The No. 5 Penn State Nittany Lions face the Temple Owls for the 39th time at noon on Saturday inside Beaver Stadium. Penn State won in Beaver Stadium last season 45-3 and holds a 34-3-1 series advantage over Temple.

The big question mark for the Nittany Lions is the running game. Star running back Evan Royster is only averaging 51 yards a game over his first two and 3.9 yards per carry. These are two averages that Penn State needs to see increase against Temple.

The offensive line has a lot to prove still and Joe Paterno and the coaching staff is still trying to find who the best-five men to do the job are. When asked if there would be any changes made to the personnel of the O-line Paterno didn’t know yet.

“Well, we might,” he said on Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “We'll see what goes on this week.”

The Al Golden led Owls only allowed 64 yards rushing in their only game this season, a 27-24 loss to Villanova, a FCS team. Stephfon Green will also have to have a better game. He is only averaging 2.4 yards per carry so far this season.

Villanova passed for 296 yards against Temple (0-1) on September 5. This means Daryll Clark should have a big day throwing the ball for Penn State. Look for Chaz Powell to be more of a force than he was against Syracuse, where he only caught one pass for 12 yards. Derek Moye should also have a big day at the receiver position.

Temple’s offense is led by Vaughn Charlton, who passed for 317 yards and two touchdowns against Villanova. He also threw three interceptions in that game. He will have to possess the ball better because turnovers against the Penn State (2-0) defense will kill any shot the Owls have at staying in the game.

Kee-ayre Griffin is Temple’s leading rusher, coming off a 21 carry one touchdown performance where he rushed for 70 yards. Michael Campbell has five receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown to lead the Owls receivers.

Running or throwing should be difficult for Temple as Penn State is only giving up 46.5 rushing yards per game and 146.5 passing yards. The Nittany Lions defense has not allowed a first half point this season.

Starting linebacker Navarro Bowman is still uncertain for the game as he is recovering from a groin injury suffered against Akron. This means Josh Hull, Nate Stupar and Bani Gbadyu will be asked to fill greater roles once again.

Whoever gets the playing time will be trying to uphold the defenses dominance over Temple the last three years. In these games the Owls have only scored a combined three points.

Temple has not won against Penn State since 1941 and will have their work cut out for them on Saturday if they wish to break the Nittany Lions 26-game winning streak against them. Penn State is also 50-5-1 all-time versus current MAC members.