VILLANOVA, Pa.—Postseason football comes to Villanova Stadium for the first time in five years on Friday night when No. 6 Villanova (9-2) hosts No. 24 Holy Cross (10-2) in the second round of the Division I Football Championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. as the #5 seed Wildcats open their playoff schedule following a bye in the first round last weekend. Friday night's game airs on ESPN+ and can also be heard on the Villanova Sports Radio Network.
 
Villanova is making its 14^th appearance all-time in the FCS playoffs and its second in the past three seasons. The Wildcats tied for the CAA Football regular season title and earned the league's automatic bid to the Division I Football Championships thanks to a head-to-head tiebreaker based on a 28-27 win over the Dukes earlier in the year. Head coach Mark Ferrante has been a part of all 14 of Villanova's postseason appearances at the FCS level, including 12 playoff trips as an assistant coach and two since he took over as head coach in 2017.
 
Holy Cross tallied the first FCS playoff win in program history last week when it won a first round home game, 13-10, over Sacred Heart. The Crusaders are 10-2 on the season and won the Patriot League title for the third straight year with a perfect 6-0 conference record. Holy Cross owns the most outright conference titles of any Patriot League team with nine. This is the second time that the Crusaders will play the Wildcats in the FCS playoffs. In 2009, Villanova opened its national title run with a 38-28 first round win over Holy Cross.
 
This is the 19^th time overall that the Wildcats are playing in the postseason. The program appeared in five bowl games from 1937 to 1962 and tallied a 2-2-1 mark in those contests. Villanova is 12-12 in its previous 13 appearances in the FCS playoffs, including a national championship in 2009 and semifinal appearances in 2002 and 2010. The Wildcats and James Madison were CAA Football co-champions this year and each earned a national seed in the playoffs. The Dukes are the #3 seed and Villanova drew the #5 seed, making this the first time since 2010 that two CAA teams earned top-five seeds. It is the 31^st straight season that CAA Football has had at least two teams make the playoffs.
 
Friday's game will feature two of the top three defensive teams in the FCS this season. Holy Cross leads the nation in total defense and is allowing its opposition just 253.4 yards of total offense per game. Villanova ranks third nationally and gives up only 254.9 yards per contest. The Wildcats own an edge in scoring defense, allowing just 15.1 points per game while the Crusaders give up 18.3 points per contest. Villanova has the best defensive passing efficiency (93.73) in the country and ranks in the top 10 nationally in seven different categories.
 
The most prominent in a deep cast of stars on the Wildcats defense is graduate student linebacker Forrest Rhyne (Waynesboro, Pa.) who was named the CAA Football Defensive Player of the Year and is a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award. Rhyne has 112 tackles this season and is ranked 11^th nationally with an average of 10.2 total stops per game. He has cracked double figures in tackles six times on the year. Rhyne and senior cornerback Christian Benford (Randallstown, Md.) were each first team All-CAA selections. Benford leads the nation in passes defended with 23 in 11 games, including a CAA-best seven interceptions to go along with 16 pass breakups.
 
Villanova has outstanding depth at the skill positions on the offensive side of the ball. Graduate student running back Justin Covington (Bronx, N.Y.) earned second team All-CAA honors and is one of four rushers capable of being the featured back at any given time. Junior wide receivers Rayjoun Pringle (Dumfries, Va.) and Jaaron Hayek (Wayne, N.J.) have combined for 15 receiving touchdowns; Pringle was a second team all-conference pick and Hayek garnered third team status. The offense is directed by graduate student quarterback Daniel Smith (Leesburg, Va.) who ranks seventh in school history in career passing yards (6,125) and total offense (6,926). Smith, a third team All-CAA choice, has thrown for 22 touchdowns this season and leads the Wildcats with seven rushing touchdowns.
 
Senior left guard Michael Corbi (Arnold, Md.) was named to the CAA Football First Team Offense and senior Colin Gamroth (Mercer Island, Wash.) was a second team selection. Villanova leads the CAA and ranks seventh nationally with just 11 sacks given up all year. The offense has also been at its best when capitalizing on scoring chances. Entering the playoffs the Wildcats have scored touchdowns on 15 consecutive red-zone possessions. Villanova ranks sixth nationally in red-zone offense with a 92.9 percent scoring rate.
 
There are eight second round games being played in the FCS bracket this weekend, including two games on Friday night and six more on Saturday. The winner of Friday night's contest between the Wildcats and Holy Cross will advance to a quarterfinal matchup against either #4 seed Sacramento State or South Dakota State. Those two teams will play in Sacramento on Saturday evening at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
 
Villanova won its first national championship in 2009 and began their run through the playoffs that year with a 38-28 win over the Crusaders in the first round. The game was played at Villanova Stadium on November 28, 2009 and the Wildcats pulled away from a 14-14 tie after the first quarter to lead 28-14 at halftime. Villanova rushed for 298 yards in a contest that was offensive-minded both ways. The two teams combined for 930 yards of total offense and neither side turned the ball over.
 
Holy Cross has won seven straight games entering Friday night's contest. This is the fifth appearance in the FCS playoffs for the Crusaders, who lost first round games in 1983, 2009, 2019 and 2020 prior to last week's historic win over Sacred Heart which was decided on a go-ahead 35-yard touchdown pass with only 14 seconds remaining.