VILLANOVA, Pa.—A second quarter scoring burst which featured touchdowns on both sides of the ball turned the tables after a stagnant start and No. 24 Villanova (2-0) went on to defeat Lehigh (0-2) by a final score of 38-10 at Villanova Stadium on Saturday night.  The difference in the game was a string of 17 unanswered points scored by the Wildcats in a span of less than eight minutes midway through the second period.  Villanova also scored the final 21 points of the game in the second half and won its home opener in front of an announced crowd of 8,319. 
 
Junior quarterback Daniel Smith (Leesburg, Va.) threw three touchdown passes – all to different receivers – for the second straight game and was 14-of-24 for 172 yards on the night.  He combined with the running back tandem of junior Justin Covington (Bronx, N.Y.) and sophomore Jalen Jackson (Richmond, Va.) to give the Wildcats what has appeared to be a well-balanced offense through the first two games of the season.  Covington rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown on eight carries – a career-best 64-yard jaunt helped him surpass the century mark for a second straight game – and Jackson had a career-high 95 yards on 10 rushes. 
 
"We are obviously really excited about a home opener with a victory," Wildcats head coach Mark Ferrante said.  "The guys played hard.  We started out a little sluggish but got the victory.  I was really pleased with our running game, really pleased with how Dan delivered the ball to multiple receivers and the defense came up big again minus that one drive to open up the second half.  We scored on defense and I don't know how many times we stopped them on fourth down, but it was three or four times including that one on the one-yard line at the end which was a really great play."
 
After a scoreless opening period, the Mountain Hawks tallied the first points of the game when Austin Henning made a 32-yard field goal just 10 seconds into the second quarter.  The rest of that period was all Villanova, beginning with freshman wide receiver Jaaron Hayek (Wayne, N.J.) scoring his first career touchdown on a 31-yard reception just over two minutes after the Lehigh field goal.  Junior kicker Drew Kresge (Douglassville, Pa.) made a 33-yard field goal with 5:03 left before halftime on his first attempt of the season and sophomore cornerback Elijah Trent (Rockville, Md.) returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown 24 seconds later to make the score 17-3. 
 
The biggest offensive play of the day for the Mountain Hawks was a 42-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Monaco to Jorge Portorreal at the 12:46 mark of the third quarter which trimmed the margin to 17-10.  The answer from the Wildcats was a quick one however, as Covington's 64-yard burst downfield set up an ensuing 16-yard touchdown run to push the Villanova lead back to two touchdowns.  Junior tight end Todd Summers (Murrysville, Pa.) caught a 13-yard touchdown pass later in the period and sophomore wide receiver Dez Boykin (Whitehall, Pa.) scored his first career touchdown on a 12-yard reception in the fourth quarter. 
 
Long drives by Lehigh in the second half prevented the Wildcats from getting into an even better offensive groove.  Villanova kicked off to the Mountain Hawks to open the second half and Lehigh wound up holding possession for more than 11 minutes in the third quarter and nearly nine minutes in the final period.  Lehigh's final time of possession for the game wound up at 35:47 and the Mountain Hawks ran 78 plays compared to 54 by the Wildcats.  Despite those numbers, Villanova outgained Lehigh by a final margin of 399-358 and averaged 7.4 yards per play. 
 
Junior linebacker Forrest Rhyne (Waynesboro, Pa.) led the Wildcats in tackles for the second straight game and finished with a career-high 10 total stops.  Villanova had six tackles for loss, including two by junior cornerback Jaquan Amos (Philadelphia, Pa.) and a solo sack by junior defensive lineman Malik Fisher (New York, N.Y.) who has now recorded at least one sack in three straight games and four of his last five contests dating back to last season.  Trent recorded his third career interception and first this season while scoring the first touchdown of his career.  Junior linebacker Amin Black (Philadelphia, Pa.) added a career-high 10 total tackles as both he and Rhyne reached double digits in a game for the first time in their careers.    
 
The defensive stop on the one-yard line which Ferrante alluded to came with 1:32 left in the game.  The Mountain Hawks got the ball at their own 11-yard line with 7:45 to play and eventually had first-and-goal from the 10-yard line nine plays later.  On third down and still at the 10-yard line, a nine-yard completing set up fourth-and-goal from the Wildcats one-yard line.  Lehigh quarterback Addison Shoup kept the ball on a quarterback sneak but sophomore safety Darryl McDaniel (Washington, D.C.) tackled him for no gain to prevent the score.    
 
The strong defensive effort by the Wildcats was similar to the team's season-opening win at Colgate two weeks ago.  Villanova has forced three turnovers in its first two games of the season without committing any miscues of its own. 
 
Saturday night's game was one of just two home contests the Wildcats will play in their first seven games.  Villanova is back on the road next Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff at Bucknell (0-2).  That will be the third straight game against a Patriot League opponent for the Wildcats to open the 2019 campaign.