No. 16 Penn State vs. Temple Preview: TV, Radio, Streaming, Announcers

The Nittany Lions go on the road to face the Owls in Philadelphia.

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Cam Wallace (26) celebrates a touchdown against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Somewhere on the edge of the Penn State football practice field, and underneath it, rests the game film from the last time the Nittany Lions played Temple in Philadelphia.

Penn State's 2015 season-opener was among the most radioactive games of James Franklin's tenure. The Owls scored 27 points, sacked quarterback Christian Hackenberg 10 times and thoroughly humiliated the Nittany Lions.

To the point that the players buried (literally) the film from the game the following day. Seriously. they got a shovel, dug a hole and put something resembling the game film in it. Jordan Lucas, who played cornerback on that team and is now Penn State's assistant cornerbacks coach, called the moment cathartic 11 years ago.

"No, it’s not normal," Lucas said 11 years ago. "But it was fun for us."

Will this Saturday be any more fun for the Nittany Lions? To get ready for that possibility, here's what you need to know about the Penn State vs. Temple game.

How to watch, stream the Penn State-Temple game

ICYMI… Pure cinema from game one of the Coach Campbell Era🍿

Full episode 🔗 https://t.co/b7JlD5cOMF pic.twitter.com/fAuUBly3lI

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) September 10, 2026

The Penn State-Temple game kicks off at noon ET from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. ESPN2 will televise. Penn State makes a rare regular-season appearance on an ESPN network after the change of broadcast partners last season.

ESPN has the rights to the American Athletic Conference, in which Temple plays, and will broadcast Saturday's game. That also means ESPN has the streaming options. Look for the game on ESPN+.

Anish Shroff is the ESPN2 play-by-play announcer, with Andre Ware serving as the analyst and Morgan Uber reporting from the sideline.

Penn State-Temple radio information

Penn State Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft (right) stands with head coach Matt Campbell following the game against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Penn State radio broadcasters Steve Jones and Jack Ham are teaming for their 27th season in the booth on the Penn State Sports Network. The duo first worked together in 2000. Ham was the first Penn State football player inducted into both the College Football Hall of fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Jones and Ham can be heard live on dozens of radio stations across the region. Radio coverage of the game will be simulcast on Sirius XM channels 123 and 223 and on the XM app. The radio broadcast also will be available online via the Penn State Sports Network as well. Interested in watching Jones and Ham in person for a home game? You can buy the experience.

What is the Penn State-Temple betting line?

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Rocco Becht looks to pass during a game against Marshall at Beaver Stadium. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Penn State is a 23.5-point favorite over the Owls, the same line that it took into last week's opener vs. the Thundering Herd. The over/under is 50.5 points.

Penn State vs. Temple series history

Temple Owls fans cheer during the fourth quarter of a 27-10 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions at Lincoln Financial Field in 2015. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Penn State and Temple are meeting for the 46th time, with the Nittany Lions controlling the series, save for that last game in Philadelphia. Penn State leads the series history 40-4-1 and has won 32 of the last 33 games.

The teams are playing for the first time since 2016, when Penn State hung on for a 34-27 win. The Owls have been an occasional thorn for Penn State. The Nittany Lions won four straight from 2010-14 but only one by more than 11 points.

In the rankings

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Cam Wallace (26) celebrates a touchdown against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Nittany Lions are No. 16 in this week's AP Top 25, moving up two spots after their Week 1 win over Marshall. Penn State began 2026 ranked 18th in the preseason AP Top 25. It was the second-highest preseason ranking for a Campbell-coached team.

About the Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State Nittany Lions safety Bryson Williams (28) celebrates with teammates after an interception against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The best word to describe's Penn State's opener was "sound." The Nittany Lions did not commit an offensive penalty, had no false starts, avoided substiution issues and wasted timeouts and generally functioned a peak efficiency.

Quarterback Rocco Becht was the pace car. He recorded a quarterback rating of 272.2, the second-highest of his career and the second-best in the FBS in Week 1. Becht looked healthy, confident and comfortable, three qualities every coach wants to see from his quarterback in an opener.

Defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn, working from the press box for the first time in a while, barely had to raise his voice with middle linebacker Kooper Ebel, despite the crowd noise. Penn State held Marshall to one third-down conversion on 11 tries and a yards-per-play average of 2.7.

Penn State's key players Saturday will be receiver Brett Eskildsen, who caught a touchdown pass in his Nittany Lions debut. Temple likely will key on Koby Howard, who went for 161 yards and a touchdown vs, Marshall, which should provide openings downfield for Eskildsen. Defensively, watch for tackle Keanu Williams and edge rusher Yvan Kemajou to take advantage of Temple's injuries up front.

About the Temple Owls

Temple Owls head coach K.C. Keeler on the sideline against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

One fascinating subplot of Saturday's game is the duel between Campbell and Temple second-year coach K.C. Keeler. Campbell went 54-1 as a player at Mount Union, where he won three national championships. His only loss? To Rowan, coached by Keeler, in the 1999 Division III semifinals.

Another involves the four former Nittany Lions who transferred to Temple after last season. They're led by quarterback Jaxon Smolik, who threw for 57 yards in his debut last week. Temple used two quarterbacks, Smolik and Ajani Sheppard, in its win over Rhode Island and split their snaps at 31 each. Keeler is expected to do the same Saturday.

Temple's offensive line is in rough shape. Keeler announced this week that three starting linemen likely will be out Saturday. Left tackle Glakoby Hills is definitely out, while right tackle Kevin Terry and left guard Eric King will be game-time decisions.

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