ORLANDO, Fla.—In its annual game against an FBS opponent and its first contest against a Big 12 team, Villanova (2-1) was defeated by UCF (3-0) at FBC Mortgage Stadium on Saturday night. The host Knights seized momentum in the final five minutes of the first quarter and went on to a 48-14 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 44,206.
This is the 16
th time in the last 18 years that the Wildcats have squared off against an FBS foe and Saturday night's contest marked the 26
th such game overall in Villanova's era as an FCS squad (since 1985). This week's trip to Florida is the 12
th all-time for the Wildcats, who are now 4-8 in their trips to the Sunshine State.
UCF kicked a 24-yard field goal to cap off a 14-play possession on the opening drive of the game and the score stayed 3-0 until late in the period when the Knights scored on one-yard touchdown rushes at the 4:51 and 1:01 marks of the quarter. UCF had six scoring drives in the first half and limited Villanova to 38 yards of total offense in the first 30 minutes.
Running backs
DeeWil Barlee (Upper Darby, Pa.) and
Jalen Jackson (Richmond, Va.) each moved into the top-15 in school history in rushing yards during the contest. They now rank 13
th and tied for 15
th, respectively, on the Wildcats all-time list. Barlee passed
Pat O'Brien (1977-80),
Matt Szczur (2007-10) and
Ralph Pasquariello (1946-49) to increase his career total to 1,824 yards. Jackson has 1,803 career rushing yards.
Villanova got onto the scoreboard at the 13:42 mark of the fourth quarter when fifth year quarterback
Connor Watkins (Williamsport, Pa.) scored on a three-yard keeper to finish off a 13-play, 75-yard drive which consumed 6:30 of clock time spanning the third and fourth quarters. The biggest plays of the drive were a 35-yard catch-and-run completion to Barlee from the Wildcats 40-yard line and later a 10-yard pass to fifth year wide receiver
Rayjuon Pringle (Woodbridge, Va.) on 4
th-and-3 from the UCF 18-yard line.
The second scoring drive of the night for Villanova also came about after a long fourth down completion. On 4
th-and-8 from the Wildcats own 44-yard line, Watkins scrambled and passed deep left to sophomore wide receiver
Jaylan Sanchez (North Bergen, N.J.) for a 45-yard completion to the 11-yard line. It was the third reception of 45 yards or longer for Sanchez in the past two games and Watkins 21
st career pass completion of 40 yards or longer. Two plays later, fifth year running back
TD Ayo-Durojaiye (Damascus, Md.) rushed 11 yards for his first touchdown of the season.
Villanova is a perfect 5-of-5 on fourth down conversions this season and gained a combined 55 yards the two times it went for it on Saturday night. Watkins finished the game 9-of-23 for 144 yards after being held to only one completion in the first half. Pringle and sophomore wide receiver
Daniel Lopes (Cheshire, Conn.) each had two receptions. Barlee finished with 39 rushing yards on seven carries and Jackson ran 11 times for 35 yards. After the Wildcats fell behind, 34-0, in the first half, the scoring was even at 14-14 over the final 30 minutes.
Senior linebacker
Brendan Bell (Basking Ridge, N.J.) and sophomore cornerback
Devon Marshall (Boston, Mass.) led the Wildcats defensively with nine tackles apiece. Bell had seven solo stops and two tackles for loss, while Marshall's nine total stops are a new career high and he added two pass breakups. Fifth year safety
Elijah Glover (Pleasantville, N.J.) had a season-high eight tackles and three other Villanova players had seven stops apiece to round out the defensive leaders.
Saturday's game was Villanova's final non-conference game of the regular season. The team will return home and open its eight-game CAA Football slate next week when it hosts Rhode Island for a 2 p.m. contest.
