Football 10/29/2015 12:00:00 AM

Wildcats Host Maine on CAA Football

Oct. 29, 2015

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SATURDAY NIGHT'S GAME AGAINST MAINE

VILLANOVA, Pa.--An exciting night of football and other festivities is on tap for this Saturday evening, when Villanova (3-4, 2-2 CAA Football) hosts Maine (3-4, 3-1 CAA Football) in a nationally televised contest that is part of the CAA Football "Be The Match Saturday" initiative. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and there are several Halloween activities planned for young fans attending the game.

Saturday night's contest between the Wildcats and the Black Bears can be seen live on NBC Sports Network, with Mike Corey and Ross Tucker calling all the action. The live radio broadcast called by Ryan Fannon and Kevin Reilly can be heard on 610 SPORTS (WTEL-AM) as well as online at Villanova.com with a Nova Nation All-Access subscription. Live audio can also be found by using the free TuneIn mobile device application.

A league-wide partnership between CAA Football and Be The Match, the organization which manages the largest and most diverse bone marrow donor registry in the world, was announced this past summer. The efforts of this partnership will be headlined by this weekend's first-ever CAA Football "Be The Match Saturday," a day to raise awareness of the need for donors of bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells and to increase the number of committed potential donors in the registry. Fans are encouraged to visit the Be The Match table located on the South side of the stadium for more information.

Three of Saturday's league games will be nationally televised, including the Villanova-Maine game being shown on NBC Sports Network following the earlier 4 p.m. kickoff between William & Mary and James Madison. The American Sports Network will air the Stony Brook-Elon contest beginning at Noon. The networks will participate in "Be The Match Saturday" by educating viewers about the Be The Match mission and on how to join the registry. In addition, coaches and other sideline personnel will wear Be The Match patches, and in-stadium announcements will further communicate details to fans in attendance.

Halloween activities include free admission for children 12 and younger who are dressed in costume. Once in the stadium, fans can pick up a Villanova branded Halloween trick-or-treat bag at the Kid Zone, which can be used to trick-or-treat in the stadium beginning at 6 p.m. There will also be a Halloween costume contest for children at the Kid Zone and fans will have an opportunity to have their picture taken with Will D. Cat.

Villanova returns home to face Maine in a battle of two teams that appropriately have the same record entering play. The all-time series between the Wildcats and the Black Bears is similarly tied 9-9, while head coaches Andy Talley from Villanova and Jack Cosgrove of Maine are two of the longest-tenured coaches in the league. The last meeting between the teams took place at Alfond Stadium in Orono last season and the Wildcats tallied a 41-20 victory.

The visiting team has won the last five games between Villanova and the Black Bears, including a 37-35 victory by Maine on October 26, 2013 in its last visit to the Main Line. The last time the home team won a game in the series came when the Wildcats beat the Black Bears, 24-17 in overtime, in the 2007 home opener.

Villanova returns home after playing back-to-back games on the road at Albany and Towson over the past two weeks. Prior to those two contests, the Wildcats had played a three-game home stand between September 19 and October 10. Villanova is 35-12 (.745) in the friendly confines of Villanova Stadium since the start of the 2007 season.

In the past two games at Albany and Towson, the Wildcats have had possession of the ball for exactly 71 minutes (35:56 at Towson and 35:04 at Albany). In the three contests prior to these games, Villanova averaged just 23:14 in time of possession. A big reason for the turnaround has been the team's efficiency on third down opportunities. After going just 1-of-12 on third down in the loss to William & Mary on October 10, the Wildcats went a combined 16-of-27 (59.3%) on third down opportunities in the two road games, including a 10-of-18 showing versus the Tigers last week.

Villanova has finished each of its last two games with 421 yards of total offense. Prior to the last two contests, the Wildcats averaged just 329.8 yards of total offense through their first five games of the season. The offense in the past two games at Albany and Towson was well-balanced between 445 rushing yards and 397 passing yards. Sophomore running back Matt Gudzak (Toms River, N.J.) ran for a career-high 96 yards and a touchdown against Towson, while redshirt freshman Zach Bednarczyk (Wallington, N.J.) threw for 245 yards and two scores.

The defense has been Villanova's biggest strength this season. Through the first seven games of the year, the Wildcats rank second in CAA Football in total defense and third in scoring defense. Villanova is allowing an average of just 298.4 yards of total offense to its opponents, and the opposition is only averaging 19.7 points per game. The defense has been particularly effective in the red zone and the Wildcats have allowed points on just 57.9 percent (11-of-19) of its opponents' possessions in the red zone. Villanova has also forced three turnovers in the red zone, including two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Junior linebackers Corey Majors (Levittow, Pa.) and Austin Calitro (Danbury, Conn.) were the top two defensive performers for Villanova in last week's game at Towson. Majors posted double figures in tackles for the first time in his career and had a career-high 11 total stops, while Calitro made 10 tackles in the game. It marked the second time this season that two Wildcats linebackers reached double digits in tackles in the same game. Earlier in the year, Calitro had 13 stops and senior Don Cherry (Trumbull, Conn.) added 10 tackles in a home game against Penn.

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