VILLANOVA, Pa.—The calendar turned to October this week and conference play is in full swing as No. 5 Villanova (5-0, 2-0 CAA Football) heads to William & Mary (2-3, 0-1 CAA) for a Saturday afternoon contest.  Kickoff at Zable Stadium is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in what will be the Wildcats first trip to Williamsburg, Va. in five years.  The game will air live on FloFootball and the radio broadcast can be heard on 610 ESPN.  The 2019 Villanova Football season is presented by Independence Blue Cross. 
 
Fans can watch Saturday's game on FloFootball across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Roku or Apple TV 4.  Special pricing is available for CAA Football fans by visiting flosports.tv/caa.  Becoming a PRO subscriber allows fans to access live and on-demand coverage of exclusive content and games.  Steve Pinone and Kevin Reilly will call the action on the radio broadcast, which can also be heard online via TuneIn.  Live stats and other pertinent game information can be found in the links at the top of this release.
 
Villanova is one of just six remaining undefeated teams in the FCS and enters play this week as the lone FCS team with a 5-0 record.  It is the best start to a season since the Wildcats also won their first give games in their national championship season in 2009, while the team is also off to a 2-0 start in CAA action following a road win at Towson and a victory at home over Maine. 
 
One of the trends Villanova will look to continue this week is its success on the road, where the Wildcats have won five straight games dating back to last season.  This year's road wins have come at Colgate, Bucknell and Towson, the latter an overtime thriller two weeks ago in which Villanova forced overtime on a late field goal en route to beating the fifth-ranked Tigers. 
 
The kryptonite for the Wildcats this season has been a high-powered offense which ranks in the top 10 nationally in both scoring (40.4 points per game) and red zone efficiency (94.7%).  Villanova is also third in CAA Football with 244.6 rushing yards per game and has scored at least 30 points in each of its five outings.  Along the way to their 5-0 start the Wildcats have racked up a +21.2 scoring margin. 
 
It has been some time since Villanova last traveled to play the Tribe during the 2014 season.  The only two meetings in the series since then came at Villanova Stadium in 2015 and last season.  William & Mary leads the all-time series by a narrow 18-15-1 margin and is 10-4-1 against the Wildcats at Zable Stadium, but Villanova has made some inroads in turning the tables by winning three of its last four road games in the series.  Just two members of the Wildcats coaching staff – head coach Mark Ferrante and recruiting coordinator/linebackers coach David Riede – were on staff the last time Villanova played in Williamsburg.      
 
Junior running back Justin Covington (Bronx, N.Y.) is the nation's leading rusher this season with 674 yards, more than double his career total following two years as a backup prior to breaking out in the first five games of his junior campaign.  Covington has surpassed 100 yards on the ground in each of the Wildcats five contests, and he ranks third in the FCS in both rushing yards per game (134.8) and rushing yards per carry (8.4). 
 
While Covington has led a running game which has finished with at least 200 yards in all five games, junior quarterback Daniel Smith (Leesburg, Va.) has been exceptional directing the offense in his first year on the Main Line.  Smith ranks second among FCS quarterbacks with 120 total points accounted for and he is also third in the country with 14 passing touchdowns.  He has gone 80-of-142 through the air for 978 yards with only two three interceptions while also running 29 times for another 176 yards and six scores.  Smith was a two-year starter at Campbell before transferring to Villanova this season.
 
The defense for the Wildcats has been as opportunistic as the offense has been high-powered.  Villanova owns a plus-four turnover margin and has forced nine takeaways on defense, including seven interceptions and three defensive touchdowns.  Sophomore cornerback Elijah Trent (Rockville, Md.) has picked off three passes and recorded a pick-six against Lehigh, while junior safety Nowoola Awopetu (Staten Island, N.Y.) was one of the top defensive performers against Maine last week when he had a career-high 10 tackles. 
 
This week is the front end of consecutive trips to Virginia for the Wildcats, who will next travel to James Madison on October 12 for a 1:30 p.m. contest.  Villanova has eight players on the roster who are natives of the Old Dominion State.  They include junior linebacker Trajan Anderson (Fredericksburg), freshman defensive lineman Jalen Howard (Woodbridge), senior wide receiver Zac Kerxton (Haymarket), junior wide receiver Josh McGrigg (Alexandria), freshman wide receiver Rayjoun Pringle (Dumfries), junior quarterback Daniel Smith (Leesburg) and sophomore defensive lineman Billy Solms (Marshall).