Villanova had its chance against Owls

All week long, all Villanova said it wanted was a chance. To get to the fourth quarter of a close game and see what happened.

Well, the Wildcats certainly had a shot. But like many of their recent matchups against FBS opponents, it didn't have the kind of ending that would have really gotten their season off to a memorable start.

Instead, the sixth-ranked team in FCS lost to Temple, 16-13, on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field on a late field goal, after they rallied from a 13-point hole to tie it with 31/2 minutes to go.

"Obviously, it was a tough one the way it ended," said first-year coach Mark Ferrante, who took over for Andy Talley after spending three decades as his assistant. "But I'm really proud of the way our guys responded.

"If you told me we would hold them to 16 today I would have taken it … It's still a loss. It goes in the right-hand column (of the standings). But it's not a league (Colonial Athletic Assocation) game. We'll get better from this. We got better today."

The Wildcats, who opened with a 38-35 win at then-No. 17 Lehigh, get Lafayette next week at home. It's their only game on the Main Line in their first five.

The Owls were coming off a 49-16 loss at Notre Dame. There is a difference. Temple is bigger, faster, deeper. And the speed separation was most apparent. Yet, otherwise, Villanova more than held its own. In the second half, it had 162 yards more offense. And limited the Owls to 79 yards rushing.

"I think we stayed, and I think we fought," Ferrante said. "We do seem to stay right there in a lot of these games. Over the years, we've actually had leads at halftime. This time we did not get worn down."

Junior Zach Bednarczyk completed 27 of 41 passes for a career-best 382 yards and a 10-yard touchdown to Taurus Phillips with 10 minutes, 18 seconds left that got them within three. On their next possession, Bednarczyk scrambled for 15 yards on a third-and-19 to set up a career-long 44-yard field goal by sophomore Drew Kresge, whose 38-yarder in the fourth quarter against Lehigh turned out to be the winner.

It just wasn't quite enough.

"We played with a lot of passion in the second half," Bednarczyk said. "We knew we could do it. I think you could sense (the momentum swing) on our sideline. There was a lot of excitement. There wasn't a doubt that we could win it. So it's a tough loss."

They always are. The Wildcats beat Temple in 2003 and 2009 and nearly won again in 2010. The last two meetings, in 2011 and 2012, were over early. They will play next season.

"They're a good team and all," said Wildcats linebacker Jeff Steeb, who had a team-high eight tackles. "That's where we want to be. The ebb and flow of the game was there. We were in it the whole time. We came up short."

There's a lot of season left. All they can do is move on. But they know what they almost had.