Villanova Stages a Furious Late Rally to Beat Richmond; Penn Returns to Field and Wins; Temple Home Opener
Penn 30 Bucknell 6
The University of Pennsylvania football team returned to the field after missing last season due to COVID. The Quakers won their season opener for the third time in four years. It was a bit different this time around. Why? This was their first game in 665 days and first win in 672 days. Big plays made the difference.
John Quinnelly won the quarterback job in training camp. He threw for 273 yards and 2 touchdowns, and ran for 32 yards. The main targets were wide receivers Ryan Cragun and Rory Starkey. Cragun caught 6 passes for 110 yards and one touchdown, a 44-yard reception. Starkey had the longest touchdown catch and run hauling in a 70-yard touchdown pass that gave Penn a 23 – 6 lead.
The Quakers running game was effective getting 210 yards compared to 115 for the Bison. Isaiah led the Red and Blue with 11 carries for 80 yards. Quinnelly ran 10 times gaining 32 yards and crossed the goal line once. Danny Meuser ran for 90 yards. His touchdown gave Bucknell a 6 – 3 lead in the first quarter.
On defense Jake Heimlicher and Khalil Lewis were in on 8 tackles. Jason McLeod intercepted a pass. The leading tackler in the contest was Bucknell’s Ben Allen with 11 tackles, 5 solo.
The Quakers go to Lehigh Saturday. The home opener is October 1st when they host Dartmouth at Franklin Field.
Boston College 28 Temple 3
The home opener for the Temple Owls. The Boston College Eagles was the premier opponent in the non-conference home game. Both schools started their backup quarterbacks who replaced the injured starters. Justin Lynch replaces D’Wan Mathis for the Owls. The Eagles Dennis Grosel called the signals, but he had game experience.
The Owls could not sustain an offensive rhythm. Why? On third down Temple converted only 3 of 14. On fourth downs they were 1 of 4. Also, penalties hurt as the Owls were flagged 11 times for 66 yards. The Eagles had 2 losing 25 yards.
The start of the game was not what Temple wanted or needed. BC returner Travis Levy took the opening kickoff 61 yards setting up his team 29-yards away from the goal line. Grosel found Jaden Williams to cover the remaining distance with a scoring toss and a 7 – 0 lead at the 13:21 mark.
Later, Boston College made it 14 – 0 behind a 10 play, 66 yard drive capped by a 1-yard run by Patrick Garwo. The lead grew to 21 – 0 at halftime.
Temple began to find their footing in the second half, but could only put 3-points on the board via a 32-yard field goal by Rory Bell. The drive of 11 plays covering 47 yards took 5:21.
On the ground BC outgained TU 187 – 84 yards. Temple did get 161 yards in the air with Lynch completing 17 of 24. Randle Jones caught the ball 6 times for 32 yards. Jadan Blue had 3 catches for 40 yards.
Isaiah Graham-Mobley anchored the Boston College defense. He transferred to Boston College from Temple and had a team-leading 8 tackles, 6 solo. He had a big hit on Lynch preventing the Owls from getting a first down on a fourth down conversion play. Former Temple player Khris Banks mad 5 total tackles for BC. Keyshawn Paul intercepted a Grosel pass.
The Owls are home again on Saturday hosting Wagner.
#12 Villanova 34 #21 Richmond 27
A wild second half that saw both teams score in bunches, the #12 Villanova Wildcats got the last bunch scoring three touchdowns in the last five minutes to come away with a 34 – 27 win over the #21 Richmond Spiders. Wildcats quarterback Daniel Smith threw a pass to wide receiver Rayjoun Pringle who eluded the Richmond defenders for a 49-yard game winning touchdown with 38 seconds on the clock. Villanova wins the CAA opener and stay unbeaten for the season. This win was a tough one to get, but Nova persevered, and won it.
For more details read In Last Five Minutes Villanova Rallies Past Richmond
The Wildcats have a trip to Happy Valley to play the Nittany Lions of Penn State.
RECORDS / SCHEDULE
Villanova 3 – 0 overall, 1 – 0 CAA at Penn State
Penn 1- 0 overall, 0 – 0 Ivy League at Lehigh
Temple 1 – 2, 0 – 0 AAC vs. Wagner at the Linc
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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