JoePa gets good view as ’Lions rout Owls

Besides the coach’s leg problem, the only other problem for unbeaten Penn State was five fumbles.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — The whereabouts of coach Joe Paterno was the most compelling part of the second half of No. 16 Penn State’s matchup with Temple.

The 81-year-old Hall of Famer moved to the press box after halftime, after having complained of a sore right leg earlier this week. It mattered little on the field, where the Nittany Lions overcame a sluggish first quarter to rout the Owls 45-3 on Saturday.

Former Ursuline quarterback Daryll Clark threw for 196 yards and two touchdown passes and ran for an 11-yard score, and Stephfon Green rushed for 132 yards, including a 69-yard TD, as the Nittany Lions rolled to 4-0 this season.

Linebacker Navorro Bowman had three sacks and an interception to pace a stellar Penn State defense that held Temple to 138 yards and 10 first downs.

Not that Paterno was too happy after spending the second half with his assistants upstairs. He was worried about some ugly stats, like five Penn State fumbles, though only one was recovered by Temple.

“I thought it was a very, very sloppy performance,” Paterno said. “I wasn’t very pleased.”

JoePa walked slowly and gingerly at times along the sideline in the first half as Penn State built a 31-0 lead.

“My leg’s OK. It’s just standing on it too long, it aches,” Paterno said. “I’m probably babying myself.”

His team was sluggish, too, in the first quarter, held scoreless in the opening frame for the first time this season. Penn State fumbled twice in the quarter, recovering both times.

Things changed in a hurry.

Green had a 27-yard run to get Penn State to the Temple 20 before Clark connected with Brett Brackett over the middle, barreling over the Owls’ Dominique Harris as he crossed the goal line to give Penn State a 7-0 lead with 14:27 left in the second quarter.

Evan Royster had a 32-yard TD run about 3:30 later. Temple thought it had regained momentum after Travis Shelton returned the ensuing kickoff 74 yards to the Penn State 26.

But the Nittany Lions got an interception. Three plays later, Clark ran in from 11 yards to put the Nittany Lions up 21-0. Clark finished 13-for-20 with one interception, overcoming what he said was a “flat” and “funky” start.

The defense held things together until the offense caught up.

“We’re coming out with tenacity that we’re trying to keep the opponent out of the end zone no matter what the score is, no matter what time of the game it is,” safety Anthony Scirrotto said. “We punish the guys with the ball.”