Penn State 27-9 Temple (Sep 12, 2026) Final Score

Team pages: Penn State · Temple

No. 16 Penn State2-027

Temple1-19Final

Sat, Sep 12 · Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pa. · Crowd 61,714

No. 16 Penn State beat Temple 27-9.

We had Penn State favored. It won.

Next: Penn State beat Buffalo 55-13, Sat Sep 19

Next: Temple lost to Toledo 49-48, Sat Sep 19

Top comment in the game thread

Oh Campbell 2 minutes sucks. Left no time and scores. How awful.

Q2 0:08 · r/CFB game thread · Sat, Sep 12

How it swung

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Penn State a 69% chance, and the closing betting line (Penn State was a 24.5-point favorite) put it at 98%.

Favored the whole way: Penn State never fell below 83%.

Temple never had better than a 16% chance.

Blocked field goalQ3 11:46

FinalPenn State 27-9 TemplePenn State wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

What fans said, play by play

The line in bold above each quote is written by our model from the thread’s comments and the play-by-play.

Q1 5:46Penn State fans criticize Becht and the running game after a turnover on downsour oline might not be good. outside of the 1st throw of the game to howard, becht has made terrible decisions today.r/CFB game thread
Q2 0:08Penn State fans criticize Matt Campbell's clock management after a touchdownQuoted at the top of the page.MATT CAMPBELL WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? CALL THE TIMEO- WOOOOOAHHr/CFB game thread

Penn State’s chance to win after every play.

How to read this chart

Starts from the pregame line (Penn State -24.5), at 95% for Penn State (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. Outlined diamonds mark rare plays. Under the scores, r/CFB comments per minute from fans with a Temple or Penn State flair (114 and 610); both sides share one scale, regulation only. A gold diamond marks a play fans were reacting to.

Watch the plays

The bar and the arrow show Penn State’s chance to win after each play; the logo is the team the play helped.

Every drive

Penn State scored on 5 of its 9 drives; Temple on 2 of its 9.

Penn State’s drives are teal, Temple’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

“Wow, Penn State gets inside the 5 yard line twice in the first 10 minutes and doesn’t score any points.”

A Temple fan

When fans got loud

Busy

It was the first quarter that had fans talking the most.

Jump to the loudest stretch

The jump was busy; the crowd was steady.

Box score

Penn State 27, Temple 9

Temple covered +24.5 by 6.5. The total, 36, stayed under 49.5.

Team totals	Penn State	Temple
Total yards	416	283
Passing	21 of 27, 268 yds	13 of 22, 107 yds
Rushing	34 for 148 yds	33 for 176 yds
First downs	23	14
Third down	6 of 12	4 of 12
Fourth down	0 of 1	2 of 2
Turnovers	0	1
Penalties	4 for 20 yds	5 for 60 yds
Time of possession	28:49	31:11

Penn State leaders

Passing Rocco Becht 21 of 27, 268 yds, 3 TD
Rushing Carson Hansen 19 for 84 yds; James Peoples 7 for 42 yds
Receiving Benjamin Brahmer 5 for 79 yds, 2 TD; Koby Howard 3 for 68 yds

Temple leaders

Passing Jaxon Smolik 10 of 16, 59 yds, 1 INT
Rushing Keveun Mason 14 for 76 yds; Jaxon Smolik 7 for 71 yds
Receiving Jayce Freeman 1 for 39 yds; Peter Clarke 6 for 31 yds

No rain and calm

79° at kickoff · no rain recorded · wind 8 mph from the south-southeast, gusts to 16

Warmer than 9 in 10 of the 66 other games played at Lincoln Financial Field since 2016 (airport temperature during the game window).

September game-day temperatures at Lincoln Financial Field

Drag along the chart, or step through the game.

First quarter, 14:48 left12:03 p.m.

Penn State 0, Temple 0 · Temple 5% to win

no rain · wind 6 mph from the south-southeast · 79°

Becht 56-yd pass to Howard; face mask on Temple

Where this weather comes from

Measured at Philadelphia International airport, 3.7 miles away, and Philadelphia Ne airport, 15 miles away. Rain is NOAA's radar-and-gauge estimate at the stadium and wind is an airport reading; neither is measured on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; rain radar from NOAA MRMS, through Iowa State University. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last three games · 2025 season

Penn State · 7-6

Rated 46th in our preseason ratings, 38th now.

Three straight wins, capped by a 12-point win over Clemson as a 2.5-point underdog.

W 22-10 @ ClemsonTop 25 #23 of 667

won by 12 as a 2.5-point underdog

W 40-36 @ Rutgers #79 of 667

won by 4 as a 14.5-point favorite

W 37-10 vs NebraskaTop 25 #62 of 667

won by 27 as a 7.5-point favorite

W 28-10 @ Michigan State #87 of 667

won by 18 as a 6.5-point favorite

L 24-27 vs IndianaTop 25 #5 of 667

lost by 3 as a 13.5-point underdog

L 14-38 @ Ohio StateTop 25 #1 of 667

lost by 24 as a 17.5-point underdog

L 24-25 @ IowaTop 25 #37 of 667

lost by 1 as a 3.5-point underdog

L 21-22 vs Northwestern #61 of 667

lost by 1 as a 20.5-point favorite

L 37-42 @ UCLA #61 of 667

lost by 5 as a 24.5-point favorite

L 24-30 vs OregonTop 25 #2 of 667

lost by 6 as a 4.5-point favorite

W 52-6 vs Villanova #145 of 667

won by 46 as a 47.5-point favorite

W 34-0 vs Florida International #108 of 667

won by 34 as a 41.5-point favorite

W 46-11 vs Nevada #139 of 667

won by 35 as a 43.5-point favorite

Last three games · 2025 season

Temple · 5-7

Rated 90th in our preseason ratings, 89th now.

Three straight losses.

L 25-52 @ North TexasTop 25 #29 of 667

lost by 27 as a 20.5-point underdog

L 13-37 vs TulaneTop 25 #51 of 667

lost by 24 as a 7.5-point underdog

L 13-14 @ Army #112 of 667

lost by 1 as a 7.5-point underdog

L 14-45 vs East Carolina #49 of 667

lost by 31 as a 5.5-point underdog

W 38-37 @ Tulsa #149 of 667

won by 1 as a 3.5-point favorite

W 49-14 @ Charlotte #221 of 667

won by 35 as a 9.5-point favorite

L 31-32 vs NavyTop 25 #86 of 667

lost by 1 as a 10.5-point underdog

W 27-21 vs UTSA #68 of 667

won by 6 as a 6.5-point underdog

L 24-45 @ Georgia TechTop 25 #39 of 667

lost by 21 as a 24.5-point underdog

L 3-42 vs OklahomaTop 25 #13 of 667

lost by 39 as a 24.5-point underdog

W 55-7 vs Howard #223 of 667

won by 48 as a 27.5-point favorite

W 42-10 @ Massachusetts #156 of 667

won by 32 as a 2.5-point favorite

Week by week

Temple

Wk 1Wvs Rhode Island38-14

Penn State

Wk 1Wvs Marshall45-0

Matchups

Biggest mismatch: Penn State’s passing EPA against Temple, 58 points

Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.

Penn State’s passing EPA against Temple’s defense
Penn State offense, 74th percentile · Temple defense, 16th
Penn State’s EPA/play against Temple’s defense
Penn State offense, 41st percentile · Temple defense, 14th
Penn State’s explosive plays against Temple’s defense
Penn State offense, 32nd percentile · Temple defense, 64th

Season profile, all the rows

Season profile

Penn StateTemple

EPA/play, offense

EPA/play, defense

Success rate, offense

Success rate, defense

Explosive-play rate, offense

Explosive-play rate, defense

Rush EPA, offense

Rush EPA, defense

Pass EPA, offense

Pass EPA, defense

The series

Penn State leads the series 40-4-1

45 meetings since 1931 · Penn State won the last meeting

2016Penn State 34-27
2015Temple 27-10
2014Penn State 30-13
2012Penn State 24-13
2011Penn State 14-10

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Temple fans are in a better mood than Penn State fans (80th vs 17th among FBS fanbases), even with Penn State favored.

Penn State favored by 24.5 · Total 49.5

How games like this usually go

Penn State by 24.5, and it went to form

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 411 games since 2025 with a favorite of 21.5 points or more.

The market

The spread moved 3 points toward Penn State.

The total fell 2 points.

The books’ cut: 3.7%, the margin built into the odds

Weather at kickoff

Warm and dry. Feels like 82° at kickoff.

Penn State at Temple · Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026 · Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia

82°feels like at kickoff
Dryno rain at kickoff
81weather score, Mixed
Tiedfor the roughest of the day's 7 kickoff times

At kickoff, Sept. 12, 2026.

Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50.

Later kickoff times scored higher that Saturday

Games in this time zone used 7 kickoff times that day, local time (kickoffs within 30 minutes of each other count as one). This game, ringed, was tied for the roughest of the day's seven kickoff times. At Lincoln Financial Field that day, a 7 pm or 7:30 pm kickoff would have scored 100, against 81 at noon.

The roughest kickoff time is the lowest of the day's times. It can still be Mixed or Comfortable.

noon: 81, Mixed (this game)
1 pm: 79, Mixed
2 pm: 79, Mixed
3:30 pm: 83, Mixed
6 pm: 97, Comfortable
7 pm: 100, Ideal
7:30 pm: 100, Ideal

Weather score at each kickoff time.

Tap a dot to read that kickoff time.

At kickoff, Sept. 12, 2026. Wind is not drawn here; gusts are in each score.

Home field

Temple is worth +3.0 points (±4.6) more at home than on the road since 2018 — bottom third of FBS, 29th percentile.

41% at home, 24% on the road against FBS opponents (19-27 home, 11-34 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +3.1 at home vs. away over 98 games — inside the ±6.3 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

The visitors travel about 155 miles to get here.

No. 16 Penn State beats Temple 27-9