Michael Zordich scored the game-winning touchdown against Temple

34 yards. That’s how close the Temple Owls came to ending their 70 year losing streak to Penn State but Mike Girardi was sacked by Sean Stanley on a fourth-and-10 play from the Nittany Lions 34-yard line and Penn State 14-10 win on Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field was preserved. Penn State’s legendary head coach Joe Paterno is now 28-0 against Temple.

The Nittany Lions (2-1) only took the lead with 2:42 left in the game when Michael Zordich scored on a one-yard run. It was only fitting that Zordich, son of the former Philadelphia Eagles player and current assistant coach of the same named, scored the winning touchdown. He made it possible by recovering quarterback Rob Bolden’s fumble two plays earlier at the Temple three yard-line.

“I wanted that kind of play,” said Zordich about his game winner, “you want to be put in that position. I had the confidence in myself and in the guys in front of me that we were going to get it done.”

Temple (2-1) turned the ball over twice on interceptions in the fourth quarter. The first one resulted in a missed field goal by Evan Lewis as the Nittany Lions tried to tie the score. The second led to the 12-play, 44-yard drive that won the game.

“We wanted to get them into the fourth quarter, we did that. We wanted to fight them, we did that,” said Temple head coach Steve Addazio, “but those two turnovers at the end put our defense into to hard a situation to overcome.

No less an expert then Paterno concurred.

“I’ve always tried to preach that turnovers make the difference,” he said after his 403 career win.