Villanova Univeristy Athletics

A consensus All-American and the third generation of his family to be a Villanova quarterback, Brett Gordon is the Wildcats program record holder for passing yards in a single season and a single game. He ranks first or second in school history in most major passing categories along with his former teammate Chris Boden, who he overlapped with for one year. Gordon played for Villanova from 1999-02. He is a 1992 graduate and was inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2017 in his first year on the ballot.
 
Gordon earned first team All-America honors from Walter Camp as a senior in 2002 and was a second team selection to the Sports Network All-America squad that year. He was the ECAC and the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year to go along with being an Atlantic 10 All-Conference honoree for the third straight season. Gordon earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 second team offense in his first year as a starter in 2000, followed by a third team selection in 2001 and first team honors his senior year. He was also named to the ECAC first team offense in 2002.
 
During that senior season in 2002, Gordon threw for a school record 4,290 yards in 15 games while leading Villanova to the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs. He shattered Boden’s previous single season school record for passing yards (3,707) by more than 500 yards and finished the year 386-of-579 through the air for a 66.7 percent completion rate, 36 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions. His completions and attempts are each single season Wildcats records, while the 36 touchdowns are second only to Boden’s 42 passing scores in 1997. Gordon’s season average of 286.0 yards per game also set a school record by a margin of less than a single yard (Boden averaged 285.2 yards per contest in 1997).
 
Gordon’s career totals include 9,639 yards and 83 touchdown passes while going 833-of-1246 in 39 games played. His career completion rate of 66.9 percent is the Villanova career record, and he ranks second in school history in career yards, completions, touchdown passes and passing yards per game (247.2). Gordon is also third in the Wildcats record book in career passing efficiency (147.9) and passing attempts. He owns 12 career games with over 300 passing yards and, along with Boden, is one of only two Villanova signal callers to ever top 400 yards in a single game. They each did it four times, and Gordon holds the single-game record of 460 yards in a 38-34 win at Delaware his senior year. He went 39-of-62 and threw three touchdown passes that day, including a game-winner with 15 seconds left which lifted the Wildcats to the win and to a playoff berth.
 
Villanova went 30-17 (.638) during Gordon’s career, including 19-7 over his final two seasons. After needing the win over Delaware his senior year to earn an at-large playoff berth, Gordon helped the Wildcats power past No. 6 Furman (45-38) and No. 21 Fordham (14-10) in the first round and quarterfinal rounds of the playoffs. Villanova advanced to the semifinals for the first time in school history before being narrowly defeated No. 1 ranked and eventual national champion McNeese.
 
Gordon arrived on campus in 1999 with Boden entering his senior year as the Wildcats star under center. In an understudy role, Gordon saw action in four games and had one pass completion. The starting job became his in 2000 and he appeared in nine games while throwing for 2,293 yards with 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He led the Atlantic 10 with 254.8 passing yards per game and a 153.5 passing efficiency. Gordon tallied his first career 400-yard passing game with 424 yards and four touchdowns on 36-of-48 passing against Delaware.
 
The follow-up to Gordon’s first year as a starter saw him become the second Villanova quarterback after Boden to top 3,000 yards in a single season. He was 262-of-382 on the year for 3,017 yards and 25 scores to earn third team all-conference accolades. One of his best games of the 2001 campaign was in a 31-30 win on the road against No. 17 Richmond in the third game of the year. Gordon earned Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week honors for his 376-yard passing performance that day. He went 27-of-43 with four touchdowns and guided the Wildcats to a remarkable comeback after trailing by 15 points (30-15) with under eight minutes to play. Gordon threw touchdown passes to Shaz Brown with 7:56 left and Cameron Cross with 4:06 remaining before Villanova won on a last-second 30-yard field goal by Casey Hannon.
 
Later in the 2001 season Gordon threw for a season-high 406 yards at Maine. His Player of the Week honor after the Richmond game was the first of his career. Gordon would be the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week four times during the 2002 season and the Sports Network Offensive Player of the Week twice that year. He threw for over 300 yards six times and over 400 yards twice in 2002, including the record 460-yard performance against Delaware to go along with a 421-yard day versus James Madison and 354 yards against McNeese in his final collegiate game.
 
Gordon’s father, Drew, was a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Wildcats from 1969-71 and held the single game school passing record with 395 yards for 27 years until first Boden and then Brett came along in the decades to follow. Drew Gordon threw for 2,370 career yards and 21 touchdowns for Villanova teams which were 21-9-1 during his varsity career.
 
The first member of the Gordon family to be a Villanova quarterback was Andy, the Wildcats leading passer in 1946 and 1948 under Hall of Fame head coach Jordan Olivar. He was a part of the 1948 squad which tallied Villanova’s first ever bowl game victory over Nevada, 27-7, in the Harbor Bowl in San Diego. Andy Gordon threw for 1,076 career yards and 12 touchdowns.