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Penn State Football: Team literally buried Temple game tape with a shovel

Week 1 wasn’t kind to the Penn State Football program.

The Nittany Lions lost to Temple by a score of 27-10, and there really wasn’t anything positive to take away from the miserable performance. To that end, the players literally took the game tape from the contest and buried it in the field—like, with a shovel.

Penn State’s offense was a horrible mess, gaining just 180 yards while moving the chains just nine times all game long. Quarterback Christian Hackenberg was sacked an astonishing 10 times, and that total could easily have been more if not for some escapes.

Making matters worse, they brought pressure at times rushing just three guys.

“There was one or two times where they rushed three and dropped eight,” PSU head coach James Franklin said of the Owls (h/t PennLive.com). “You shouldn’t have pressure on your quarterback when (they’re) rushing three.”

Meanwhile, the team’s defense fared no better, allowing Temple to dominate the time-of-possession battle while giving up 313 yards.

Under normal circumstances, coaches like to use the game tape as a means to fix what went wrong. Unfortunately for the Lions, this time around there just wasn’t anything to be gleaned from the horrifying spectacle, so they buried the evidence.

Perhaps this really was the best way to help the program move on from the disappointing loss. Now, following the symbolic gesture, they can hopefully head into Week 2 with a fresh perspective.

Penn State’s next test comes on Saturday morning when Buffalo comes to town. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, beginning at 12 p.m. ET.

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