Oct. 11, 2002

Recap?|? Final Stats

Wild and Wet: Thursday's game against Penn marks only the third Thursday night game ever at Villanova Stadium. The previous two were much like this game, if only in terms of the weather. Against West Chester in the season opener in 1997 the 'Cats were leading 64-0 when play was called at the start of the third quarter due to an electrical storm. Just last year on a Thursday night much like the night against Penn, the game had to be called with 10:31 remaining in the fourth quarter with Villanova leading Colgate 31-14. Despite the hard, driving rain that pummeled Villanova Stadium, the third Thursday night game of the stadium's history was able to be completed with the Wildcats taking the hard fought victory over the University of Pennsylvania, 17-3.

Coach Andy Talley felt that "the team that handled the elements best would be the team that would win.

"We hung our hat on our defense on a day like today and the elements were really tough on our kids, as well as their kids, it came down to just enough across the goal line and we played good enough defensively to hold them out."

When asked if the weather helped to curtail Penn's offensive scheme, Al Bagnoli the Quaker head coach stated that he was "not sure if the game would have been high scoring in the rain or out of the rain with the defenses both teams possess."

Tough D: The Villanova defense this season is playing stellar football and is currently the Atlantic-10 leader in total defense. Led by senior Jamison Young and freshman Brian Hulea the 'Cats are yielding a mere 11.3 points per game and only 231 yards per game which tops the A-10. In the past two weeks, both Villanova victories, the 'Cats have held their opponents to 10 combined points. What is even more staggering about those 10 points is the fact that Hofstra scored their touchdown with 1:14 remaining in the game and Penn scored it's only field goal with :59 seconds remaining in the fourth. These late scores by Villanova opponents are all in vain, with both games all but over at that late in the game.

"We tried to end the game with a positive and possibly try to get the ball back and score again" were the words of Coach Bagnoli of Penn on the late field goal. According to Coach Talley it was the right move to try to end the game on a positive note, despite the three points not meaning much.

White Move: Senior receiver Brian White entered Thursday's game against Penn tied for the 8th spot on the all-time receiving list at 'Nova. White has caught 127 career balls in the Wildcat uniform and after lighting up Penn for 96 yards on five catches he now stands alone on the list at number 8. With nine more catches White will pass John Mastronardo (1973-76) and continue to move up the career passing list. If White continues to play well he is on pace to potentially catch up to Josh Dolbin (1994-97) at the number five position with 169 receptions. In the season opener against Rutgers, White tallied a career-high, 12 catches for 165 yards. If Brian could duplicate his Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week output from the Rutgers game than he could theoretically be poised to crack the top five and help solidify his status as one of Villanova's all-time greats.

Punting Around: Thursday's game against Penn was filled with outrageous special teams. Villanova had a terrible time trying to get the snaps to their punter Adam James. James however, was able to turn long snapper Matt Costantino's erratic snaps into positive plays for the 'Cats. Four of the teams eight punts were miss-snapped and not one of those four resulted in good field position for the Quakers. James was able to pick up the ball from the soggy turf and, after avoiding Penn defenders, squib kicked the ball downfield.

Coach Talley felt that the punting adventure was "embarrassing" with the team as good as sixth in the country. So embarrassing that Talley will now replace Costantino with Jamison Young who used to handle the long snapper position.

Penn coach Al Bagnoli felt that if the game had only been dry than his team could have possibly capitalized on Villanova's punting mishaps.

"I have never seen a game with four punts like those." Said Bagnoli after the game.

Surpassing 2,000: Senior quarterback Brett Gordon needed only 218 yards passing to surpass the 2,000 yard mark for the third time in his career. Against Penn, Gordon threw for 271 yards which provided him with only the 12th 2,000 yard passing season in 'Nova history. Gordon has accounted for three of the 12 performances, throwing for 3,017 yards last year and 2,293 in 2000. Brett now looks to throw for 3,000 yards, which he has already done once, and former quarterback Chris Boden achieved three times (1997-99) as the only players to accomplish such a feat.