The safety from Hollidaysburg has found himself immersed in the most prosperous stretch in Temple football history.

Twenty-seven wins. Two bowl appearances. A return to the Big East Conference. Nice stuff, indeed.

But Justin Gildea wants to add one more respect-building accomplishment before he graduates. He wants to help the Owls end a 71-year hex against Penn State.

“We have been real close,” Gildea said in a telephone interview after Wednesday’s practice. “We have to take that extra step and beat them. We could have beat them — we should have beat them — last year. Going into it, we all have to have that mindset that we can beat them.”

The Owls (1-1) and Nittany Lions (1-2) meet at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The game has personal undertones for Gildea. His father, Stephen, and sister, Sarah, are Penn State graduates. He has a cousin in the Blue Band. A slew of his high school friends attend the University Park campus.

Centre County fans remember Gildea for his menacing play against State College and Bellefonte. In the Golden Tigers’ 53-7 victory over Bellefonte in 2008, Gildea had two interceptions — one returned for a touchdown — and snagged two touchdown passes.

None of the big games mattered to Penn State. The program didn’t seriously pursue him.

“Penn State never recruited me,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you want to go up there and show them that you can play.”

Considering Penn State’s current plight, Gildea would have fit nicely into a thin secondary. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior has started 23 games and teammates elected him a captain before this season.

Gildea’s last start wasn’t his most memorable one as Temple’s defense surrendered 26 first-half points and 334 total yards in a 36-27 to loss to Maryland on Sept. 8. Second-year coach Steve Addazio said Gildea hasn’t let the setback linger.

“He’s played a bunch,” Addazio said. “He’s a tough, smart guy and he really has a great work ethic. He certainly has a lot of pride. I know he was disappointed two weeks ago and I see in practice a guy that has a great demeanor about him right now and preparing hard for this football game.”

Gildea is responsible for guiding a young team. The Owls returned just nine starters from a 2011 team that went 9-4, produced three NFL draft picks and pushed Penn State before falling 14-10. The Nittany Lions scored the winning touchdown on Michael Zordich’s 1-yard run with less than 2:42 remaining.

The captain in Gildea said winning a Big East title is the Owls’ ultimate goal. But notching the school’s first victory at Beaver Stadium — Temple is 0-22-1 when visiting Penn State — would fall into a separate category in Gildea’s scrapbook.

“Penn State is a separate game in its own right,” he said. “It’s what you would like to call an in-state rivalry. Everybody in Pennsylvania talks about Penn State. It’s Penn State this and Penn State that. There’s so much attention around them, going in and proving you are a good Pennsylvania too means a lot to us. Everybody on the team feels the same way about it. We want to go up there and get a win.”

Guy Cipriano can be reached at 231-4643. Follow him on Twitter @cdtguy