VILLANOVA, Pa.—Following a well-timed bye week during the university's fall break, Villanova (3-4, 0-4 CAA Football) will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when it hosts New Hampshire (1-6, 0-4) for a 2 p.m. kickoff. Despite the teams being longtime conference rivals, the namesake Wildcats have not played each other since 2013 and New Hampshire has not paid a visit to Villanova Stadium in eight years.
After a series of injuries befell Villanova in the stretch of games leading up to the bye week, the team will be looking to return mostly healthy for Saturday afternoon's contest. Both teams of Wildcats are currently 0-4 in conference play, making the game a rare matchup in the all-time series. At least one of the teams has been nationally-ranked in each of the last 10 meetings between Villanova and New Hampshire, with both teams being ranked in six of those 10 matchups.
New Hampshire has a narrow 12-11 edge in the all-time series and has won the past three head-to-head matchups, while Villanova is 6-5 in home games in the series. The teams last faced each other in Durham, N.H. in 2013 when the host Wildcats tallied a 29-28 victory on a touchdown and two-point conversion in the final minute of the game. New Hampshire also was a victor in its last trip to the Main Line, 31-24 during the 2010 regular season. The last win for Villanova was a 46-7 triumph in the 2009 playoffs during the team's run to its first-ever national title.
Two factors that could be on Villanova's side in Saturday's game are its history of success coming off a bye week and on Homecoming Weekend. Villanova is 13-4 in its last 17 games coming off a bye and also 34-19 all-time in Homecoming games. The latter trend includes three wins in the last four years on Homecoming Weekend.
Senior running back
Aaron Forbes (Newburgh, N.Y.) has been one of the catalysts for the Villanova offense this season. He leads the team with 445 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the year, and enters Saturday's game needing 79 more yards to reach 2,000 for his career. Forbes would become the 11
th player in school history to rush for at least 2,000 yards. He has played in 38 career games and has rushed 360 times for 1,921 yards and 13 touchdowns while averaging 5.3 yards per carry. He also has 41 career receptions for 306 yards and four scores.
One of the other top performers for Villanova has been freshman kicker
Nathan Fondacaro (Sewell, N.J.), who is handling the punting and kickoff duties. He leads CAA Football and ranks 13
th in the country with 43.4 yards per punt on the season, including nine punts of 50 yards or longer and 10 of his 32 attempts being placed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Fondacaro averaged 45.9 yards on a season-high seven punts against James Madison in Villanova's last game. He is also averaging 61.9 yards on kickoffs, with 15 touchbacks on 33 kicks.
Villanova will alternate home and road contests for the final four weeks of the regular season. Next on the schedule after Saturday's game with New Hampshire is a trip to Richmond next Saturday for a 3 p.m. game.
