Sept. 7, 2002
TURNING HEADS WITH DEFENSE: Although the season is less than seven days old, the stinginess of Villanova's defense has offered the most compelling storyline for the 2002 Wildcats.
Saturday's 20-0 victory over the Colgate Raiders in Hamilton, N.Y., marked the 'Cats third consecutive victory over the Raiders and first in upstate New York. More significant was the bottleneck Villanova created for the Colgate offense: The Raiders were held to 134 total yards and only 23 yards rushing. In contrast, Villanova produced 452 yards of total offense, including 377 through the air.
Colgate was limited to nine first downs all afternoon while the 'Cats picked up 24. Villanova recorded two sacks and forced a pair of turnovers to go with them.
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Well, the Wildcats held Colgate to 11 yards of total offense in the first half while building a 13-0 cushion that was never challenged.
HAPPY TO BE BACK: The outcome represented a happy homecoming for two noteworthy members of the traveling party. Head coach Andy Talley left 35 tickets for friends and family members on this afternoon. Talley's family hails from nearby Utica, N.Y. and the 'Cats were lodged there on the eve of the game.
Meanwhile, sophomore running back Terry Butler saw 25 members of his support crew, including friends and family, make the journey over from Syracuse, N.Y. Butler scored a second quarter touchdown when he took a pass from senior quarterback Brett Gordon 43 yards to stake the 'Cats to a 10-0 advantage. Butler was a major threat catching passes out of the backfield, finishing with six catches for a career best 103 receiving yards.
The product of Henniger High School in Syracuse also delivered 54 rushing yards on 19 carries.
COOL KICKS: One of the concerns entering the 2002 season centered on the kicking game. Villanova saw two tested veterans, placekicker Casey Hannon and punter Chris Birch graduate last spring. That left a rather gaping hole that redshirt freshman Adam James has filled well in the early season. James added two field goals on Saturday to the one he hit against Rutgers last week, giving him a perfect mark on field goals thus far. His 26 yard field goal was Villanova's first score of the afternoon at the 6:03 mark of the first quarter. He then added a 19 yarder as time expired in the second quarter to give the Wildcats a 13-0 lead heading into the locker room.
WHITE TIED WARD: Senior wide receiver Brian White wasn't quite the offensive force against Colgate he was at Rutgers when he grabbed 12 receptions for 165 yards and walked away with Atlantic Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors. The Hamilton, N.J. native collected four receptions for 15 yards on the afternoon.
Yet White did make progress on the all-time Wildcats receiving list. He now has 122 career receptions and is now tied with former teammate Steve Ward (1997-2000) for ninth place on the career chart at Villanova. Next up would be Scott Donald, who had 127 career receptions from 1989-92.
Brian Finneran of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons holds the all-time VU record with 265 career receptions.
GORDON'S STEADY HAND: One week after passing for 321 yards at Rutgers, Gordon was at it again on Saturday afternoon. His 377 yards passing marked the eighth time in his career that he has passed for better than 300 yards. Gordon completed 27 of 39 pass attempts and connected with Butler for his only touchdown pass.
One of his favorite targets on the afternoon was tight end Matt Chila. Chila's picked up six receptions for 95 yards, including a 33-yard reception. Those were career best for the junior from Ocean City, N.J.
AN OMEN, PERHAPS?: The last time the Wildcats won their first two road games of the season was in 1997. That year Villanova defeated Delaware 35-25 and Richmond 40-29 in its first forays away from the Main Line en route to a 12-1 campaign and Atlantic Ten Conference championship.
The two opening victories away from Villanova Stadium this year marks the seventh time in Talley's 18 years at Villanova that the Wildcats have captured their first two road games of the season. In those seven seasons, Villanova is 55-16-1.
