VILLANOVA, Pa.—A fumble recovery on the Wildcats first defensive play of the game set an early tone and No. 5 Villanova (6-1, 4-0 CAA Football) went on to post its first shutout since 2017 with a 44-0 victory over No. 18 Rhode Island (5-2, 3-2 CAA Football) on Homecoming Weekend at Villanova Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Another sterling defensive effort by the Wildcats forced four turnovers by the Rams and the Villanova offense amassed 511 total yards on the day.
 
"I challenged [our team] today if we could play for a full four quarters," Wildcats head coach Mark Ferrante said. "I'm sure there's going to be some mistakes and some things we'll correct but it does seem like we kept our intensity throughout the game. I thought our guys held their focus and enthusiasm so I was really happy with the maturity level of our team today. It was great to get a defensive shutout, move the ball as well as we did and have Cole Bunce kick three field goals to make it a great effort for all three phases of our team."
 
Seven games into the season the Wildcats own a plus-nine turnover margin and have scored 72 points off their opponents miscues, including a 20-0 edge in points off turnovers in Saturday's win which avenged a home overtime loss to Rhode Island last spring. Senior cornerback Christian Benford (Randallstown, Md.) tallied his fifth interception of the season while redshirt freshman safety Ethan Potter (Chesapeake City, Md.), junior linebacker Qwahsin Townsel (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J.), and junior defensive lineman Garrett Zobel (Hatfield, Pa.) all had fumble recoveries.
 
There were also plenty of stars for Villanova on the offensive side of the ball, including graduate student quarterback Daniel Smith (Leesburg, Va.) who threw for two touchdowns and senior running back Jalen Jackson (Richmond, Va.) who rushed for two scores and tallied the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. Junior running back DeeWil Barlee (Upper Darby, Pa.) finished the day with 99 yards and went over the 1,000-yard mark for his career early in the first quarter. The Wildcats ran for a season-high 297 yards.
 
Villanova received the game's opening kickoff and went three-and-out before punting the ball to the Rams 31-yard line. The first offensive snap by Rhode Island in the game was fumbled and Potter recovered the ball at the 31-yard line to immediately give the Wildcats great field position. Jackson scored the game's first points on a three-yard touchdown run seven plays later. Smith thew a touchdown pass to graduate student tight end Todd Summers (Murrysville, Pa.) with 22 seconds to play in the first period as Villanova jumped out to an early 14-0 lead. Summers has caught a touchdown pass in each of the last two games.
 
The margin swelled to 24-0 at halftime as junior wide receiver Rayjoun Pringle (Dumfries, Va.) scored on a 23-yard reception at the 9:02 mark of the second period and graduate student kicker Cole Bunce (San Jose, Calif.) made a 41-yard field goal with 26 seconds to play before halftime. Bunce also made field goals from 36 yards and 43 yards in the second half to increase his season totals to 13-of-15 on field goal attempts. Pringle had three receptions for 91 yards and the touchdown and has now scored in five of seven games this season.
 
Graduate student linebacker Forrest Rhyne (Waynesboro, Pa.) had 11 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack to lead the Wildcats defense. Benford added to his interception with two pass breakups to finish the day with three passes defended overall. He entered the game leading all FCS players with an average of two passes defended per game this season. Potter wound up with six tackles, one tackle for loss and a pass breakup to go along with his early fumble recovery which helped Villanova race out of the gates.
 
The shutout for the Wildcats is their first in a span of 39 games since a 31-0 win over Maine on October 7, 2017. The margin of victory was one point off of matching Villanova's biggest win ever against Rhode Island which remains a 45-0 victory in Kingston during the 2013 season. Earlier this year the Rams won for only the second time ever at Villanova Stadium when they rallied for a 40-37 overtime triumph versus the Wildcats on March 13 in the second game of the abbreviated spring season. Rhyne and senior linebacker Amin Black (Philadelphia, Pa.) did not play in that contest but combined for 18 tackles in Saturday's win.
 
Villanova was playing its first home game in four weeks on Saturday but will return to its home turf again next weekend to host William & Mary for a 1 p.m. kickoff.