2026 Week 2 Preview: Penn State Nittany Lions @ Temple Owls

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Game notes

• Time and date: Saturday, September 12 at 12:00 p.m. ET
• Network: ESPN2
• Location: Beaver Stadium — University Park, PA
• Spread: Penn State (-23.5)
• Over/under: 49.5
• All-time series: Penn State leads, 40-4-1
• Last meeting: Penn State 34, Temple 27 — September 17, 2016
• Current streak: Penn State, 1 (2016)

Setting the scene

“We should play Penn State or Pitt every year.”

These were words of Temple head coach K.C. Keeler, who envisions a regional future for his Owls. Penn State and Temple used to play regularly, meeting 21 out of 23 years from 1975 to 1997 and 10 out of 11 years from 2006 to 2016.

Last time the teams squared off in 2016, Penn State emerged in 34-27 fashion. Unbeknownst at the time, the unranked matchup featured two eventual conference champions. But last time Temple played host at Lincoln Financial Field, it was a memorable entry for the series. The Owls snapped a 31-game losing streak to the Nittany Lions with a commanding 27-10 upset, fueled by 10 sacks from a Tyler Matakevich led defense.

Matakevich and the 2015 captains will be honorary captains Saturday in Philadelphia, as Temple (1-0, 0-0 American) welcomes Penn State (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) in what is expected to be the Owls’ greatest crowd in over a decade.

Penn State Nittany Lions outlook

The Matt Campbell era couldn’t have started any better in Happy Valley.

Penn State completely shut out a Marshall team led by the Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year at quarterback. The Nittany Lions fully controlled the opener on both sides. Marshall never crossed the Penn State 34-yard line and finished 1-of-11 on third down. Meanwhile, Penn State’s revamped offense more than tripled the Thundering Herd’s yardage output, 487-147, demonstrating more explosiveness through the air than Nittany Lion teams of yesteryear.

Sometimes transfer laden teams don’t gel together quickly, as observed with Oklahoma State. But a Nittany Lion team starting more transfers than holdovers — with many arriving with Campbell from Iowa State — already recorded a more complete, dominant performance than the 2025 team did all of last year.

Penn State places confidence in quarterback Rocco Becht, who enters his fourth year as a starter after accruing valuable experience at Iowa State. Becht previously led the Cyclones to their winningest campaign in program history, and his success from Ames translated in the opener. Becht posted 271 passing yards and four touchdowns, completing 13-of-18 attempts without an interception. Even in limited attempts, he recorded the highest passing output in the Nittany Lions’ last 24 games.

Becht arrived with several familiar receivers from Iowa State including Brett Eskildsen, Zay Robinson, Chase Sowell, and tight end Benjamin Brahmer, who all had productive openers. But Penn State’s top receiver last Saturday was a remnant of the James Franklin era. True sophomore Koby Howard already eclipsed his 2025 receiving yards total with a 161-yard explosion in the opener, regularly getting open and using his shiftiness to register extra yards after each catch. Despite a 5’11” stature, he also “Moss”ed a Marshall corner for an impressive jumpball, showing all the tools to be Penn State’s WR1 to kick off the Campbell era.

The run game didn’t show as much dominance. Carries were divvied up between four backs, with Iowa State transfer Carson Hansen leading the charge with 44 yards on 11 carries. Establishing a stronger ground presence will be an objective in Philadelphia.

Under new coordinator D’Anton Lynn, a former Nittany Lion cornerback (2008-11), Penn State’s defense was nearly immaculate against Marshall. Not a single Marshall handoff racked up more than five yards, and the Thundering Herd were denied of a single explosive passing play, failing to connect on anything longer than 14 yards. Linebackers Tony Rojas and Caleb Bacon swarmed the backfield with a combined five tackles for loss, while veteran defensive backs Zion Tracy and Marcus Neal showed sound tackling from the secondary.

Temple Owls outlook

Temple is 1-0 for the second-straight year under K.C. Keeler, but the Owls didn’t start 2026 with an exclamation point like they did in 2025. They faced FCS competition in Rhode Island and led just 17-14 in the final minute of the second quarter, before rattling off three touchdowns for a 24-point victory.

The opener left more questions than answers. Some of the question marks are injury related, as starting middle linebacker Eric Stuart and strong safety Avery Powell — two of the top three returning tacklers from last season — are game-time decisions. Additionally, Temple must operate without second-year starting left tackle Gioakoby Hills for several weeks after he sustained an injury in the opener.

Another question is the quarterback position. Temple had zero FBS starts in its quarterback room entering the season and continues a two-man competition through the start of the season. Both quarterbacks technically earned the starting nod on a trick play in Week 1. Then, Penn State transfer Jaxon Smolik saw the first two series, while former Rutgers quarterback Ajani Sheppard played the third and fourth possessions, and the two-drive rotation continued throughout the duration of the contest.

Smolik finished 4-of-6 with 57 passing yards and a touchdown, and his drives resulted in 17 points and a turnover. Sheppard finished 5-of-10 with 85 passing yards and 23 rushing yards as the more mobile quarterback, and his drives resulted in seven points and zero turnovers. The rotation should continue another week as the Owls search for a stronger performance through the air — having personnel such as all-conference tight end Peter Clarke and receivers JoJo Bermudez and Colin Chase to support the two quarterbacks.

Although Temple lacked in the passing game in opener, it delivered in the backfield. Keveun Mason rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns en route to the Owls’ highest rushing total since Nov. 5, 2022. Even down Hills, Mason still has the support of an experienced offensive line returning three other starters from last season.

The Owls allowed 14 first half points to Rhode Island, but the defense had its moments in Week 1. They forced six punts, including four three-and-outs, and won the turnover battle, 3-1. Winning the turnover battle has been a signature of Keeler teams. In 2024, his Sam Houston Bearkats ranked eighth nationally with a +12 in turnover margin, and last year, his Owls ranked eighth with a +11.

Outside linebacker Curly Ordonez led the Owls in tackles last season and repeated the feat in the opener with eight stops. Temple may need to display its depth if Stuart and Powell are unable to go, but there is veteran talent across a defense that didn’t lose a single starter to the transfer portal. One newcomer to monitor on this defense is safety Kolin Dinkins, a Penn State transfer pitted against his former program after totaling three tackles in his Temple debut.

Prediction

One week is not a fair sample size. But in Week 1, Penn State’s offense took a significant step forward, especially in the passing game, from the product displayed in 2025. That is one significant edge to Penn State, as Rocco Becht and his bevy of receivers could be due for another productive day in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, Temple didn’t replicate its passing prowess from 2025. There have been a few exceptions, but two-quarterback rotations are ineffective more often than not, especially for a three-plus touchdown underdog like Temple. Some programs that employed such rotations, such as 2024 SMU and 2025 Western Michigan, turned their seasons around the instant they settled on one quarterabck.

Temple’s offense had its struggles against Rhode Island, and now the competition significantly ramps up. Solving Penn State’s defense is a significant challenge, and Marshall’s talented quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson struggled getting any movement on it last weekend.

Given Temple’s struggles in the passing game, the Nittany Lions nearly produce a second-straight shutout. In the process, they exorcise the demons from 11 years ago in their return to Lincoln Financial Field.

Prediction: Penn State 38, Temple 3

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