DURHAM, N.H.—A dominant effort on both sides of the ball and a 30-point scoring run from the second quarter on sparked No. 18 Villanova (3-2, 2-1 CAA Football) to a 37-7 victory over host New Hampshire (3-3, 1-1 CAA) at Wildcat Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It is the largest margin of victory for Villanova over its longtime conference rival and mascot namesakes since the 2009 postseason, and the team's biggest road win in the series in 23 years.
 
The story of the game was the tale of the tape after the first quarter. The game was tied 7-7 after one period of play but, starting with the opening play of the second quarter, Villanova outscored New Hampshire by a 30-0 margin. The final point tally for the Wildcats (37) is more than double UNH's scoring defense (18.6) through its first five games of the season. Villanova's defense meanwhile, gave up one touchdown and 100 total yards in the first quarter before holding the host Wildcats to zero points and just 107 more yards the rest of the way.
 
Villanova's efficiency on offense (6.8 yards per play; 4-of-9 on third down; 1-of-2 on fourth down) led to this game being the first time since November 1, 2008 against Northeastern that the Wildcats did not record a punt. The punting team took the field just one time all day for a play in the third quarter, but fifth year collegiate punter Luke Larsen (Keilor Park, Victoria, Australia) faked and completed a pass for four yards which was inches short of a first down.
 
The offensive stars for Villanova were junior running back Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.), graduate wide receiver Luke Colella (Wexford, Pa.) and sophomore running back David Avit (Frederick, Md.). Mace scored touchdowns on all three of his touches on the day, including on a 31-yard burst to open the second quarter which gave the Wildcats the lead for good at 14-7. He added a two-yard run just over five minutes later as VU eventually built a 24-7 halftime lead. Mace later scored from one yard out on a direct snap in wildcat formation with 12:48 to play in the final period.
 
Colella caught nine passes for a career-high 139 yards, including a nifty over-the-shoulder grab for 46 yards on 2^nd-and-18 late in the second quarter which set up first-and-goal and an eventual 27-yard field goal by fifth year kicker Jack Barnum (Southington, Conn.) less than a minute before halftime. Colella topped 1,600 career receiving yards in the game, including his undergraduate career at Princeton to go along with 30 catches for 471 yards in five games at Villanova this season. His career totals are now 123 receptions for 1,659 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has four career 100-yard games, including three this season.
 
The tone for the game was set when Avit rushed for a 34-yard touchdown on the Wildcats first offensive snap of the game. He recorded the team's longest scoring run of the season to open the scoring at the 12:38 mark of the opening period. Avit finished the day with 14 carries for 102 yards and the one score, giving him three straight games topping the century mark on the ground. He is the first Villanova player with three straight 100-yard rushing games since TD Ayo-Durojaiye in 2022.
 
Saturday was far and away the Wildcats best defensive effort of the season and they had 20 different players credited with at least one tackle in the contest. Graduate defensive tackle Obinna Nwobodo (Wilmington, Del.) and redshirt freshman defensive end Ugo Nwotite (Linwood, N.J.) combined for three sacks th a total loss of 22 yards. Nwotite had two of those sacks for a loss of 14 yards; they are the first two career sacks for the rising impact player on the Villanova defense.
 
Sixth year collegiate wide receiver Lucas Kopecky (Rocky Hill, N.J.) had two catches for 23 yards to extend his streak of games with a catch to 16 in a row. That spans his entire collegiate football career, as Kopecky was previously a four-year member of the Villanova men's lacrosse squad before walking on to the football team prior to the start of the 2024 season. He has 38 catches for 488 yards and three touchdowns in 16 career games played on the gridiron.
 
Villanova is nearing the end of playing four road games in a span of five weeks. The stretch ends next week when the Wildcats travel to Elon for a 2 p.m. contest.