CHICAGO, Ill.—Senior quarterback Daniel Smith (Leesburg, Va.) and senior linebacker Forrest Rhyne (Waynesboro, Pa.) were each named to the STATS Performer FCS Preseason All-America Team in an announcement made on Wednesday afternoon. The pair of Wildcats are the team's top returnees on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, and each are coming off strong seasons a year ago. There were 12 selections to the preseason All-America squad from CAA Football. Rhyne was a first team honoree and Smith was chosen for the second team in Wednesday's release.
 
The accolades for Smith and Rhyne follow Villanova being ranked No. 8 in the STATS Perform FCS Top 25 rankings which were released last week. Preseason national rankings and honors were revealed by STATS to project where the 2020 season might have headed if most conferences and schools had not postponed their fall season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Rhyne, a tri-captain for the 2019 season, was named to the CAA Football First Team Defense as a junior. His tally of 116 total tackles during the 2019 campaign tied for 25^th in the Wildcats single-season record book and Rhyne ended the season ranked third in the CAA in tackles. He recorded 57 solo stops and 59 assisted tackles while ranking among the conference leaders in both tackles for loss (14.5, ninth in the CAA) and sacks (6.5, 11^th in the CAA). Rhyne had seven games with double-digit tackles and became the first Villanova player since Ed Shockley in 2017 to surpass 100 total stops.
 
Smith was a dynamic force as a dual-threat quarterback in his first season with the Wildcats, earning a spot on the CAA Football Third Team Offense and ranking as one of the top signal callers in the nation. He threw for 3,274 yards with 35 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions while rushing for 457 yards and 12 scores. Smith averaged 287.0 yards of total offense per contest and led all of the FCS in the total number of points he was responsible for.
 
In addition to his 35 passing touchdowns and 12 rushing scores, Smith also caught a touchdown pass and wound up having a hand in 48 of the team's 62 offensive touchdowns. He became only the fourth quarterback in school history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a single season and after just one season on the Main Line has already put himself into 10^th place in school history in career passing as well as 11^th in career total offense.
 
Villanova went 9-4 a season ago and advanced to the FCS playoffs for the 13^th time in its history, including the fourth postseason appearance in the last eight seasons.