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EAST HARTFORD, Conn. - In a back-and-forth game, No. 4 Villanova (0-1) saw a fourth quarter rally come up short in a 20-15 loss to FBS member Connecticut (1-0) in front of a crowd of 26,113 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Thursday night. Senior quarterback John Robertson (Paramus, N.J.) had both a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown to lead the Wildcats offense.

Robertson scored the only Villanova points of the second half on a three-yard touchdown run with 1:45 left in the game. That score cut into an 11-point deficit but a two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful and the Wildcats could get no closer than the five-point margin. Villanova was unable to make a stop on third down on the ensuing Huskies possession, and Connecticut ran out the final minute on the clock.

"I was pleased we were able to play four quarters and really by physical," Villanova head coach Andy Talley said. "We had three turnovers and when you are playing anybody, three turnovers can do you in. We needed to play a better game offensive than we did...but we just didn't get in the end zone enough to keep the game tighter. We had a lot of young guys in there tonight and they got a lot of really good experience."

In the first half, sophomore running back Matt Gudzak (Toms River, N.J.) caught a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:36 remaining before halftime and the Wildcats took a 9-6 lead into the locker rooms. Gudzak's score capped a 14-play, 67-yard drive which was the most plays on any drive by either team during the contest. Villanova scored its first points of the game on a safety midway through the second period when the Huskies were called for holding in the end zone.

Robertson finished the night 17-of-32 through the air for 153 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed for 66 yards and 18 carries, including a pair of runs of longer than 20 yards. Senior wide receiver Kevin Gulyas (Allentown, Pa.), senior running back Gary Underwood (Cincinnati, Ohio) and sophomore wide receiver Taurus Phillips (Beacon, N.Y.) all had four receptions for the Wildcats, with Gulyas picking up a team-high 64 yards.

Senior safety Cameron McCurry (Orange Park, Fla.) led the Villanova defense with a game-high 10 tackles, including two tackles for loss. Sophomore safety Wes Smith (Miramar, Fla.) added eight total stops, including five solo tackles.

Connecticut got on the board first when Bryant Shirreffs threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Myers with 6:55 left in the opening quarter. The point-after attempt by Bobby Puyol was blocked by junior defensive lineman Tanoh Kpassagnon (Ambler, Pa.) and the Huskies were limited to the six-point lead.

After the Wildcats picked up just 26 total yards on their first two drives -- resulting in a punt and a lost fumble -- the offense rounded into form later in the first quarter. Villanova went 73 yards on 13 plays on its third possession, which culminated in a missed 24-yard field goal attempt with 7:07 to play before halftime.

The safety on the next Connecticut possession got the Wildcats on the scoreboard, and the next drive resulted in Robertson's touchdown pass to Gudzak and a three-point Villanova lead.

"We definitely needed that," Robertson said of the Wildcats first scoring drive. "We started off slow, and throughout the whole game we played inconsistently, starting with me. We gave it a good effort and we have to take what happened tonight as a learning experience, not dwell on it, and get ready for next week."

Huskies running back Ron Johnson scored from one yard out just over two minutes into the third quarter as Connecticut went 75 yards on just four plays and retook the lead for good at 13-9. Shirreffs threw a 27-yard strike to Arkeel Newsome with 4:53 to play in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 20-9.

Gudzak recorded a career-best 44-yard kickoff return following the last Huskies score and helped to set up the Wildcats scoring drive which created at least the possibility of last-minute heroics. Gudzak had two kickoff returns for a total of 72 yards and finished with 88 all-purpose yards. He also had the 13-yard touchdown catch and a three-yard run. Junior running back Javon White (Telford, Pa.) ran for 25 yards on eight carries.

Villanova returns to action when it travels to Fordham on September 12 for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

NOTES: Thursday night's game marked the 20th time that Villanova has played an FBS opponent since 1988 ... In those games, the Wildcats are 3-17 (.150) overall, with eight of the losses coming by 10 or fewer points ... Villanova is now 58-57-2 (.504) all-time in season openers, including 14-17 (.452) during the 31-year tenure of head coach Andy Talley ... The game marked the first meeting between the Wildcats and Connecticut since 1999, when the teams were Atlantic 10 Conference rivals ... Villanova owns a 7-5 edge in the all-time series.