Temple University Athletics
Temple University
PENN STATE
No. 5 Penn State Downs Temple, 31-6
9.19.09 | Football
Vaughn Charlton passed for 205 yards in the loss
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Penn State (3-0) wanted to establish its running game against visiting Temple (0-2) on Saturday afternoon, and that is exactly what the No. 5/5 Nittany Lions did in building a 21-3 halftime lead en route to a 31-6 win, in front of 105,514 fans at Beaver Stadium.
Junior tailback Evan Royster rushed for 119 of his game-high 134 yards in the opening 30 minutes, including a seven-yard touchdown. Senior quarterback Darryl Clark passed for just 67 yards in the first half, but two of his eight completions were for touchdowns.
Unlike 2008, when Penn State accumulated 546 yards of total offense to Temple's 138, this game was far from one-sided. The Owls' offense, under the direction of junior QB Vaughn Charlton, amassed 251 yards, while the Nittany Lions had 359.
Charlton, who completed 15 of 33 passes for 205 yards, kept the Owls in the contest, demonstrating his strong arm in leading the Cherry and White down the field for a field goal to close out the first quarter. After an apparent 49-yard TD pass to James Nixon on the first play was dropped following a Jordan Martin interception, Charlton connected with Nixon for a 29-yard gain to the PSU 13.
A holding penalty pushed TU back 10 yards, but Charlton rushed for seven and then hit Lamar McPherson for a 13-yard gain to set up a 25-yard field goal by Brandon McManus as time expired in the first quarter. It marked the first time an opponent had scored against Penn State in the opening quarter this season.
Temple then stunned the Beaver Stadium crowd when McManus' onsides kickoff was recovered by junior Jaiquawn Jarrett at the Penn State 49. Charlton hit Steve Maneri for an 11-yard reception on the first play, but then the imposing Nittany Lion defense put the clamps on the Owls' attack.
The two teams then exchanged bad field position. First junior punter Jeff Wathne pinned Penn State inside the five with a 37-yard punt. Following two first downs, PSU's Jeremy Boone nailed a 51-yard punt to the Temple five.
The Owls failed to move the ball and Wathne, forced to punt from his own end zone, managed only 31 yards to give the Nittany Lions the ball at the Temple 35. PSU quickly capitalized as Royster carried the final four plays of a six-play drive for 24 yards, including his seven-yard run to paydirt that made the score 14-3 with 5:46 to play in the half.
After Nixon's 31-yard kickoff return gave Temple solid field position, sophomore RB Kee-ayre Griffin (11 carries, 42 yards) rushed twice times for 18 yards to give the Owls a first down at the PSU 46. A PSU holding penalty and two short gains set up a fourth-and-one play. TU coach Al Golden elected to go for it, but Charlton's pass intended for junior receiver Michael Campbell was too long.
Penn State marched down the field on a 10-play, 64-yard drive, 33 of those yards coming from the legs of Royster, to extend the lead to 21-3 on a four-yard touchdown pass from Clark to Derek Moye.
The Owls opened the third quarter with an impressive drive, highlighted by a Charlton 36-yard pass to sophomore RB Joe Jones (4 catches, 75 yards) down the left sideline. A PSU personal foul on a late hit moved the ball to the 14 yard-line, but the drive stalled there. McManus converted his second field goal attempt of the day, this one for 35 yards to make it 21-6.
Temple's defense, which play well despite the score, forced a Penn State punt on the ensuing possession, but sophomore QB Chester Stewart, who played a few downs in the contest, fumbled on the first play to give PSU the ball on the Temple 23.
Following a Royster 14-yard first down run to the TU six, the Owls' defense, in particular junior LB Elijah Joseph, came up big. Joseph made two consecutive tackles for loss, first a solid hit in the backfield on Royster then he drilled Clark for a three-yard loss to push Penn State back to the Owls' 10. Collin Wagner drilled a 27-yard field goal to make it 24-6.
Penn State capped the scoring with a 12-play, 74-yard drive to open the fourth quarter. Sophomore RB Stephfon Green rushed in from three-yards out for his first touchdown of the season to make it 31-6.
Senior DB Dominique Harris led the Owls with 10 tackles.
The Owls next take the gridiron on Saturday when they host Buffalo in their Mid-American Conference opener at Lincoln Financial Field (Noon/myphl17/1340 AM WHAT). The 1979 Garden State Bowl Champion Temple Owls will be honored at halftime of that game.
Temple Postgame Notes
Sept. 19, 2009
at No. 5 Penn State
- Temple Team Captains: #12 Vaughn Charlton (defense), #4 Alex Joseph (defense), 2 NT Andre Neblett (defense), and #73 OT Devin Tyler (offense).
- Carrying flags for Temple today were #26 RB Joe Jones, #30 RB Bernard Pierce, and #84 WR Michael Campbell.
- Junior LB Jordan Martin made his first career interception in the first quarter.
- True freshman PK Brandon McManus put Temple on the scoreboard with a 25-yard field goal as the first quarter ended, helping the Owls to become the first team to score against Penn State in the first stanza this season. McManus also added a 35-yard field goal in the third quarter, his longest to date. McManus is a perfect three-for-three in field goals in two contests.
- Redshirt junior QB Vaughn Charlton went 15-of-33 for 205yards, marking the third time in his career (and second consecutive game) that he's thrown for 200-plau yards. He threw for a career-high 317 yards against Villanova in the season opener.
- Redshirt sophomore RB Joe Jones made a career-high four receptions for a career-high 75 yards, including a career-long 36-yard catch, while leading the Owls in receiving for the game.
- Senior RB Lamar McPherson had the first two receptions of his career for 27 yards.
- Junior LB Elijah “Peanut” Joseph had the first sack of his career while adding two TFL.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Al Golden
Temple Head Coach
Q: What's different from the last three times you played these guys? In terms of the competitiveness of the game, as the game went along, was that one of the biggest things that you noticed?
A: Probably. I was pleased; we're obviously stronger. We're more physical. We had some guys that finished the game. So, I was pleased with our competitiveness. We still had some guys that lost their poise, which we've got to get over that, which has a lot to do with coming and playing here. It was considerably less than last time we came, so it's a process for them. I'm pleased that a lot of guys competed today.
Q: You had four drops at least...
A: I just thought that there were some times that we just either didn't put it on them or a kid kind of just cut his route off- just kind of lost their poise a little bit at times. Especially the little screen passes. I'll throw a number out there, I'm not sure it was correct, but I bet you we were one-for-six on screens and you can't do that on the screen game. A lot of that was just some guys losing their poise on the timing part of it.
Q: On the offensive line...
A: We only had one (sack) until the end and I don't want to say it was garbage time either because a lot of kids on both teams were fighting. We had one when Vaughn (Charlton) was in there and I think Chester (Stewart) took one when he was in there and then Vaughn took another one late. I don't know if we ended up with three or four, but for three quarters I bet you it was only one. I'm pleased with the offensive line. I was pleased with their demeanor, their look. During the game, we ran the ball better than we ever have. I don't know what the finals were, but there were a lot of good six-, seven-yard runs. We've got to get the running backs to run harder, more consistently. That's going to be a challenge right now to the running backs to run the ball harder, more consistently and finish runs. We're not doing that well enough right now.
Q: You did a lot of things in the first half, you had the on-side kick, you had fourth-down plays. Was that part of your plan?
A: I think any time your play an operation like this, you have to give your kids a chance. Also as coaches, you want to show them that you're here to compete. This year was really the first time I heard guys say, 'Hey, let's go up there and win. Let's go up there and try to win.' As opposed to 'Let's just survive.' Obviously it didn't work out, but at least they had a good attitude going into the game. Again, we wanted to be aggressive. We had a chance to hit a post early to James (Nixon), we didn't convert it and boy that would've done wonders. When you have shots against Penn State, you have to convert them and we didn't do that necessarily, but you have to give them a lot of credit, they're a heck of a defense and they were very tough in the red area.
Q: Were you pleased with placekicker Brandon McManus in his first game?
A: Yes. Yeah, he was very poised. He's one of the guys that was very poised, and he's very confident. His first kickoff he hit the ground and he came over with like a 'it will never happen again' kind of attitude, so he has a great attitude for a kicker because he has a short memory. He didn't let that ruin the rest of his day. He really drilled them, to be honest with you. He hit them really good. He had good lift. I'm very pleased with him. Obviously he's three-for-three for the year.
Q: About the talk coming in about Penn State not being able to run the ball against a stacked line- It didn't seem like you had that game plan.
A: The big thing is that if you don't give them the big play, you have the chance to make some plays. Now, what their running backs did well was they protected the ball and what their quarterback does exceedingly well is protect the football. When you have that philosophy of trying to get them to go the distance rather than give them quick ones, because Akron had given them a lot of quick ones and we didn't want to do that. When you have that philosophy you have to create some plays. We never really created some takeaways. We got one early, we dropped another one- I think we dropped two actually. I think both safeties dropped one that we could've had. You've got to catch the one he throws you. What they did do running well today was the second-level runs, the kind of delayed or kind of a full trap or a draw. They did that really well and (Evan) Royster is a good back in space and we have to do a better job tackling.
Q: You didn't have as much success when quarterback Chester (Stewart) came in today. What went wrong on that first play?
A: He just fumbled the ball coming out, so the timing of the play was destroyed there. Then on the second one he had a good game going and he fumbles. We're not going to give up on the kid. He's talented and there are some things that he can do for us, but obviously you can't turn the ball over.
Q: On huddling the whole team at the start of the fourth quarter...
A: It's tradition. We just try to make sure that we continue to do that, so that they can hear from me and that we learn how to finish. There are so many things I wish we had done better at, executed better at. In terms of the kids flying around and trying to finish the game and everything, I'm happy about that. We've just got to keep our poise a little bit. The thing that I was most pleased about was for Vaughn (Charlton) to come into this environment and really look it in the eye and not lose his poise. I thought Vaughn Charlton played with great poise, made good decisions, made some big-time throws. We have to help him out a little bit better. We could have caught some of the ones he threw us early that would have got us going, but I thought he really came back well. Obviously, having no interceptions is great.
Q: On letting Penn State score another touchdown before the half...
A: It would've been nice to go in at 14-3. Certainly 21-3, with us getting the ball, if we had come out scored right away, then you've got a shot or something. It's not over there, but you get the sense that you've got to do something quick. We didn't do that. We didn't come out and score right away. We had some chances to, but they stopped us in the red zone. They did a nice job in the red zone and then we got a penalty on the punt later on, which hurt.
Q: You did have a delay of game. You had to call one or two timeouts late. Is that just early-season operational things?
A: No, I don't think so, because we didn't have it in the first game. I just think, like I said, I thought some guys lost their poise. I'm just going to be honest with you, because we haven't had many penalties at all and today we had to use some time-outs and we had some operational penalties and we were rushed other times. Always the coaches first, coaches have to do a better job, myself included. That's the first thing, but the second thing is that the players have to play with a little bit of poise. We had some guys out there that were like deer in the headlights a little bit, but we had less than we had last year, I promise you that.
Q: Were you bothered by the roughing the kicker penalty?
A: I'm always bothered by that. I coach it, No. 1. They way we teach it, there's no reason for you to get near the punter. We teach outside arm in that case, so even if you put you're outside arm across the punter's foot, your body won't touch the punter. He's one of the most honest kids I've even been around and he swears it hit his elbow. Certainly, when the young man punts it for 50-yard average and that one goes into the stands or wherever it ended up, I certainly tended to believe him that he did get a piece of it. I guess it didn't prove that way.
Q: On Penn State's offensive line, did you see anything different from the previous two games?
A: I don't think. I just think they got us on different levels with their running game and I thought Royster really made some great cuts. We missed some open-field tackles. We didn't contain the ball very well in terms of our force at times, which enabled him to get out. They were exactly what we thought they were going to be. I thought our guys battled. If you've got a chance when you're in the red zone, you've got to score. Otherwise, the defense has to keep going back out there, so it all works together.
Q: What'd you tell the guys after the game?
A: Coming into the game, it was about poise and unity. I thought we stayed together. Our poise wasn't very good. The younger guys have to learn from this. Hopefully next year that "awe" factor will be reduced even more or will be minimized even more. Then basically, let's get dressed and get out of here. We've got Buffalo coming in and we've got our whole season in front of us. The tournament starts basically this weekend. It's a 10-game tournament coming up. Eight of them are MAC games and that's it. We learned a lot from these first two games, in which we were 1-1, but we made too many mistakes in the opener to win that one and we didn't convert enough here. I am very impressed with the way Vaughn Charlton came back today, which is exciting going into the MAC schedule.
TEMPLE POSTGAME PLAYER QUOTES
#19 Brandon McManus
Fr./Fr., PK/P
Q: How did you prepare for this atmosphere, you looked pretty comfortable?
A: My team did a great job. We practiced with crowd noise and my teammates were yelling behind me to get me use to that game atmosphere.
Q: You didn't know until two weeks ago that you would be the kicker, is it different now knowing that for the past two weeks you were going to be the guy this week?
A: No, I was prepared in all of the games. I was still kicking off and I wanted to make sure I was doing good with that. Coming in here, I knew it was going to be a great game and I knew it was going to be a great atmosphere; I just wanted to kick well for my team.
Q: You don't seem to get rattled by much, have you always been this way?
A: I am a pretty calm guy. I mentally block out everything else to keep my focus. My team did a great job preparing me for the crowd noise. I was more excited than nervous to play this team and I just wanted to play well against them.
#77 John Palumbo
So./Jr., OL
Q: Did you feel well prepared for the game?
A: I felt prepared for the game. I studied film all week with my teammates. When I stepped in, there were a few technical mistakes that I wish I didn't make, but overall I felt good about it.
Q. What is this doing for you guys moving forward, with a few potential All-Americans on their [Penn State] defensive line, that really didn't do much today? Did you neutralize on that?
A. They have some great players, all around on defense; linebackers and defensive line. As a whole we did all right. We could have made a few better decisions. We didn't really neutralize them because we didn't win the game. We wish we would have taken better chances with the opportunities that we had, but we didn't. That is really the end of that.
Q. As the game goes on against this team, when you have a missed opportunity that is close, does it feel like the window shuts a little bit more?
A. Absolutely, there are times that we could have made plays that we didn't. It sucks the energy out of you a little bit, but we have to keep fighting. You all have to try to stay on the same page and just keep playing.
#12 Vaughn Charlton
Jr./Sr., QB
Q: Against one of the best defenses in the country you guys didn't really give up too many sacks, what do you guys take away from a game like this?
A: I think our offensive line really came together today. I think what we take away from this game, as far as the offense goes, is unity and trust with each other. I think we really played well today.
Q: You had some drops, as the quarterback do you just have to shake that off?
A: After a play like that you have to forget it. If you let is dwell on you, if you let it hang with you then it will just be a negative thought with negative energy.
Q: Does it take you out of your rhythm at all when Chester [Stewart] comes in?
A: No it doesn't bother me at all. That is what we did this game. I love it. I love when Chester comes in because he is a dynamic player and he causes problems.
Q. The tight ends really didn't have too much success this game; can you explain what happened with that?
A. Yeah, we tried to go to the tight ends a couple of times, but [Penn State's] defense is real hard on the tight ends.
Q. Ball protection went well for you today. Did you try to play conservative?
A. I think the preparation helped me with that. I think I was prepared enough to not have to think. I think I just really came out and played today. That was a big thing coming into this game today, protecting the football.
Joe Paterno
Penn State Head Coach
Q: Can you talk about the overall health of your team. How many guys were sick? Can you talk about how some of them got nicked up today?
A: I'm not sure the figure, but it may be around 15-16 kids who we were worried about at one time or another. They were all ready to play today. I'd like to say something about our medical people. Dr. Auckerman and Dr. Sebastianelli just did a terrific job. Nobody's got better people. They come to practice. We've got two doctors in practice just about every time we suit up. Dr. Auckerman was on top of those kids all the time. I don't think there was anybody, maybe [Tom] McEowen, but we hadn't planned on playing him anyway. He may have been one kid who didn't play, but I think he could have if we wanted to.
Q: How about how you came out of this game? It seems like quite a few guys got nicked up today.
A: I won't know until I talk to the doctors. I don't know. They all come in tomorrow morning and then at 12:00, Doc calls me and we talk about their physical situation. I don't really know of anybody that's serious. I'm hoping that Bowman will be back next week. I don't know if he will or not. He's one guy who just can't get over that problem he has with the leg.
Q: How can you know where these guys are without really challenging your nonconference schedule? Do you remember a time in the past where you didn't have a challenge through your nonconference schedule?
A: I haven't got the slightest idea. We've played well and hard against the teams we've played. All you can do is evaluate your techniques and the things you do in a particular game. We were a little sloppy today in some situations, but overall, I think we played better today than we have so far this year and that's all I keep telling the kids. Let's get better each week and see where we end up. It isn't as if we won't have a chance to show people just how good we are. We'll have an opportunity to do that, but up to now, they've done all that we've asked them to do.
Q: Can you assess the play of Johnnie Troutman today?
A: There's a whole mess of kids on the field; I'm looking at a lot of different things. I can tell you if he fouled up on something. But I think Troutman probably played a pretty good game. I have to look at some tape, but I think he did pretty well.
Q: Was it the flu that was going around the team? Was that specifically what it was? Did Clark or Royster have any of it?
A: Royster did, but Clark didn't. Royster wasn't feeling well. They were treated for a bad cold for a while. We were checking their fever. I think we had about six kids who turned up with a little fever, but the rest of them just felt lousy and they had no energy. We weren't sure whether it would get worse and when I say we, I mean the doctors. The doctors were looking at them and couldn't be sure whether it would develop into something worse or they would be okay. Fortunately, they were okay. We worried about it, trying to space their time. I played Royster more than we intended. Green was another kid who I wasn't sure if he would be able to play. This morning, he felt good.
Q: Can you talk about the performance of the rushing game? Were you pleased with the improvement?
A: I think we did some things well, but again, you've got to understand that Temple didn't play us the same way as Syracuse and Akron played us. Temple played us with a four-spoke secondary, and they did some blitzing later on, but not a lot of it. They just hustled and played good, solid defense. I think that will be a pretty good football team when it's all said and done. We've got to be able to run when they only put seven in the box. If we can't run with seven in the box, then we've really got some problems. We were playing against eight and nine kids in the box the first two games which makes it tough. Especially if you want to spread out a little bit and throw the football.
Q: You said that you played better this week than you did the previous two? What specifically are some of the things you feel your team did better?
A: I just think we played a little tougher across the line of scrimmage. We were a little more precise with our running game. We played with a little more bounce. You get a feel for those things. Each time, you think you did a little better than some other weeks. I can look at the tape and feel differently, but I'd be surprised. I think the kids played a good, solid game.
Q: Was Brackett ill? Is that why Drake played so much too?
A: No, Brackett was okay. Brackett's got to turn it up a little bit maybe. The other kid can do a couple of things in there. We were trying to get those young kids ready for the rest of the season. We know what Brackett can do. You play a kid like Drake, the Smith kid or Brown and do the things they practice because they can't handle everything. They have certain things they can do and when it came time for a certain play, we gave them a chance. Just like that reverse pass, Drake was a former high school quarterback and he can throw the football. He didn't look like it on that pass, but he can throw the ball.
Q: It looked like Daryll took a few more shots than maybe he's taken. How do you think he handled that? Was Temple trying to put pressure up there?
A: One of the first passes we threw, he took a good shot and had to get rid of it. Daryll is a tough kid. It's not a question that he's not tough. We're constantly trying to keep him from getting hit because he's so important to the football team, so we don't want to get him banged up. But I thought he handled it; he can handle it. We did a little better job on the perimeter. They were coming hard on the outside and early in the game, particularly the first series, we didn't do a very good job. But after that, we did alright. Daryll knows what's going on. We had a couple chances for big plays and we didn't block it real well. Then the big kid knocked him down when we were supposed to cut him at the line of scrimmage. We obviously have to get better with things like that.
Q: You have Iowa next week. Iowa beat you last year and probably knocked you out of the national championship game. How much of a sting was that loss last year? Do you remember what you said to the kids and just how tough that loss was?
A: I probably said, let's just forget about it; we've got another one coming up. I don't remember. They deserved to beat us last year. They beat a tough Northern Iowa team then they played really well in their game at Iowa State. I watched a little bit of that tape last night. They played really well. I think Iowa is a good football team. Hopefully, we can play a little better than we did last year. Part of that was the fact that they played so well. They played a heck of a game against us.
Q: Iowa has enjoyed recent success against you. Does Iowa present any matchup problems?
A: No. They play good, tough football. They've played better than we have. I don't think we played in '05 and I think we beat them in '07. I don't know. I don't look back. The team we're going to play this coming Saturday is not the team we played last year or the one we played five years ago. We're not the team we were last year; we're a different team. We've got to make plans with what we have as opposed to what they have. Consistently, they're a very, very physical football team on the line of scrimmage and very aggressive in the secondary. I would imagine they'd bring the same type of thing [next Saturday].
Q: You always stress the importance of a kicking game. You had an onside kick, almost had a punt blocked, given up today and a long return? Are you disappointed in the play of the kicking game?
A: I'm disappointed in the long return. We actually had told the guys to be ready for that onside kick. That kid did a great job. That ball hit the ground before it went up in the air. He banged that thing right in the air. That was on grass; we've seen guys do it on turf, but he hit that thing right in the grass and it went up. Suhey was looking right in the sun and couldn't see it. The ball was in between him and the sun, so it was a perfect play for them. But I don't think we did as good a job as we've got to do. We have to do better with coverage.
Q: Can you talk about your defense? Can you talk about the team speed in particular?
A: I'm disappointed we're not making more plays. I would like to see us get around the ball a little bit better. We have speed, but some of them aren't quite sure what they're doing and they're a little bit hesitant. They don't get the jump on the ball that they should because they don't have the type of confidence they need - organizing the pass rush, trying to steal a step or two, watching the quarterback, watching his shoulders a little bit - little things like that. They have to play a little bit more.
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