Penn State truly a statement game for Temple

'MY BUDDIES rag on me from back home," Temple's junior quarterback Mike Gerardi was saying yesterday during a media conference at Edberg-Olson Hall. "Like, all about how we're gonna get beat Saturday. Right now, though, they're asking what are the chances you're going to win? Is Bernard Pierce playing? Is he healthy? Is he going to play the whole game? They're asking me for the spread.

"I'm not going to be their insider. That's all they care about . . .

"Good friends, right?"

In reality, yes. Because friendships have rarely if ever been forged through the fates of Temple football, especially in the weeks preceding games between the Owls and Penn State. Temple hasn't beaten the Nittany Lions in so long that, well, Joe Paterno wasn't even their head coach back then.

Joe, in fact, wasn't even in college in 1941. Imagine that.

So yesterday the Owls steeled themselves for the usual questions surrounding a game against their in-state adversaries - questions about the strength of their program, the future of their program, the impact, or lack thereof, of their program. They are questions that seven Temple head coaches have had to answer since Joe Paterno took the reins from Rip Engle in Happy Valley way back in 1966. And there have been times over that history in which the future of the school's program was the subtext.

That's no less the case for this Saturday, even if new coach Steve Addazio - No. 8 - downplayed that during yesterday's media luncheon. " A win is tremendous," he said. "But it can't define your team."

"Because you play the likes of Penn State, the likes of Notre Dame, the likes of Maryland - it's very attractive to players. We're creating depth, which is so very, very important. It's your lifeline. But that's no different than anyone else."

Well . . . not exactly. With Temple football, lifeline isn't just a metaphor. It's an actuality. What's new now is the specter of super-conferences looming on the immediate horizon, and the brutal game of knockout that scenario implies. Seven years ago the Owls were kicked out of the Big East Conference for not bringing enough to the table, a short-term favor, really, that led to an all-in mentality among the school's decision-makers.

Now the Owls are no longer some other team's joke. Not even Penn State's. The Nits barely beat the Owls in Happy Valley last year and, with Gerardi and Pierce healthy, Temple may be more formidable this year. Plus, Temple has strung together winning seasons, even been to a bowl game. "Because of what's been done around here over the last few years, you're going to get a team's best shot," said Addazio, who was Florida's offensive coordinator when the Gators beat Penn State in the Outback Bowl in January. "We're going to get Penn State's best shot. They're coming down here with the mentality of a must win . . . "

Addazio even called Lincoln Financial Field "Our place'' during the media session, which would be a first in games played here against Them. Temple's largest-ever home crowd was against Penn State at the Linc, when 69,029 watched the Lions pound the Owls, 31-nil, in 2007.

It was a very blue day. Visually. Emotionally.

"I expect it to be a lot of Penn State fans," said Owls senior linebacker Tahir Whitehead. "The year before my freshman year they said it was basically a home game for Penn State . . . I expect them to travel with a lot of fans."

"I heard it was something like 90 percent Penn State fans," Gerardi said. "It's great to have the stadium built but when it's your home field and 90 percent of their fans, it's not something you want for your home field."

Temple officials insist it won't be, that at least 30,000 tickets have been sold through the school's aggressive ticket packaging, and about 12,000 student tickets have been sold as well. They point to the support the school received in the opener against Villanova - but of course Villanova is not Penn State when it comes to football.

Penn State doesn't have to travel with its fans. They're already here.

"I think it's going to be a little different for us this time, though," Gerardi said. "Back then we didn't have winning seasons. Now we have. So hopefully we'll have a good fan base. Not that that's going to matter about how we play. But it is a factor in how you think about it after the game."

Yes it is. And how officials in those super-worlds out there on the horizon do too. Temple should be commended for what it has done since the Big East dumped it 7 years ago. But the Owls probably still don't make the cut in any greed-infested pared-down future.

But cut down their emperor on Saturday?

Win the crowd, win your freedom.

No matter what the new coach says, it's the obvious and necessary next step.