By STEVE MASLOWSKY
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State dominated again – even without its legendary head coach roaming the sidelines.
The Nittany Lions defeated Temple yesterday, 45-3, to emerge from non-conference play undefeated, despite the fact that Joe Paterno was forced to watch the second half from the press box.
Paterno, who tried to coach from the sidelines in the first half, was bothered by an injury he suffered to his right leg attempting an onside-kick in practice the Thursday before the season-opener against Coastal Carolina on Aug. 30.
Although he coached from the sidelines for the first three games, his leg was too sore Saturday to spend the entire game on the sideline.
“My leg’s OK, it’s just that I’ve been standing on it too long and it aches,” Paterno said after the game. “I’m probably babying myself.”
According to senior tackle Gerald Cadogan, Paterno, who communicated with the sidelines through a head set, still influences the game from the press box.
“It’s the same old Joe, just a slightly slower pace,” Cadogan said. “He makes his presence known so it’s not that he’s not there. There’s no difference.”
While the final score was certainly not different from what Penn State (4-0) has experienced so far this year, it took the Lions longer than usual to jump out to a commanding lead, as the game was scoreless at the end of the first quarter.
In that first quarter, quarterback Daryll Clark threw his first interception of the season, and the Lions fumbled twice – recovering the ball both times – in what was easily their sloppiest stretch of offensive play this year.
“When we watch film on Monday, I wish I could go up in the lab and delete the whole first quarter so we don’t have to watch it.” Clark said. “It was a little stepping stone we had to go over, some mistakes were made, but we were OK in the end.”
Clark and the offense recovered to hang 31 points on the Owls’ defense in the second quarter, as Clark connected with receivers Brett Brackett and Graham Zug for touchdowns, and added another on an 11-yard run to help give the Lions a 31-0 advantage at the half.
The early mistakes on offense were offset by what was perhaps the best performance turned in by the Penn State defense all year. The Lions held the Owls to 138 yards total offense and just 16 yards rushing, as Temple (1-3) starting quarterback Adam DiMichele was injured on a sack by Penn State’s Aaron Maybin on the first series of the game.
DiMichele left with a shoulder injury and did not return.
DiMichele’s replacement, redshirt freshman Chester Stewart, spent most of the day running from Penn State defenders, as the Lions sacked Stewart six times for seven total, and intercepted him three times.
Josh Gaines and Maybin recorded two sacks apiece, but the star of the day for the defense was linebacker Navorro Bowman, who led the team with 11 tackles, three sacks and added an interception.
The continued improvement on the defensive side is especially encouraging for a unit still recovering from the losses – both to injuries and suspensions – of several starters in the front seven.
“I wouldn’t say fully adjusted (to the lost starters) but we’re not stepping down from anything,” Bowman said. “The coaches need us. Whenever a spot opens there’s always a guy hungry to step up to the plate and play.”
The only blight on the defensive performance is the fact that it did not come against DiMichele, who had accounted for 731 yards of total offense in Temple’s first three games.
