Nov. 22, 2008

Recap | Box Score

Villanova has won at least nine games for the fifth time since its football program was restarted in 1985. The last time the Wildcats won nine games was in 2002, when the team also made its last playoff appearance. Villanova went 9-3 during the regular season in 2002.

The Wildcats have made six previous playoff appearances under head coach Andy Talley. The program earned playoff bids in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997 and 2002.

Villanova won seven conference games this season for the fourth time in program history. The Wildcats last seven-win conference season came in 2001, when the squad finished 7-2 in the Atlantic 10. Villanova was a perfect 8-0 in league play during its undefeated regular season in 1997 and also went 7-1 in the Yankee Conference in 1991.

The last time two Villanova players each ran for at least 100 yards in the same game came on November 4, 2006 when Marvin Burroughs ran for 124 yards and Matt Dicken totaled 120 yards in a 31-21 win over Richmond.

The last 300-yard rushing game for Villanova came against New Hampshire on September 21, 2002 when the Wildcats had 316 yards on the ground. That game and today's contest are the only 300-yard rushing games for Villanova in the last 10 years (1999-08).

Sophomore running back Aaron Ball has run for 960 yards and 11 touchdowns on 191 carries this season. He needs just 40 more yards to register the fifth 1,000-yard rushing season by a Villanova player and currently ranks sixth in a single season in the school record book. The top three single-season marks in school history all belong to Brian Westbrook. Ball currently ranks 20th in school history with 1,207 career rushing yards in just two seasons.

Aaron Ball has run for over 100 yards in a game on four occasions this season, matching the total by Matt Dicken from last season. The last time a Wildcat had more than four 100-yard rushing games in one year was in 2001, when Brian Westbrook set a school record with eight games over 100 yards.

Sophomore quarterback Chris Whitney has carried the ball 112 times this season, picking up 565 yards and accumulating a total of 443 net rushing yards. The two yardage totals are each the highest single-season marks for a Villanova quarterback since the 1985 season, when Andy Talley became head coach and Villanova restarted its football program.