Villanova Univeristy Athletics

The most prolific quarterback in Villanova history, Chris Boden broke more than two dozen school records during his career and still held nine records at the time of his Hall of Fame induction 15 years later. His first year as the Wildcats starting quarterback in 1997 saw the team go undefeated and reach No. 1 in the national polls for the first time in school history. Boden played for Villanova from 1996-99 and graduated from the University in 2000. He was inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in his first year eligible in 2015.
 
Boden was recognized on a national level during his standout years as the Wildcats signal caller. As a sophomore in 1997 he was named a first team All-American by Walter Camp and a third team All-American by the Sports Network. One year later, he was selected as the national winner of the Ernie Davis Award in 1998. The award is named after the former Syracuse University great and 1961 Heisman Trophy winner. It is presented to the NCAA Division I-AA player who overcame personal, athletic or academic adversity and performs in an exemplary manner.
 
In addition to his All-America accolades, Boden was named to the ECAC first team offense in 1997. He was a two-time selection to the Atlantic 10 first team offense in 1997 and 1999, and during his career was a six-time conference Offensive Player of the Week. He earned one national player of the week honor his senior year when he was selected as the TeamLink.com Offensive Player of the Week on October 17, 1999. The honor followed a school-record 444-yard passing performance in a marathon triple-overtime win over conference rival Connecticut.
 
More than 20 years after his collegiate career ended Boden remained the Villanova career record holder in passing yards (10,166), passing touchdowns (99), passing completions (868), passing attempts (1,412) and passing yards per game (248.0). He owned the most career 300+ yard passing games in school history with 13 and was tied for the single-season mark of six 300+ yard games in 1997. Boden also remained the Wildcats single-season record holder for passing touchdowns (42, 1997) and was the single-game leader with 43 completions and 69 attempts against Connecticut on October 16, 1999. His six passing touchdowns on November 20, 1999 against Delaware tied the existing single-game record.
 
Boden arrived at Villanova in 1996 and passed for 351 yards his freshman season while backing up senior starter Clint Park. The starting job belonged to Boden as a sophomore in 1997 and all he did was break the school records for single season passing yards (3,707), passing touchdowns (42), passing efficiency (172.1) and completion percentage (67.1%). He threw 42 touchdowns with just five interceptions on the year while going 281-of-419 and averaging 285.2 passing yards per game. At the time of his Hall of Fame induction the 42 passing touchdowns were still the Wildcats single season record. His records for passing yards and passing efficiency remained second in the Villanova record book, while his record for completion percentage was third.
 
On October 11, 1997, in a 49-27 win over Massachusetts, Boden was 16-of-18 through the air for a record 88.8% completion percentage. That mark stood as the Wildcats single game record for more than 16 years until being broken during the 2013 season. Boden helped to orchestrate a perfect regular season as Villanova went 11-0, including 8-0 in the Atlantic 10 to win their first conference title in six years.
 
In the playoffs, the #1 seeded Wildcats defeated Colgate in the first round for the first FCS postseason win in program history. Villanova ended the year with a 12-1 overall mark after falling to eventual national champion Youngstown State in the quarterfinals. Boden’s favorite passing target during the 1997 campaign was Brian Finneran who set a still-standing school record with 1,389 receiving yards on the year. Finneran became the Wildcats first player ever – and the first wide receiver ever – to win the Walter Payton Award as the top player in I-AA football. Villanova head coach Andy Talley was the Eddie Robinson Award winner as the national coach of the year in I-AA football and earned the same honor from the American Football Coaches’ Association (AFCA). Villanova would end up going 37-14 (.725) overall during Boden’s playing career.
 
As a junior in 1998, Boden threw for 3,050 yards and 31 touchdowns while helping the Wildcats go 6-5 on the year. Finneran had graduated but the Villanova receiving corps was led by eventual Hall of Famers Brian Westbrook and Murle Sango. In 1999, the Wildcats recorded a winning record for the fourth straight season and finished year at 7-4 even while playing without an injured Westbrook. Boden went 294-of-474 for 3,058 yards and 24 touchdowns in 1999. His total of completions and passing attempts were single season records at the time and both marks remained second in the Villanova record book as of 2023.
 
Boden still held three of the top five single season passing totals when he was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2015. His career total of 1,600 total offensive plays were still a school record, while his 526 plays as a senior in 1999 ranked third. Boden was the first player in school history to be responsible for over 100 touchdowns (99 passing, two rushing); no other player would top his total of 101 touchdowns responsible for until 2014.
 
As of 2023 there had been only eight individual single game passing performances of 400+ yards in Villanova history. Boden accounted for the first four times the feat was accomplished and he broke the single game school record for passing yards on four separate occasions. The first was on October 18, 1997 when he threw for 409 yards against Richmond. He would break his own mark with 422 yards versus Delaware on September 12, 1998, and later on two occasions in 1999 when he had 424 yards against Penn and 444 yards in the triple overtime thriller against Connecticut.
 
Boden has enjoyed a successful coaching career and returned to his alma mater in 2019 as the Villanova offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. He holds collegiate head coaching experience at ASA College New York and ASA College Miami in addition to numerous assistant coaching stints in the collegiate and Arena Football ranks.