The Temple Owls overcame a second-half rally by the visiting Villanova Wildcats to pull out a dramatic last-minute 16-13 win on a 49-yard field goal by Adam Boumerhi at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday, September 9. With 3:29 left on the game clock, Villanova, which trailed for the entire game, tied the score at 13-13 on a 34-yard field goal by Drew Kresge. The key plays for the Owls on the winning drive were a 29-yard pass from Logan Marchi to Ventell Bryant and a pass interference call on Villanova which gave Temple a first-down at the Wildcats’ 39-yard line. On fourth down, with 1:05 remaining, Boumerhi kicked the winning field goal to give the Owls (and new Head Coach Geoff Collins) their first win of the season. Villanova’s last-ditch drive came up short when the Owls Sharif Finch recovered Matt Gudzak’s fumble, the lone turnover in the game, at the Temple 40-yard line, with 9 seconds left on the clock. With the win, Temple’s season record is 1-1. With the loss, Villanova is also 1-1 on the season.
Temple opened the scoring late in the first quarter when Austin Jones drilled a 22-yard field goal to cap an 8 play, 68 yard march. The key play on the drive was a 43-yard pass completion from Marchi to Adonis Jennings. With under 5 minutes left in the first-half, Villanova threatened to get on the board when they drove from their 31-yard line to the Temple 25-yard line, where the drive stalled. Kresge’s field goal attempt to tie the score from 42-yards just missed, banking off the left upright. Temple then drove 75-yards in 8 plays to score the lone touchdown of the half on a 1-yard rush by Nick Sharga with one second remaining on the clock. On the previous play, facing a third down and ten situation, Marchi threw a 17-yard completion to Jennings, which was upheld on review. The half ended with Temple leading the Wildcats 10-0.
The Owls outgained the Wildcats in the first-half 242 total yards to 129 total yards. Marchi paced Temple by hitting on 12 of 17 passes for 193 yards. In contrast, Zach Bednarczyk, Villanova’s QB, completed 8 of 17 passes for 98 yards. Neither team was able to get their running game going. The Ows were limited to 49 yards on 18 carries. The Wildcats gained a meager 31 yards on 15 rushing attempts.
In the second-half, Temple scored, on its first possession, on a 44-yard field goal by Boumarhi to culminate a 9 play, 46-yard drive to take a 13-0 lead. Villanova finally scored with time winding down in the third quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Kresge. The quarter ended with the Owls up by a score of 13-3. In the fourth quarter, Villanova surged back to score on a Bednarczyk to Taurus Phillips 10-yard pass to complete an 8 play, 91-yard march. Bednarczyk, heating up, completed five passes on the drive. On its next drive, Villanova continued its comeback when it drove 36-yards on 9 plays to set up a 34-yard field goal by Kresge, which tied the game 13-13. The Temple Owls were able to rebound and drive to the Villanova 32-yard line setting up Boumarhi’s last minute heroics. With 1:05 to go in the game, Boumarhi kicked the winning field goal to break the hearts of the faithful Villanova fans and send Owl fans into a cheering frenzy.
For the Owls, Marchi lead the way, completing 20-34 tosses for 274 yards. Ventell Bryant with 7 catches for 79-yards, and Keith Kirkwood with 5 catches for 61-yards were Temple’s leading receivers. David Hood ended up as the Owls top rusher with 21-net yards on 4 rushes. Defensively, linebacker Chapelle Russell had ten total tackles. Delvon Randall and Sean Chandler each had 8 total tackles. Chandler also forced a fumble. Shaun Bradley had 7 tackles and forced a fumble.
Villanova, which overall outgained Temple 402 total yards to 353 yards, was paced by Bednarczyk who ended up completing 27 of 41 passes for 382 yards and a touchdown. Taurus Phillips snagged 6 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Bell also caught 6 passes for 88 yards. Changa Hodge caught four of Bednarczyk’s throws for 100 yards. The leading rusher for the Wildcats was Matt Gudzak with 17-net yards on 11 rushes. Gudzak also caught 4 passes for 42 yards. On defense, Jeff Steeb had 8 total tackles and a sack. Trey Johnson contributed 6 unassisted tackles and a pass breakup.
The paid attendance was 35,117 for the 3:30 p.m. kickoff on a picture perfect afternoon in South Philadelphia. Villanova, coached by first year Head Coach Mark Ferrante, returns to action next Saturday night at 6 p.m., September 16, when it will entertain Lafayette in its home opener at Villanova Stadium. The Temple Owls will host UMASS at the Linc next Friday night, September 15 (7 p.m.).
**Thank you for voting Independent Philly as a four time Top 5 Finalist and 2014 the Winner of “Best Local Blogger” in the Philly Region!**
[Photos by D. Jacob Miller Photography]
[Article by Stephen Miller]
Be sure to “like” Independent Philly on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, follow us on Instagram, enter our contests, and love us in person!
You can view additional photos below (click thumbnails to enlarge):
[justified_image_grid ids=”80294,80295,80296,80297,80298,80299,80300,80301,80302,80303,80304,80305,80306,80307,80308,80309,80310,80311,80312,80313,80314,80315,80316,80317,80318,80319,80320,80321,80322,80323,80324,80325,80326,80327,80328,80329,80330,80331,80332,80333,80334,80335,80336,80337,80338,80339,80340,80341,80342,80343,80344,80345,80346,80347,80348,80349,80350,80351,80352,80353,80354,80355,80356,80357,80358,80359,80360,80361,80362,80363,80364,80365,80366,80367,80368,80369,80370,80371,80372,80373,80374,80375,80376,80377,80378,80379,80380,80381,80382,80383,80384,80385,80386,80387,80388,80389,80390,80391,80392,80393″]
