The Temple Owls were clearly the better team on Friday night at Lincoln Financial Field as they beat Villanova 41-10 in the fourth Mayor’s Cup game and the season opener for both teams. Temple’s Matt Brown ran for 145 yards and scored a back-breaking touchdown just before halftime in the Owls win.
“He was typical Matt Brown tonight,” said Temple head coach Steve Addazio. “He was a warrior out there.”

In the second quarter, the Owls built a 21-3 lead by converting a pair of turnovers by the Wildcats into touchdowns but late in the quarter John Robertson scored from four yards. However, with less than a minute to go the speedy Brown raced to the end zone on a third-and-seven play from the Owls 44-yard line.
“That hurt a lot,” said Villanova head coach Andy Talley, “When you have a team like ours that doesn’t have a lot of confidence yet and now you’re down 18. It’s a struggle.”