Villanova Univeristy Athletics

The first player in school history to amass more than 4,000 yards of total offense and one of the first true dual-threat quarterbacks in the Villanova program, Pat O’Brien was a four-year starter who threw for 2,444 yards and rushed for 1,792 yards during his career. He played for the Wildcats from 1977-80 and was a member of the 1980 graduating class. O’Brien was inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2003.
 
An injury to starting quarterback John Puleo midway through the 1977 season gave O’Brien an opportunity to stand out early in his career and he never looked back. O’Brien made his first career start in the sixth game of his freshman season and wound up being the ECAC Rookie of the year after he rushed for over 100 yards in three of the last six games of the year.
 
O’Brien was 188-of-444 as a passer during his career for 2,444 yards and 13 touchdowns. He rushed 538 times for 1,792 yards and 14 touchdowns to end up with 4,236 yards of total offense. O’Brien was the Wildcats career leader in total offense by the end of his junior season and still ranked seventh in the Villanova record book when he was inducted to the Hall of Fame 23 years after his graduation. His 14 rushing touchdowns were a record for a Wildcats quarterback which was not matched until the final year of Marvin Burroughs’ career in 2006.
 
At the time of his graduation O’Brien ranked second in school history in career rushing attempts and third in rushing yards. He was also third in the record book at that time in passing yards, completions and attempts while ranking fourth with an average of 13.00 yards per completion. His 982 total plays were also a career record when O’Brien graduated. All of his career stats for rushing, passing and total offense remained in the top 10 in school history when he was inducted to the Hall of Fame.
 
O’Brien’s first career start was on October 15, 1977 against Delaware and he rushed for 173 yards on 19 carries to go along with throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass in a 33-16 victory. Villanova rushed for 367 yards in the contest, at the time the most Delaware had ever allowed in a single game. O’Brien followed up the performance two games later when he ran 22 times for 146 yards in a 41-36 win at West Virginia, then had 110 yards on 15 carries a week later at Maryland. His stats by the end of the season amounted to 524 rushing yards and three touchdowns to go along with 312 passing yards and four scores.
 
O’Brien started 10 of 11 games in 1978 and missed his only career start against Boston College because of a hip pointer. In the season opener against Bowling Green he rushed 26 times for 105 yards in a 35-28 victory. O’Brien had 401 rushing yards on the year and was 55-of-139 through the air for 776 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Wildcats averaged more than 200 rushing yards per game in all four of O’Brien’s collegiate seasons.
 
In his 1979 junior season O’Brien had a career year passing and was 71-of-165 for 887 yards and six touchdowns. He threw the longest pass of his career on October 27 of that season when he connected with Willie Sydnor on a 71-yard touchdown play. At the time of the game it was only the 10^th pass completion for 70+ yards in Villanova history. O’Brien finished the day with 139 passing yards and rushed 16 times for 74 yards and a touchdown in a 24-14 victory which earned him a spot on the ECAC weekly all-star squad. He ended the season with 462 rushing yards and 1,349 yards of total offense on 307 plays.
 
O’Brien had 469 passing yards and 405 rushing yards as a senior in 1980 while helping lead Villanova to a winning record of 6-5, including impressive victories over Boston College and Cincinnati during the year and a 23-7 win at Villanova Stadium over a heavily-favored Temple squad in the season finale.
 
Prior to his collegiate career O’Brien had been a top 100 player at Camden Catholic (N.J.) where he starred in football and baseball. He earned second team All-South Jersey honors and was an All-Suburban selection. As a baseball player he set South Jersey marks with four home runs and 10 runs batted in as a third baseman. Following his high school graduation, he attended Massanutten Academy in Virginia for one semester and was a Prep All-American before enrolling at Villanova in the spring of 1977.