VILLANOVA, Pa.—After an unconventional start to the season which included playing the first college football game in the country and then having a 13-day layoff before its next game, No. 24 Villanova (0-0) will get back on the field for its home opener against Lehigh (0-1) presented by Bryn Mawr Hospital at Villanova Stadium on Saturday evening.  Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.  The 2019 Villanova Football season is presented by Independence Blue Cross.  Season and single-game tickets are on sale and fans can look forward to a number of enhancements to the gameday experience at Villanova Stadium which were announced this week.
 
Saturday's game will mark the Wildcats debut on FloFootball, the digital platform which begins a landmark four-year partnership with the Colonial Athletic Association this season.  Villanova will appear on FloFootball in all but one of the remaining games on the regular season schedule.  Fans can watch the game 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 http://flosports.tv/caa, and becoming a PRO subscriber allows fans to access live and on-demand coverage of exclusive content and games.
 
Nick Mantegna and Steve Pinone will be in the booth for the FloFootball broadcast.  Radio coverage can be found on 610 ESPN and online at TuneIn with Ryan Fannon and Kevin Reilly calling the action.  Live stats and other pertinent game information can be found in the links at the top of this release.  The game against Lehigh is one of only two home contests the Wildcats will play through the first eight weeks of the season. 
 
Villanova opened the 2019 season by defeating Colgate, 34-14, in a Week Zero game on August 24 in Hamilton, N.Y.  The contest was the first of four to kick off on the national schedule that day, with another FCS game and two FBS matchups following later in the day.  Following the earliest start to the season in program history, the Wildcats had a bye in Week 1 leading up to this Saturday's contest. 
 
Villanova is 26-8 (.765) in home openers since becoming a FCS member in 1985, but will be looking to get back in the win column after falling to league rival Towson in its first home game last season.  That loss snapped a six-game winning streak in home openers, a run which matched the second-longest in school history (1996-01).  The longest was a stretch of 13 straight home-opener wins from 1927-39. 
 
This is the fourth straight season that the Wildcats will face the Mountain Hawks, against whom they are 10-5 all-time.  Villanova has won seven straight meetings in the series, including a 2016 win at home and consecutive victories in Bethlehem over the last two seasons.  The record against Lehigh is representative of how the Wildcats have fared against Patriot League teams in all.  Villanova is 33-4 versus the Patriot League since 1985, including nine consecutive victories.  The first three opponents on the Wildcats schedule this season (Colgate, Lehigh, Bucknell) are all Patriot League foes.
 
The win over Colgate was a notable one for Villanova, which amassed 444 yards of total offense against one of last year's top FCS defensive teams.  Coming off the win, the Wildcats moved into the national rankings this week as they earned the No. 24 spot in the STATS FCS national poll.  Individual recognition was handed out as well, with junior cornerback Jaquan Amos (Philadelphia, Pa.) being named the STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week and the CAA Football Defensive Player of the Week. 
 
Amos scored his third career defensive touchdown with a 27-yard interception return versus Colgate and set up the Wildcats first scoring drive of the game with a fumble recovery.  He finished the day with seven total tackles, including four solo stops.  Junior linebacker Forrest Rhyne (Waynesboro, Pa.) was also a standout performer in the season opener, with a team-high eight tackles which included two tackles for loss and a sack. 
 
Junior quarterback Daniel Smith (Leesburg, Va.) made his Villanova debut in the Colgate game and had three touchdown passes in addition to running for a score of his own.  The transfer from Campbell went 14-of-29 for 205 yards while also rushing seven times for 37 yards.  Including his stats from two seasons at Campbell, Smith stands just 26 rushing yards away from reaching 2,000 in his career.  He connected with eight different receivers against Colgate and threw touchdown passes to sophomore running back Jalen Jackson (Richmond, Va.), junior wide receiver Changa Hodge (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) and sophomore wide receiver Andrew Perez (North Caldwell, N.J.). 
 
The offense was powered by a balanced attack in the season opener, with Smith leading the way under center and junior running back Justin Covington (Bronx, N.Y.) having a breakout game.  Covington ran for a career-high 134 yards while notching the first 100-yard game of his career.  His 19 carries and 139 all-purpose yards were also career highs.  The trio of Covington, Jackson and Smith combined to carry for 235 yards on 37 carries. 
 
Villanova goes back on the road after Saturday's game and will next face Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa. on September 14 at 6 p.m.  The next home game is on September 28 when the Wildcats host Maine presented by Rothman Orthopaedics for a 3:30 p.m. tilt.