It was a day to enjoy football

Franklin Field has certainly seen its share of exciting football over the years. But when Temple hosted fourth-ranked Penn State Saturday, it was something special. And all 38,410 people in attendance knew it. The city of Philadelphia had been eagerly awaiting this game for a long time. And with good reason, for the game had everything. The national powerhouse Nittany Lions, the hungry-for-respect Owls and all the lure and tradition of Franklin Field -- football was definitely in the air throughout the 48-21 Penn State win. The enthusiastic crowd was more than ready as the 4:05 p.m. kickoff approached. The lights were on and no one let overcast skies or a cold breeze dampen spirits. The aged confines at 33rd and South streets filled with noise from both sides. The Temple marching band and the Owl mascot fired up the Owl faithful in the south stands. A thundering chant of Let's Go Temple could be heard over and over again. But the Nittany Lion fans had the majority, and a We Are Penn State chant soon filled the bleachers. When coaching legend Joe Paterno sprinted out of the tunnel with his team behind him, the chants and cheers got louder. And still louder. The Penn State players pumped up their blue-and-white-clad fans. We Are Penn State, We Are Penn State. This was big time. The stage was set for some football. Four plays into the game, the skies opened up and the rain started to fall. Temple was facing a third and nine, so the rain only made the Penn Staters chant louder. Defense, Defense. But a Temple screen pass to halfback Juan Gaddy went for 44 yards, and the Owl faithful had their first chance to explode. Four plays later, a 27-yard Temple field goal opened the scoring. A frustrated Paterno started pacing, and the delirious Temple fans kept cheering. Let's Go Temple. Let's Go Temple. The Owl fans continued chanting for a while. To everyone's astonishment, Temple dominated the No. 4 Nittany Lions for the entire first quarter. After 15 minutes, the rain was still falling and Joe Paterno was still pacing. Temple 6, Penn State 0. The Penn State offense hadn't yet lit the scoreboard. In fact, they had hardly gotten on the field at all. "I think that was the longest we've been on the sidelines as an offense this year," Penn State split end Bobby Engram said later. "It was cold and raining, and some guys were even getting stiff standing around." But in the second quarter, the Nittany Lion machine started to click. Tailback and Heisman hopeful Ki-Jana Carter began shedding would-be tacklers all over the field. Less than a minute into the second period, quarterback Kerry Collins rolled right and hit tight end Kyle Brady for a 12-yard touchdown pass. The thousands of Penn State fans let out a collective sigh of relief. Penn State 7, Temple 6. Paterno stopped pacing and patted Brady on the back, and the blue and white sections were chanting. We Are Penn State. Shortly after the touchdown, the Penn State band played the Jaws theme. It soon proved to be an appropriate selection, as the Nittany Lion juggernaut closed in on the Owls like a shark on its prey. Six minutes later, Collins threw the ball deep over the middle. He immediately raised his hands in triumph and marched toward the sideline while everyone else watched wideout Fred Scott catch the ball in the end zone. That score made it 14-6, and four minutes later, another touchdown made it 21-6. Cue the band. This time the selection was Rock 'n' Roll Part 2, and the Penn State crowd went wild. When the music stopped, the noise didn't. Through the rain, the chants echoed. We Are Penn State. Temple, to its credit, hung tough. The Owls grinded out an impressive 80-yard drive behind quarterback Henry Burris. When Burris found tight end T.J. Cook in the center of the end zone, the Owls trailed only 21-12. "This game shows that we are progressing," Burris said. "We stayed with Penn State. Teams like USC and Iowa got blown out. We played right with them. We practically gave them a game." It certainly was a game. With 1 minute, 14 seconds until halftime, the Lions were only up by nine points. The rain had subsided a little, and the Temple fans were excited. An upset was still in reach. Let's Go Temple. Then Collins put it out of reach. He and Carter led the Nittany Lions down the field and Collins hit Scott for a 21-yard score. "We're pretty confident as an offensive unit," Collins said. "For the most part, we feel like we can move the ball under any circumstances." Penn State went up 27-12 at the half, and never looked back. The Nittany Lions outscored Temple 21-3 in the third quarter and put the game out of reach. Despite sheets of rain, the crowd didn't disperse. The noise didn't stop. The Nittany Lion fans had a blast despite the elements. And the Temple fans were more than pleased with the gritty performance of the Owls. When the game ended with the score 48-21, everyone was excited. Saturday was a day for football. The rain and the wind didn't matter. The lights and the crowd and the game did. It was a special day at a special stadium. And everyone knew it. "Franklin Field is a great stadium," Paterno said as he left a crowded post-game press conference. "It was kind of fun."

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