Sports can sometimes be very frustrating when the team you root for isn't doing well. That's no secret to anyone that reads this column on a weekly basis. Northeastern Pennsylvania is rich with football tradition and on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons, a considerable amount of the population in this region is either attending or watching a football game.

I can probably sum up the Penn State Nittany Lions' fan base feelings after last week's 42-39 loss to in-state rival Pitt with one word. That word is, yes you guessed it - frustrated.I'm not saying that Penn State fans are frustrated with the Nittany Lions comeback effort against a hard-nosed no nonsense Pitt team last week. Coming back from three touchdowns when the momentum was totally in the Panthers favor at their home stadium is impressive. Penn State didn't lay down, they fought back and that should be commended.What I think Penn State fans are frustrated with is surprise, surprise, the way the offensive line performed. Even more frustrating to the Lions fan base was the way the Penn State front four got utterly dominated in the trenches.Pitt rushed for a video game like 341 yards against the Penn State defense at 6.1 yards per carry and three touchdowns. They set the tone early in the first quarter with a 99-yard scoring drive where I don't think Pitt quarterback Nathan Peterman even completed a pass.The defensive line was missing defensive tackle Kevin Givens and middle linebacker Jason Cabinda, which are two of Penn State's better tacklers. Cornerback Grant Haley was also missing last week due to an injury, but still with the talent on Penn State's roster they should be deep enough at those positions that the loss of two or three guys shouldn't equal over 300 yards rushing. Hopefully it was a one-time performance from the front four, but it's worrisome with a tough running Temple team coming to Beaver Stadium at noon today (BTN).Penn State showed on Saturday that protecting Trace McSorley from the left side is going to be a challenge throughout the season. It's not every play like in the past seasons, but it's three years into James Franklin's tenure at Penn State and you're telling me that there is not one offensive tackle on the roster that consistently block defensive ends, so that McSorley isn't getting hit in the backfield on zone read rushes. It sometimes is tough to watch and after two seasons of showing no improvement in that area, I don't blame Penn State fans for being fed up with the offensive line play.The offensive line did not perform well in the run game either against the Panthers. Penn State rushed for just 74 yards on 31 carries. That's 2.1 yards per carry, which will not get the job done against Temple this week.The Owls are giving up a healthy 189 yards per game on the ground, so this week will serve as an opportunity for the Nittany Lions rushing attack to get back on track. In Temple's week one loss to Army, the Owls gave up 329 yards rushing and four touchdowns."We're still not where we want to be in terms of being able to impose our will on defensive lines and be really physical. That's something that should show up in the run game. That's something that should show up in pass protection," said Penn State head coach James Franklin."I think they're headed in that direction. We need to be more consistent. We need to be more physical. We need to have more of a finisher's mentality. But, it's like on Saturday, that defense is designed to make you one dimensional. I think we had 38 runs called in the game, but they overloaded the box, and it doesn't make sense to hand the ball off when they have extra men in the box that you can't block."That's something that depending on what the defense gives us, is going to create opportunities. We had plenty of opportunities in the passing game because of their commitment to stop the run, and that's why you see the game play out the way it played out."The passing game was certainly the aspect of the offense that worked out the best for Penn State against Pitt. The Nittany Lions wide receiving group was highly touted coming into the season and they certainly didn't disappoint against the Panthers. Trace McSorley threw for 332 yards and a score, connecting on numerous big plays throughout the day. Although, his ill-advised pass into the end zone late in the fourth quarter that was intercepted ultimately ended up being the game-winning play for Pitt, it was McSorley's arm that got Penn State back into the game.From a statistical vantage point it looks like the Owls have a steel trap type defense (50 yards passing per game) in the secondary, however those statistics are a little skewed, considering their opponents have been Army and FCS school Stony Brook.Stony Brook is averaging just 121.5 passing yards per game with three interceptions and no touchdowns. The Black Knights, which everyone knows is a run first team with the triple option is averaging just 41 yards per game passing with no touchdowns.The Nittany Lions on the other hand have been pretty dynamic passing the football, averaging 271 yards through the air on the season.I personally think it will be the Penn State passing attack that will be the difference later today. Even with the flaws on the offensive line, McSorley has been able to move well within the pocket and hit players downfield. The playmaking ability and the speed of the Penn State receivers, I think will be too much for the Owls defense. Temple may be big and they may be physical, but this is not the Owls defense from a season ago.Along with making plays in the passing game, Penn State must be able to stop the Temple rush from quarterback Phillip Walker and Jahad Thomas. Thomas missed the Owls first two games of the season with a hand injury and left this week's Tuesday's practice after aggravating that injury. Thomas rushed for 1,262 yards and 17 touchdowns a season ago, so obviously if he isn't able to go that's a huge part of their offense they'll be missing.Las Vegas have the Nittany Lions as an 8.5-point favorite. I think Penn State bounces back this week after a tough loss to Pitt last week. I'm hoping to see a much more physical Penn State team against the Owls and for once I'd like to see them get out to a good start under Franklin.My pick is Penn State 31, Temple 23.