"I think Philly can be proud of the game," Villanova coach Andy Talley said. "People in Philadelphia really should embrace college football in the area."
As Talley spoke, three of his exhausted players sat on the same stage from which Andy Reid and the Eagles do their postgame news conferences. From the other side of the wall, the Temple players could be heard cheering, then singing a chorus of "High Hopes" that would have made Harry Kalas smile.
Last year, in the first revival of this natural rivalry, Villanova tripped up Temple at the starting line of its breakout season. This year, the game was even wilder, even crazier, even more entertaining. Last year, Nick Yako's field goal gave 'Nova a 24-23 win. This year, he gave 'Nova a 24-22 lead with a little less than two minutes left.
It was an incredible turn of events, one set up by a fumbled snap. Temple quarterback Chester Stewart, who had thrown a perfect 62-yard touchdown pass earlier in the fourth quarter, lost the ball at his own 22-yard line.
"All the old-time Temple people, they know," Golden said. "A minute fifty left, fumble the snap, and there's 250,000 alumni who shake their heads and say, here they go again."
And yes, that's the best explanation for the thousands of empty seats. Temple had a very good season in the MAC last year, played UCLA in a bowl game. Golden has done a terrific job of changing the culture within the program. It is taking a bit longer to change the reputation.
That is understandable. It took decades for Temple to fall as far off the radar as it did. It will take more than a trip to RFK Stadium for a fringe bowl game to undo all of that. But it's also true that, right now, Temple is a pretty good football team and plenty of fun to watch.
