Steve Addazio talks some Penn State.
There's an old UPS commercial about what can Brown do for you, which reminds me of what beating Penn State can do for you, a long-time Temple fan.
A strong argument can be made that beating Penn State would mean more to Temple than any other school in the country.
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| Owls will have to fly to the football like this to beat PSU. |
More to Temple than Pitt, more to Temple than Syracuse, more to Temple than Rutgers.
And it has nothing to do with the fact that Temple's last win over PSU came the same year the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
The reason is simple.
Penn State is 250 miles away from Philadelphia, yet the Philadelphia media has for the past half-century treated Penn State as one of the Philadelphia pro teams, not a college team four hours away.
It's the same media centered no more than one mile south of Temple's main campus in the former building of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.
At the same time, Temple's football team was ignored, comparatively speaking.
You can make an argument that Penn State deserved all this coverage and Temple did not, but that argument doesn't make the lopsided coverage any less aggravating to the average Temple fan.
Temple is the city of Philadelphia's largest employer, is the largest school in the region the newspapers, TV and radio stations serve, is the largest educator, has the most alumni.
Penn State is largely an outsider getting insider treatment.
I have a feeling Penn State will be an afterthought very soon, but the Lions' 34-7 win over a solid Navy program gave them some credibility that it did not have after losses to Ohio and Virginia.
Penn State is credible now.
I don't think they will be by the time the Owls next face them on Aug. 30, 2014. Two years of 15 scholarships will do that to a program.
So this is the year to beat Penn State.
The Lions can still lose to Temple this year and finish with a respectable season in the Big 10. Despite the defections, they have enough talent leftover to be dangerous the rest of the way.
More defections and lack of scholarships will take a larger toll in ensuing years.
The next time they lose to Temple, they will be struggling to 1- and 2-win seasons.
If the Owls want a win over Penn State to mean anything, they better take advantage of the opportunity now.
They might even win back their own town by doing it.
