VILLANOVA, Pa.—Graduate student quarterback Daniel Smith (Leesburg, Va.) scored on a two-yard touchdown run and connected on touchdown passes of 44 yards to junior wide receiver Jaaron Hayek (Wayne, N.J.) and 47 yards to junior Rayjoun Pringle (Dumfries, Va.) – all in the final five minutes of the game – as No. 12 Villanova (3-0, 1-0 CAA Football) scored 21 unanswered points to rally past No. 21 Richmond (2-1, 0-1 CAA Football) for a 34-27 victory in front of a sellout Family Weekend crowd of 12,001 at Villanova Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
"I want to thank obviously these players and our staff, as well as an awesome crowd on Family Weekend," Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante said. "The students turned out in full force for the second game in a row so it was a great atmosphere, and obviously due to the outcome it was a great game."
 
It was high drama in the conference opener for both teams as the visiting Spiders scored 27 straight points in the second half to take a 27-13 lead with 9:02 to play. At that point in time the Wildcats had not scored since leading 13-0 in the middle of the second quarter, but Smith's second touchdown run of the game capped a 10-play, 76-yard drive with 5:01 remaining which brought Villanova and its first sellout crowd since 2015 right back into the game. Richmond went a quick three-and-out on its next possession and the Wildcats capitalized with a two-play, 51-yard drive headlined by Hayek's game-tying touchdown with 2:02 to play.
 
Another three-and-out possession and a punt by the Spiders gave Villanova the ball back at its own 32-yard line with 1:41 to play. Smith and the Wildcats offense were in a smooth rhythm by then, and it took just four plays covering 68 yards over 1:03 for Villanova to take the lead back. An 18-yard pass to Hayek was followed by a 47-yard touchdown pass to Pringle with 38 seconds to play which accounted for the final points in the back-and-forth slugfest between two longtime CAA heavyweights.
 
There was still a final defensive stand for the Wildcats to make in the closing seconds as the Spiders drove across midfield with a 23-yard completion to the Villanova 48-yard line with 18 seconds to play. Richmond threw an incomplete pass on first down following a timeout, then junior safety Darius Pickett (Nottingham, Md.) intercepted a pass at the 16-yard line to seal the contest with four seconds to go. It was the third turnover of the game forced by the Wildcats, who also committed a pair of turnovers themselves.
 
"I could probably go on and say a lot of things and then there's a part of me that doesn't know what to say," Ferrante said. "Just a crazy CAA game that went a lot of different directions, and if that doesn't show that our guys are resilient and follow our motto of 'Tap the Rock' then I don't know what does. Hats off to our team and our coaching staff for their 'never say die' attitude when we got behind the way we did and lost momentum in the third quarter."
 
Smith was responsible for all four of the touchdowns Villanova scored in the victory, including the two late touchdown passes to go along with two rushing scores. He finished the night 26-of-40 through the air for 350 yards and an interception while running four times for 19 yards and the two touchdowns. It is the second time in his Wildcats career and sixth time overall as a collegian that Smith has had at least two rushing touchdowns and at least two passing touchdowns in the same game; the last time he accomplished the feat was in a 52-45 overtime win at Towson on September 21, 2019.
 
It was a big day for Hayek on the receiving side as the third-year receiver set new career highs with eight catches and 127 yards. Senior wide receiver Dez Boykin (Whitehall, Pa.) added a career-high seven catches for 43 yards. The rushing game was led by graduate student Justin Covington (Bronx, N.Y.) who carried the ball 18 times for 92 yards to move into 13^th place in school history with 1,894 rushing yards. Villanova finished with 480 yards of total offense compared to 326 yards for Richmond.
 
Junior linebacker Owen Thomas (Lansdale, Pa.) made his first career interception on the first Spiders possession of the game and graduate student linebacker Mike Ruane (Middletown, N.J.) recovered a fumble that was forced by graduate student defensive lineman Malik Fisher (New York, N.Y.) early in the second period. The defense held Richmond off the scoreboard and allowed the Spiders just five total rushing yards in the first half as the Wildcats headed into the locker rooms with a 13-0 lead.
 
Villanova scored on the opening drive of the game when graduate student kicker Cole Bunce (San Jose, Calif.) made a 36-yard field goal with 10:21 to play in the first quarter. He missed a 27-yard attempt later in the period but Smith scored on a six-yard run at the 10:38 mark of the second period and Bunce made a 30-yard field goal with 5:50 left before halftime to extend the margin to 13-0.
 
The turnaround came quickly for the Spiders after the intermission. Richmond received the second half kickoff and Aaron Dykes returned the kick 98 yards for a touchdown to give the Spiders both their first points of the game and a burst of momentum. It was the first kick return for a score allowed by the Wildcats since November 5, 2016 against Maine. Villanova lost a fumble at its own 27-yard line two plays later and Richmond took a 14-13 lead on Joe Mancuso's 28-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Brown just 2:27 into the third quarter.
 
A punt by the Wildcats on their next possession was answered with a Mancuso 33-yard scoring pass to Connor Deveney with 7:04 to play in the third period, while an interception thrown by Smith set up Richmond kicker Jake Larson for a 43-yard field goal which put the Spiders ahead, 24-13, in the closing seconds of the quarter. Larson connected again for a 23-yarder with 9:02 to play in the game which stretched the margin to two touchdowns.
 
Senior linebacker Amin Black (Philadelphia, Pa.) and graduate student Forrest Rhyne (Waynesboro, Pa.) each made a team-high eight tackles to lead the Villanova defense. Senior corner Christian Benford (Randallstown, Md.) had seven tackles and two pass breakups, including emphatically batting away a Mancuso pass in the final minute of the game as the Spiders made a final rally attempt.
 
After playing its conference opener in front of a sellout crowd this week, the Wildcats will play their annual game against an FBS opponent next Saturday when they travel to Penn State for a 12 p.m. kickoff at Beaver Stadium. The contest will mark the first meeting between Villanova and the Nittany Lions since 1949.