and White have taken a step back on the national scale over the past 5 years.

Temple is a respectable team, but with Penn States talent, national exposure and recruiting base, the Nittnay Lions should be handling Temple with little issue. Christian Hackenberg was touted by many over the summer (notably ESPN draft expert Todd McShay) as a possible #1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. A school with the ability to recruit a player with that talent should not be losing to Temple. DaeSean Hamilton led the Big 10 in receptions in 2014 and should be even better as a Sophomore. A school with the ability to recruit a player with that talent should not be losing to Temple. The Penn State defense is the strong point of the team, and has several key players returning from a very successful 2014 season under first year Defensive Coordinator Bob Shoop. Long story short, any team with what are theoretically  two of the biggest offensive weapons in the Big 10 and one of the better defensive units in the nation, as well as one of the biggest names in college football that still manages to reel in much better recruits then teams like Temple should not be losing to a team like Temple.

Although a 7-6 season in 2014 was not an ideal result for Penn State fans, the season was salvaged somewhat with an exciting 31-30 OT win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. What encouraged me more than anything else about that win was that it was so different from most Penn State games that season. It really seemed like Hackenberg was running the show on offense, and Penn State opened up the field a lot more than in previous games, and as a result, more points were scored. I was expecting that change to carry over into 2015, but instead, I got more of the same, boring and ineffective play calling that had held the Lions back offensively in 2014, and I was greatly disappointed. Offensive Coordinator John Donovan needs to change things up, or else he won't win over very many fans in Happy Valley. I was also expecting an improved offensive line, but judging by the Temple defense picking up 10 sacks, that problem has not been fixed either.

The Lions have a game at home this upcoming Saturday against Buffalo. I will be attending this contest at Beaver Stadium. Hopefully, I will not have to write another post like this in 2015. The way I see it, things have nowhere to go but up.