The Matt Campbell era at Penn State got off to a roaring start in Week 1, as the new-look Nittany Lions rolled to an easy 45-0 win over Marshall in Happy Valley. But on Saturday, the scene will shift about 200 miles to the southeast, where Penn State will take on Temple in the program's first game against an in-state FBS opponent this decade.
Overall, the Nittany Lions have owned the Owls, just like they've owned things against pretty much every other program in Pennsylvania. But there's been some consternation about just how long it's been since Penn State has been willing to actually play one of these games. And memories from the last time they tangled with Temple should have Campbell on high alert.
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Overall, this rivalry has been the sort of walk you'd expect from a series between one of the preeminent programs of the last half-century or so and a Group of 6 team that's only made a bowl game nine times in its entirey history. Penn State leads the all-time series 40-4-1 — and three of those losses came in the 1930s and 1940s.
The fourth, though? That one is much more recent; 2015, to be precise, when Matt Rhule and the Owls held Christian Hackenberg and the Penn State offense to just 183 total yards in a 27-10 win in Philly.
The two programs also faced off the next year in Happy Valley, and while Penn State exacted some revenge, it wasn't nearly as comfortable as anyone would've liked — a 34-27 win in which Temple QB PJ Walker put quite a scare into the Nittany Lion faithful. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that the two programs haven't played since. Then again, that's become something of a theme of late.
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Penn State has been happy to play in-state FCS programs like Villanova. When it comes to FBS rivals, though, it's been a different story: In addition to not having played Temple since 2016, they haven't played Pitt — a series with decades of spicy history — since 2019.
To be clear, this is still the premier power in the state by a mile. Between FBS and FCS games combined, Penn State is 171-96-12 all-time against Pennsylvania programs. The Nittany Lions have won their last three games against the Panthers, in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
But under James Franklin, the program was none too happy about risking a loss — and regional and recruiting bragging rights — that could jeopardize Playoff positioning ahead of an already-rugged Big Ten gauntlet, which is why these sorts of games have been put on the backburner. Matt Campbell comes from a job in Iowa State that knew a thing or two about a great in-state rivalry, so hopefully we can get back to playing these games on a more regular basis.
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