Temple University Athletics
Temple University
VILLANOVA
Villanova Fourth Quarter Comeback Takes Down Temple 27-24 In Mayor's Cup
9.3.09 | Football
Late turnovers undue Owls offensive efforts
The 27,759 fans, that showed up to watch the city football clash, were treated to a thrilling comeback, but unfortunately it was the
The Wildcats initial attempt at advancing into the Owls territory was abruptly put to a stop mid-second quarter by free safety Kevin Kroboth, forcing a fumble recovered by junior Jaiquawn Jarrett.
Coming out of halftime it seemed momentum would stay in the Owls' favor, but Villanova's defense decided to have its hand at putting points on the board. After a Charlton first-down completion to Joe Jones, defensive-end Tim Kukucka jarred the ball free from Lamar McPherson. Ventrone scooped up the loose ball and scampered 59-yards to the end zone for the Wildcats' first score.
Charlton would orchestrate a lengthy drive in the middle of the third quarter, marching the Owls down the field 52 yards. Sophomore Kee-ayre
Answering right back with a drive of their own, Whitney led the Wildcats on a 75-yard campaign, topped off by a bootleg pass across the defense to running back Tony Canci for a five-yard touchdown to make it 17-14 at the end of the third quarter.
The Owls offense continued to roll, with Charlton making an impressive throw over the middle to junior Michael Campbell for a 44-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter to give TU a 24-14 lead.
Villanova's Yako connected on a 27-yard field goal to cap a nine-play 59-yard drive to cut the Owls lead to 24-17.
Whitney then marched Villanova down the field, taking the Wildcats on a 12-play, 65-yard drive, capped by a six-yard touchdown pass to Brandyn Harvey with 1;17 remaining.
On the ensuing drive, Owls quarterback Vaughn Charlton misled his receiver, with the pass falling into the hands of Dempsey deep in
Turnovers would prove to be the determining factor in the fourth-quarter, with the Owls handing the ball over on a fumble and an interception, each resulting in scoring drives for Villanova.
Head Coach Al Golden
On dissecting the loss:
“It's quite simple; I mean the bottom line was we turned the ball over five times and that's it. That's where it begins and ends. You know we had 450 something yards of offense, 456 yards of offense, turned it over five times, so that's it. Something we preach, something we work on. Really disappointed, and we've got to get it corrected.”
On Villanova QB Chris Whitney:
“He is elusive. We knew going in he was going to be all we can handle. You know they were a running team coming in. They did a great job running the ball last year. You know we ended up holding them to 64 yards rushing, but he created it. The kid's always been a winner, he's a winner now, and he made some big plays when they needed it.”
On the Owls not finishing strong:
“Obviously they (Villanova) got field position. You know their starting field position obviously dictates how aggressive you can be. The kid made some plays, and we just didn't do a great job late in the game, and you've got to give Villanova a lot of credit, and the buck stops with me, and we've got to get it corrected. We have to do a better job, and we will. We'll get back to work. Again, I was not displeased with our effort; we were ready to play. We played aggressively. We played a hard fought game. We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game coming in, but we just turned the ball over too many times to win the game.”
On how the game panned out:
“We've just got to stick together. That's the bottom line. There's going be a lot of people trying to pull us apart and all that. I don't have any regrets, and I know the coaches and players don't have any regrets. We were ready to play. We had a 10-point lead, put the ball on the ground, gave them a touchdown via a fumble. You can't do those things and win the game, and we have to continue to drive that home.”
VILLANOVA POST GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Andy Talley
On game plan:
“We needed to try to stay close, because I really felt if we got into the fourth quarter or into an overtime situation that we'd won enough that we would find a way to win.”
On mentality:
“I think the big thing is you develop a will. And whether they were going to break our will or we were going to break their will; that's what it came down to. And tonight I think we broke their will.”
On going for it on 4th and 5:
“We were pretty sure that on that last drive we would not give up the football; we would not punt the football; that we were going to continue on fourth down to try to get a first down. If we gave the ball back to them, I don't think we'd ever see the ball again.”
On Ross Ventrone:
“He's the glue to our secondary. He's a very important player for us. He's developed into a tremendous free safety that holds everybody together, and makes plays for us.”
TEMPLE POSTGAME NOTES
- Temple Team Captains: #6 Dominique Harris (defense), #86 TE Steve Maneri (offense), #2 NT Andre Neblett (defense), and #73 OT Devin Tyler (offense).
- Carrying flags for Temple tonight were #3 RB Lamar McPherson, #18 WR Jason Harper, and #93 DT Brian Sanford.
- True freshman PK Brandon McManus put Temple on the scoreboard with a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter. He also added three points-after-touchdowns in his collegiate debut.
- Redshirt junior QB Vaughn Charlton went 19-of-28 for a career-high 317 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw a career-long 75-yard pass to James Nixon.
- Junior WR Michael Campbell made five catches for a career-high 93 yards and scored his first career touchdown on a 44-yard pass from Charlton.
- In the first quarter, junior DE Morris Blueford, Jr., had the first sack of his career for a loss of six yards.
- Sophomore DB Kevin Kroboth forced his first career fumble which was recovered by junior DB Jaiquawn Jarrett, the fourth recovery of his career.
- Sophomore RB Kee-ayre Griffin had a career-high 54-yard kickoff return to close out the third quarter.
