VILLANOVA, Pa.—The matchup between the top two offensive teams in CAA Football lived up to its billing with more than 1,000 yards of total offense, but No. 10 Villanova (2-1, 0-1) was unable to overcome a deficit that grew to as large as 21 points in a 45-35 loss to Towson (2-1, 1-0) at Villanova Stadium on Saturday afternoon.  Senior quarterback Zach Bednarczyk (Wallington, N.J.) threw for a career-high 389 yards in the highest single-game passing performance by a Wildcats quarterback in more than 15 years. 
 
Bednarczyk was 26-of-35 through the air and tied a career high with four touchdown passes.  Senior wide receiver Jarrett McClenton (Bensalem, Pa.) and senior tight end Ryan Bell (Basking Ridge, N.J.) each surpassed 100 yards, with McClenton tying the career high he set last week with six receptions for 114 yards.  Bell caught eight passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns.  The final offensive tallies included 60 plays for 490 yards by Villanova and 90 plays totaling 528 yards for the Tigers. 
 
The offensive pace of the game was frenzied from the start, with the Wildcats scoring touchdowns less than two minutes apart to race out to a 14-0 lead by the 9:59 mark of the opening quarter.  Towson then reeled off 35 unanswered points and led 35-14 after its fifth touchdown of the game with 2:26 left before halftime.  An answer by the Wildcats on an 86-yard drive which took just four plays made it 35-21 at the intermission. 
 
Villanova scored touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarters which trimmed the deficit to seven points.  A one-yard touchdown run by fifth-year senior running back Matt Gudzak (Toms River, N.J.) with 8:16 left in the game pulled the Wildcats to within 42-35, but the Tigers ate up more than five minutes of clock time on their ensuing drive before kicking a 26-yard field goal to extend their lead back to double digits with 3:12 remaining. 
 
Two key plays on Towson's final scoring drive helped seal the game's outcome.  A quarterback keeper by Ryan Stover on 4^th-and-1 from Villanova's 38-yard line extended the drive, as did a five-yard pass by Tom Flacco on 3^rd-and-5 from the 32 later in the drive.  By comparison, on the Wildcats final drive a pass by Bednarczyk on 3^rd-and-7 from the Villanova 44-yard line picked up only five yards, and Bednarczyk was then stuffed on 4^th-and-2 to effectively end the Wildcats chances of a dramatic comeback. 
 
Villanova had no shortage of big plays early on.  After the Wildcats received the opening kickoff, Bednarczyk connected with sophomore wide receiver Changa Hodge (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) for 65 yards on the fourth play from scrimmage.  Senior running back Aaron Forbes (Newburgh, N.Y.) caught a five-yard touchdown pass two plays later to open the scoring.  After the Tigers went three-and-out on their first possession, Villanova needed just two plays for an 83-yard scoring drive which made the score 14-0.  The plays included a 52-yard rush by Forbes and a 31-yard touchdown reception by Bell. 
 
Still in the first quarter, Towson responded with 21 points in a span of just 4:27 to take a 21-14 lead with under a minute remaining in the period.  Shane Simpson scored on a 13-yard run with 4:56 left and Shane Leatherbury caught a 76-yard touchdown pass with 37 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 14-14.  A hard tackle on Wildcats freshman Jalen Jackson (Richmond, Va.) on the ensuing kickoff return forced a fumble which the Tigers returned 14 yards for the only lead change in the game with 29 seconds to play in the quarter.  Towson was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play. 
 
Villanova started to get some momentum back in the closing minutes of the first half.  Bednarczyk completed four straight passes totaling 86 yards leading to his third touchdown pass of the day.  He began with a six-yard pass to Bell, then hit McClenton for 19 yards and Forbes for 50 before throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Bell which closed out the first half scoring.  The burst of energy carried into the second half, as a Tigers drive to open the third quarter stalled when senior linebacker Jeff Steeb (Sweetwater, N.J.) intercepted Flacco near midfield. 
 
McClenton sparked Villanova's next offensive possession with a 10-yard rush to open the drive and a 14-yard touchdown reception to make the score 35-28 with 11:05 to go in the third quarter.  Later in the period, a 14-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Leatherbury extended the margin to 42-28 with less than two minutes on the clock. 
 
The passing game for the Wildcats continued to look strong, with Bednarczyk completing passes to nine different receivers for the second time in three games this season.  The quartet of Bell, McClenton, Forbes and Hodge combined to make 18 catches totaling 343 yards.  Bednarczyk's total of 389 passing yards is the most in a game by a Villanova quarterback since Brett Gordon had 460 yards through the air against Delaware on November 23, 2002. 
 
Flacco was 27-of-37 for 320 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Towson offense.  The game is the first since 2014 against James Madison in which the Wildcats allowed an opponent to run at least 90 offensive plays.  Villanova gave up over 500 yards of total offense for the first time since allowing 518 yards to William & Mary during the 2014 season.    
 
Senior safety Rob Rolle (Newfield, N.J.) and freshman cornerback Christian Benford (Rockville, Md.) each made a game-high 11 tackles to lead the Wildcats defensively.  In addition to recording his fourth career interception and second this season, Steeb had nine total tackles including a sack. 
 
Villanova was playing its home and conference opener on Saturday, and will get ready for a second straight home game against Bucknell next Saturday at 6 p.m.