The Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Temple Owls game is set to kick off at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 12 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The Nittany Lions enter as 23.5-point road favorites, via PrizePicks, with the game televised on ESPN2.
Penn State rolled past Marshall 45-0 in Matt Campbell’s debut as head coach. The Nittany Lions easily cashed as 23.5-point favorites, trying to erase the taste of last season’s disastrous 7-6 campaign.
The Owls took care of Rhode Island 38-14, capturing the season opener following four straight losses to close 2025.
Below, we'll break down our Penn State vs. Temple prediction and picks for Saturday's college football game, including the winner, over/under, and key player picks for PrizePicks.
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Penn State vs. Temple Prediction, Spread, Over/Under – Saturday, September 12
The Nittany Lions started last season at 3-0 but suffered through a free-fall in Big Ten play. PSU dropped its first six conference games, including a pair of losses to Northwestern and UCLA as 20+ point favorites.
Head coach James Franklin was fired halfway through the season, and QB Drew Allar suffered a season-ending leg injury. Campbell came over from Iowa State and brought in QB Rocco Becht, who threw for a career-low 2,584 yards and 16 TDs.
RB Carson Hansen also headed from the Cyclones to the Nittany Lions coming off a 952-yard performance, along with 6 TD runs.
Hansen rushed for 48 yards on 14 carries against Marshall, as he split carries with Cam Wallace (11 rush, 42 yards) and Quinton Martin, Jr. (10 rush, 38 yards). The RB room is looking to replace Kaytron Allen, who compiled 1,316 yards and 15 TDs in 2025.
Temple put up 369 yards against Rhode Island, but 227 of those yards came on the ground. RB Keveun Mason ran all over the Rams for 158 yards and a pair of scores after posting 167 yards in eight games of his freshman campaign.
The Owls struggled to run the ball last season, ranking 106th in the country in EPA per rush. Temple also had problems continuing drives, sitting 102nd in late-down success rate (41.0%), according to Game on Paper.
Penn State vs. Temple Spread, Over/Under – Saturday, September 12
The Nittany Lions enter Saturday’s game as 23.5-point favorites against the Owls. Temple returns an incredible 11.11x payout if it wins outright, via PrizePicks Team Picks.
Here are the full payouts for the Penn State vs. Temple game on PrizePicks.
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Penn State vs. Temple Prediction on Spread – 9/12/26
Here are the key game stats and trends behind our Penn State vs. Temple prediction on the spread for Saturday, September 12.
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- The Nittany Lions were 0-6 against the spread (ATS) last season as a double-digit favorite before easily cashing against Marshall.
- These Keystone State squads used to play annually but haven’t hooked up since 2016.
- PSU outgained Marshall 487-207 from scrimmage while posting a total offensive EPA of 21.1.
- The margin of defeats for Temple as a 10+ point underdog last season were 39, 21, and 27.
- Becht’s EPA in 2024 was an impressive 143.2 but fell to 29.8 in 2025.
- Temple’s EPA/pass last season ranked 18th in the nation (0.22), but the Owls were in the 55th percentile in this category against Rhode Island (0.13).
- Temple has brand new QBs after Evan Simon graduated, and he compiled an incredible 25-2 TD-INT ratio. Ajani Sheppard and Jaxon Smolik combined for 142 passing yards against URI.
Penn State vs. Temple Picks, Player Stats for PrizePicks: 9/12/26
Here are top Penn State vs. Temple picks to target on Saturday, September 12. Today’s college football picks for PrizePicks include QB Rocco Becht and WR Colin Chase.
Penn State QB Rocco Becht vs. Temple: 221.5 Pass Yards
- Becht easily shattered this projection against Marshall with 271 passing yards and 14.26 yards per play.
- Four of Becht’s top five passing graded performances against FBS schools last season, according to Pro Footbal Focus, came on the road.
- In six of 12 games in 2025, Temple yielded at least 230 passing yards. Four of those outputs came at Lincoln Financial Field.
- Becht has thrown for more than 222 yards in six of the last eight games against non-conference opponents.
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Temple WR Colin Chase vs. Penn State: 35.5 Rec Yards
- Chase was the fourth-leading receiver for the Owls in 2025, posting 414 yards.
- He came on late last season, recording three outputs of at least 55 receiving yards in the final four games.
- Chase led the Owls in receptions (3) and receiving yards (43) in last week’s rout of Rhode Island.
- It's worth noting that Penn State limited Marshall to 103 passing yards last Saturday after ranking 40th nationally in defensive EPA/Pass in 2025.
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The Nittany Lions started strong in Campbell’s first game as head coach. Now, Penn State makes the short trip to Philadelphia on Saturday looking to avoid the upset against a Temple squad coming off six straight losing seasons.
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