Maybe this was a simple as Penn State looking ahead.
Penn State running back Stephfon Green (21) rushes past Temple's Junior Galette.
Temple quarterback Chester Stewart (7) is hauled down by Penn
State safety Drew Astorino (28) and lin
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Penn State's Joe Paterno coaches during
the first half.
There were signs.
They started showing up Tuesday, when Joe Paterno said his team had a very mediocre practice.
"Joe had to stop practice a little bit," quarterback Daryll Clark said. "He wanted to make sure we understood Temple was better than last year."
There were also some distractions during the week. Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma, two players suspended after police found marijuana in their apartment, were formerly charged, each with one count each of marijuana possession.
Sure, there's been news of that type at least weekly since before the season started. But maybe there's a point where this sort of thing wears you down.
Then there was the injury to the coach/legend, age 81. Paterno told his staff after the Syracuse game he thought he had hurt, or tweaked, or aggravated, the same leg he broke in a sidelines collision at Wisconsin nearly two years ago.
Something about the hard artificial turf at the Carrier Dome, perhaps. There was a rumor that Joe had hurt it demonstrating an onsides kick at practice, but that's the kind of thing people would say regardless of the truth.
Whatever. It meant JoePa likely would spend all or part of the game with his assistants upstairs, in the coaches' box.
He of course hated being asked about either of those things.
On Evans/Koroma: "Do you know what they were charged with?"
Misdemeanors?
"Yeah," Paterno said. "The ball's not in my court… It's up to judicial affairs and the people downtown."
On the leg: "It's OK. When I stand on it too long, it aches, but I'm probably babying myself.
"We have a bunch of kids coming together and dealing with all kinds of adversity, and you're worried about my leg? If you were a bunch of pretty girls I'd feel better about it."
Jay Paterno, Joe's son and quarterbacks coach, said his Dad pretty much doesn't take painkilling medication, even Tylenol.
"He's not made of the same stuff as the rest of us," Jay said.
Anyway, Joe took the field before the game, but walking slowly rather than his customary run-out with the team. He stayed until halftime, and spent the rest of the game upstairs.
That doesn't just change Joe's workday routine.
Jay noticed that offensive coordinator Galen Hall rearranged the chairs a bit in the box before the second half, presumably to increase the physical distance between Hall and his boss.
"If he's on the sideline, at least he can't yell directly at me," Jay said.
Not that any of that matters. Joe missed the 2006 Temple game entirely the week after breaking the leg, and coached from upstairs during that season's defeat of Tennessee in the Outback Bowl. Penn State performed well in both cases.
"I can have more input upstairs," Joe said.
What does matter is this week's long-awaited Big Ten opener with Illinois. National TV, at night. Paternoville and all that.
Also, there was how last year's Illinois game played out. The Lions yielded a 98-yard kickoff return TD and committed three turnovers on their last four possessions. Anthony Morelli, then the QB, threw three interceptions inside the Illinois 20 and also fumbled in the final minutes.
It was one that smarted, one the Lions felt they let get away. Clark, who didn't play in that game, mentioned it last week, and amplified Saturday.
"We definitely left some points on the field," Clark said. "The guy [Morelli] definitely made mistakes.
"But it wasn't like, 'He's doing terrible, I need to be in there.' I just wanted to be in that game."
Also: This was Temple. Scrappy, well-coached, but Temple. Cannon fodder for the fourth straight week.
"It's tough to be emotionally up every week," quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said.
Penn State's three first-quarter possessions ended in a sack of Clark, a bad interception thrown by Clark, and a punt. Actually, the first possession began with a fumble, Derrick Williams coughing up a punt return but teammate Anthony Scirrotto recovering. For the game, Penn State fumbled five times, but recovered four of them.
On the pick, Clark overthrew 6-6 receiver Brett Brackett.
"It wasn't like I was throwing into coverage; he was open," Clark said.
"That was a bad throw. I mean, how can you overthrow a [6-6] wideout?"
I know what you're thinking: Didn't they win 45-3?
They did. Everything after the first quarter was pretty good, and the defense, really needed for the first time, responded. But this is a very experienced, very explosive team. The standards are pretty high.
"It was very sloppy, to be perfectly frank," Joe Paterno said. "I wish we had been a little more precise. I wasn't very pleased."
One bad quarter out of 16 this season. But for the first time this year, the Lions appeared, at times, to be coasting a bit.
"[It was like], 'These guys can't beat us,"' Paterno admitted.
The message is just that the time to get serious is overdue.
"The kids are anxious… I'm anxious, to see what kind of football team we have," Paterno said.
They aren't the only ones.
Mike Gross is assistant sports editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at mgross@lnpnews.com.
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