VILLANOVA, Pa.—It took a fast start and a fourth quarter rally for No. 18 Villanova (7-3, 4-3 CAA Football) to snap a three-game losing streak and tally a 35-28 victory over Richmond (5-5, 4-2) at Villanova Stadium on Saturday afternoon.  Despite trailing for more than 30 minutes during the middle of the game, the Wildcats scored the game-tying and go-ahead touchdowns less than three minutes apart in the final period to come away with a hard-earned win in front of an announced crowd of 4,151 on a cold and blustery day. 
 
Junior quarterback Daniel Smith (Leesburg, Va.) threw for 235 yards, rushed for a season-high 105 yards and two touchdowns, and finished the day with 340 yards of total offense.  His nine-yard scamper for a score with 11:45 to play tied the score at 28-28, while his 48-yard pass to junior wide receiver Change Hodge (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) on the next Villanova possession set up a 20-yard touchdown run by freshman running back TD Ayo-Durojaiye (Damascus, Md.) which proved to be the game-winning score.
 
All four of the Wildcats offensive touchdowns came via the run, with freshman DeeWil Barlee (Malvern, Pa.) rushing for a game-high 114 yards and a score on 18 carries.  Smith ran 14 times and notched his first 100-yard rushing game in a Villanova uniform while also going 20-of-28 through the air.  Hodge and freshman wide receiver Jaaron Hayek (Wayne, N.J.) combined to make 12 receptions for 168 yards. 
 
The game started with a flourish when junior safety Nowoola Awopetu (Staten Island, N.Y.) fielded the opening kickoff at the goal line and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown.  It was the first kickoff return for a score by the Wildcats since Angelo Babbaro had an 86-yard return against Eastern Washington in 2010.  Babbaro, a member of Villanova's 2009 national championship team, was among more than 30 players from the championship squad who were on hand to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the Wildcats first national title. 
 
Villanova's turnaround defensively in the second half wound up being the story of the game.  Richmond amassed 270 yards of offense in the first half, including 201 rushing yards, and led 28-21 at halftime.  In the second half, the Wildcats defense gave up just three first downs and 63 total yards while shutting the Spiders out for the final 30 minutes.  Villanova outgained Richmond by a 181-3 margin in the fourth quarter alone. 
 
Senior linebacker Drew Wiley (Pennington, N.J.) had a big game to lead the Wildcats defense.  He totaled five tackles on the day, among them 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack for 10 yards in the third quarter.  Wiley also had a forced fumble in the first quarter and an interception on the first series of the third period which helped take away the momentum of the Spiders offense.  Junior linebacker Forrest Rhyne (Waynesboro, Pa.) had a team-high 10 total stops, his fifth double-digit tackle game of the season and the fourth in his last five outings.
 
Richmond received the opening kickoff in the second half and drove 50 yards on six plays to the Wildcats 24-yard line.  On a first-down play, Wiley picked off Spiders quarterback Joe Mancuso at the eight-yard line to stop a drive that could have resulted in Villanova falling behind by a two-touchdown margin.  Although the Wildcats went just eight yards themselves before punting the ball away on their ensuing possession, the forced turnover appeared to be the spark the defense needed. 
 
Villanova forced Richmond to go three-and-out on each of their final two possessions of the third quarter, and in between the Wildcats put together a 13-play, 78-yard drive in which Smith had 41 rushing yards.  That drive ended with a missed 27-yard field goal, but the pendulum seemed to have nevertheless swung in Villanova's favor by that point.
 
Early in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats had second-and-seven from the Richmond 26-yard line and appeared to tie the game when Smith threw a 26-yard pass to Hodge in the end zone.  Replay review showed that Hodge did not have possession of the ball before coming down, and it was ruled an incomplete pass.  Smith then looked to Hodge again and completed a 17-yard pass for a first down.  He kept the ball for a nine-yard, game-tying score on the next play. 
 
Richmond went three-and-out again with the game tied and Villanova got the ball back at its own 32-yard line with 9:30 left in the game.  Smith found Hodge for a 48-yard completion on the first play of that drive, then handed off to Ayo-Durojaiye who went 20 yards and found the end zone for a third consecutive game.  After the Spiders third straight three-and-out, the Wildcats took over with 7:20 to play and were able to run out the clock to secure the victory. 
 
Villanova guaranteed itself of a winning record for the first time since 2016 with the win and improved to 16-6 at home in the all-time series with the Spiders.  The Wildcats are 24-13 overall against Richmond, their second-most victories against any opponent behind the 30 all-time wins Villanova has against Delaware. 
 
Saturday's game was the start of a three-game homestand to close out the regular season.  Next up for the Wildcats is a Friday night game with LIU.  Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.