Football 9/15/2016 12:00:00 AM

Conference Opener on Tap as Wildcats Host Towson Saturday Afternoon

Sept. 15, 2016

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SATURDAY'S CONFERENCE OPENER AGAINST TOWSON

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Coming off its first win of the 2016 season, No. 21 Villanova (1-1) gets back to action on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Towson (1-1) in the CAA Football opener for both teams. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Villanova Stadium, with the game set to air live on Comcast SportsNet in the Philadelphia area and on other NBC Sports regional networks throughout the country. Saturday's game will be played in the midst of Parents' Weekend on campus and a large crowd is expected as the Wildcats seek to build on the momentum created by a come-from-behind win in last week's home opener. In addition to the live television coverage, fans can tune in to the game on 610 Sports WTEL-AM and also access the radio broadcast online at villanova.com. Senior tailback Javon White (Telford, Pa.) scored his second touchdown of the game with 4:20 left against Lehigh last Saturday to put Villanova in front for good, 26-21. White ran for a career-high 155 yards in the contest and the Wildcats generated 396 yards on the ground for their best single-game rushing performance in nearly seven years. Sophomore quarterback Zach Bednarczyk (Wallington, N.J.) ran for 92 yards and second-year running back Aaron Forbes (Newburgh, N.Y.) added 87 yards and a touchdown.Villanova leads the all-time series with the Tigers by a 7-5 margin, with the teams playing once each year since Towson joined CAA Football for the 2004 season. If past history in the series is any indication, Saturday's game should be closely-contested and could feature plenty of offense. The winning team has scored at least 30 points in seven of the last eight games in the series, with a score of over 40 points on five of those occasions. The trend was snapped last year however, as the Wildcats were dealt a 28-21 loss on the road. Villanova owns a 4-2 edge against the Tigers in games played at Villanova Stadium.Senior linebacker Austin Calitro (Danbury, Conn.) recorded 10 total tackles last week to notch the third double-digit tackle game of his career. His most recent previous game with double digits in total stops was against Towson last year when he recorded 10 tackles and half a tackle for loss. Calitro leads the Wildcats with 18 tackles through the first two games this season, and is one of six players on the team with 13 or more stops on the year.Villanova head coach Andy Talley is the CAA Football all-time wins leader in conference games with 136 career regular season victories against league foes. The success of the Wildcats in league play is evident in how they have performed in conference openers. Talley is 21-7 (.750) all-time in league openers, with victories in each of the last four seasons and eight of the last nine years. Villanova hosted Delaware in last year's CAA opener and came away with a 28-21 victory. Talley registered his 250th career win overall last week and became the 22nd head coach at all levels of college football to reach that plateau. He is the active career wins leader amongst all FBS and FCS coaches, and is one of five active coaches at all levels of the sport to have at least 200 wins at his current school.Both teams in Saturday afternoon's contest will be coming off a victory. Towson stormed back from an 18-point deficit against St. Francis (Pa.) and scored the final 25 points of the game in a 35-28 victory. Senior wide receiver Christian Summers tied the game when he caught a 94-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, then hauled in a 43-yard pass for the game-winning touchdown with just 2:21 left in the game. Summers finished with 232 yards on just six catches, while redshirt sophomore quarterback Ellis Knudson threw for 301 yards on 10-of-22 passing.Villanova will be playing its second straight home game this week, then will head on the road for each of its next two games. The first of the two upcoming road contests will be against Lafayette on September 24 at 6 p.m.

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