VILLANOVA, Pa.—The first round of the FCS playoffs comes to Villanova Stadium on Saturday afternoon as #12 national seed Villanova (9-2) hosts Harvard (9-1) to kick off its third consecutive postseason appearance. Game time is scheduled for 12 p.m. and
tickets are on sale now for the matchup featuring a Wildcats team with the longest home winning streak in the FCS against a Crimson squad which is part of the Ivy League's first season of playoff eligibility.
Saturday's playoff game will be televised on
ESPN+ with
Brian Custer and
Jay Walker on the call. The radio broadcast featuring
Ryan Fannon and
Steve Pinone can be heard on the Villanova Sports Radio Network which is available on Fox Sports Radio Philly.
Live streaming audio can be found on the iHeart radio app using a mobile device. Fans can download the
NCAA Digital Program and find
live stats in the game center on NCAA.com.
ABOUT VILLANOVA
Villanova is the #12 seed in the FCS playoffs after going 9-2 during the regular season and finishing in sole possession of second place in the regular season CAA Football standings with a 7-1 league record. This is the third straight season and fourth time in the last five years that the Wildcats have won nine regular season games. The team also marked its eighth season since joining a conference in 1988 that it had no more than one conference loss.
ABOUT HARVARD
Harvard earned an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs after going 9-1 in the regular season and tying for first place in the Ivy League standings with a 6-1 record. The Crimson won their first nine games of the season — the first seven by 21 points or more — before they fell to Yale, 45-28, in the 141st edition of The Game in the regular season finale. This is the first season that Ivy League teams are eligible for the FCS playoffs. The conference will be represented by both Yale and Harvard in the bracket.
IVY LEAGUE MATCHUP
Games against Ivy League opponents have not been common for the Wildcats during their FCS era (since 1985). The only two Ivy League opponents the team has faced over the last 40 years are Columbia (1986 and 1989) and Penn who Villanova faced 14 times between 1999 and 2015.
The Wildcats are 15-1 in their matchups against the Ivy League since 1985, although the loss came in most recent game when Penn defeated Villanova on September 24, 2015. Going back further than 1985 the Wildcats played nine games against Princeton between 1901 and 1943, and faced Yale once in 1907.
VILLANOVA-HARVARD CONNECTIONS
Villanova backup safety
Kaleb Moody graduated from Harvard in 2024 and is in his second season playing for the Wildcats. He is a native of North Andover, Mass. less than 30 miles from the Harvard campus.
Kaleb Moody and wide receiver
Luke Colella have each been All-Ivy League selections during their careers. Both players were named honorable mention All-Ivy performers for the 2023 season and garnered Phil Steele All-Ivy second team mention that year. The accolades came while Moody was playing at Harvard and Colella at Princeton.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Senior linebacker
Shane Hartzell was named one of 30 national finalists for this year's Buck Buchanan Award which will be presented to the top defensive player in the FCS. The award is in its 31st season and Hartzell was named to the preseason watch list for the top honor earlier this year. He is the unquestionable leader of the Villanova defense and earlier this week earned his second straight selection to the CAA Football First Team Defense. Hartzell leads the Wildcats with 75 total tackles, 41 solo tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and eight quarterback hurries this season.
FCS PLAYOFF HISTORY
Villanova is making its 17th appearance in the Division I Football Championship since becoming an FCS program in 1985. This is the third straight playoff berth and fifth in the last seven seasons for the Wildcats, whose only other streak of making three straight playoff appearances came from 2008-10 which encompassed the program's 2009 national championship season and 2010 run to the semifinals.
Villanova owns an all-time record of 15-15 in the FCS playoffs. That record looks even better of late considering that the Wildcats lost their first four playoff contests between 1989 and 1996. Beginning in 1997, Villanova has won at least one playoff game in 10 of its last 12 playoff appearances and has reached at least the quarterfinal round nine times.
Villanova head coach
Mark Ferrante has been a part of all 17 of the program's playoff appearances, including five times as a head coach (2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025) and 12 times as an assistant coach on Andy Talley's staff. This season is Ferrante's 39th overall on the Wildcats staff. He has been a coach at Villanova for 38 percent of the games the program has ever played (464 of 1,227) and has helped lead the Wildcats to eight CAA Football titles, three Lambert Meadowlands Cup and three ECAC Team of the Year awards.
Villanova has played exactly half (15 of 30) of its FCS playoff games at home and has compiled a 12-3 record in those contests. The most recent win was a 22-17 triumph over Eastern Kentucky in last year's opening round. When the Wildcats host Harvard this week, it will be the 10th time in their 17 playoff appearances that they play at least one home game.
POSTSEASON HISTORY
This is the 22nd season overall in Villanova history in which the Wildcats are playing postseason football. Prior to the FCS era (since 1985), Villanova played in five bowl games from 1937 to 1962 and went 2-2-1 in those contests. The two bowl wins came in the 1949 Harbor Bowl against Nevada (27-7 in San Diego, Calif.) and the 1961 Sun Bowl versus Wichita State (17-9 in El Paso, Texas). The first bowl game in school history was the 1937 Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba, in which the Wildcats and Auburn played to a 7-7 tie.
CAA FOOTBALL IN THE PLAYOFFS
Villanova is one of three CAA Football teams in the 24-team playoff field this season. The league's automatic bid was awarded to Rhode Island (10-2) after the Rams went a perfect 8-0 in conference play to capture the outright league title. Villanova (9-2) and New Hampshire (8-4) each earned at-large selections to the playoff field. This is the 18th time in the last 20 years that the CAA has had at least three playoff participants. The CAA is one of four leagues this year to have at least three teams selected, along with the Missouri Valley Football Conference (six teams); the Big Sky Conference (three); and the Southland Conference (three).
CAA Football has now had multiple teams selected to the FCS playoff field for the 35th consecutive year. The conference has had at least one team in the quarterfinals in 28 of the past 29 seasons and has had a team advance to the semifinals of the playoffs in 10 of the past 12 years. The CAA has had a team reach the national championship game 11 times since 2003.
CAA FOOTBALL POSTSEASON HONORS
Villanova earned its seventh major postseason award in the last eight years when junior running back and kick return specialist
Ja'briel Mace was named the Special Teams Player of the Year earlier this week. He is the Wildcats second player ever to win this award, joining Matt Szczur in 2009. Mace ranks seconds in the country with an average of 32.9 yards per kickoff return and is one of five players nationally to have two kickoff return touchdowns.
Villanova has 13 total all-conference selections for the first time since 2010, highlighted by four first team selections in offensive linemen
Temi Ajirotutu and
Stephane Voltaire, kickoff return man
Ja'briel Mace; and senior linebacker
Shane Hartzell. The Wildcats had three selections each on the second team, third team and honorable mention lists.
This is the first time since 2010 that Villanova has had three members of its offensive line earn all-conference honors, and also the first time since that season that two members of the line have been first team selections. The last teammates before Ajirotutu and Voltaire to be first team selections were
Brant Clouser and
Ben Ijalana.
This is also the first time since 2015 that the Wildcats have had three starting secondary players earn all-conference honors. Sophomore cornerback
Zahmir Dawud is a third team selection this year after being an honorable mention choice last season. Second team pick
Christian Sapp and honorable mention selection
Anthony Hawkins each garnered their first career all-conference selections.
Villanova has won 23 major conference awards and earned 364 all-conference accolades since joining what was then the Yankee Conference in 1988.
THE STREAKS
Winning Streak: Villanova has won eight straight games for the first time since it won the last nine games of its 2009 national championship season. The streak began with a 31-24 win over William & Mary on September 27. During the streak the Wildcats have outscored their opponents 274-129 for an average scoring margin of +18.1 points.
Conference Winning Streak: Villanova won its last seven conference games of the season after a loss to Monmouth in the league opener on September 20. It is only the second time ever that the Wildcats have won seven straight league games. The other occasion was a memorable one as it came during Villanova's undefeated regular season in 1997 which included an 8-0 mark in conference games.
Home Winning Streak: The win over Sacred Heart was the Wildcats 22nd straight win at Villanova Stadium dating back to the middle of the 2022 season. It is the longest home winning streak in program history and, for more than a month now, the Wildcats have owned the longest active home winning streak in the FCS. That has been the case since October 25 when Villanova defeated UAlbany for win number 20 in the streak, while on the same day South Dakota State had its 34-game home winning streak snapped. The second longest active home streak in the FCS is a 19-game home streak for North Dakota State.
Non-Conference Winning Streak: Villanova has not lost a regular season game to an FCS non-conference opponent in the last 10 seasons (2016-25). The win over Sacred Heart was the Wildcats 21st in a row in the regular season against a non-conference FCS foe. The 21 wins have come by an average of 25.0 points per game. Since the start of the 2016 season, Villanova is 25-5 (.833) overall against FCS non-conference competition including the regular season and the playoffs.
REGULAR SEASON FINALE
Villanova won nine regular season games for the third straight season and the fourth time in the last five years. It is the 16th season in school history that the Wildcats have won nine or more games, with the first occurrence coming all the way back in 1896. All but two of the team's nine-win seasons have come during the FCS era (since 1985). The only other time Villanova had three straight seasons with nine or more wins was from 2008-10.
CONFERENCE SUCCESS
Villanova wrapped up its CAA Football schedule with a 7-1 record. It is the eighth season since the Wildcats joined the conference in 1988 that the team tallied no more than one loss in league play. Three of those eight seasons have come in the last five years (2021, 2023, 2025).
Villanova posted a conference record of 31-9 (.775) over the last five seasons while having at least a .500 record in conference play each year. This is the fourth time in Villanova's league tenure that it has had at least a .500 record in conference games in five straight seasons.
WINNING WHEN IT COUNTS
One of the keys to Villanova's success in recent years has been its ability to win the most important games of the season late in the year. During the
Mark Ferrante head coaching era (since 2017), the Wildcats are 22-11 (.667) in November and December games. A win over Harvard this week would mark the third time in the last five years that Villanova went undefeated in November after going 3-0 in the month in 2021 and 2023.
FANTASTIC FIVE
Villanova has compiled a record of 45-17 (.726) over the last five seasons (2021-25) while making four playoff appearances and winning 10+ games three times. Its 45 wins over the last five years are the most of any CAA Football member, while the .726 winning percentage ranks ninth among all FCS programs.
DECADE OF DOMINANCE
Villanova has won 75 games over the last 10 seasons (2016-25) and is the only CAA team during this stretch with at least 70 wins. In the 10-season run, the Wildcats are 75-39 (.658) overall and compiled a 49-27 (.645) record in regular season conference games while making six playoff appearances (2016, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025).
VILLANOVA HEAD COACH MARK FERRANTE
In the regular season finale against Sacred Heart, head coach
Mark Ferrante moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time Villanova wins list with his 66th victory. He is 66-35 (.653) leading the Wildcats and has a record of 43-25 (.632) in regular season conference games. Ferrante passed
Harry Stuhldreher (1925-35) for second place in school history. Stuhldreher had a head coaching record of 65-25-9 (.702) at Villanova.
Ferrante and his longtime mentor
Andy Talley are the only head coaches in Villanova history to reach the 100-game milestone. Ferrante served as an assistant coach on Talley's staff from 1987 to 2016 before succeeding him as head coach beginning with the 2017 season. Talley coached 368 games during his legendary Wildcats career and compiled a record of 230-137-1 (.626).
Ferrante is the CAA Football active leader with 43 career conference wins. That is one more than current William & Mary head coach
Mike London who has won 42 CAA games in stops with the Tribe and previously at Richmond. Ferrante has guided the Wildcats to a share of two conference titles (2021, 2023).
POLLING PLACES
Villanova finished the regular season ranked in the top 10 of the national polls for the fourth consecutive week. The team enters the playoffs ranked No. 9 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and is No. 6 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll. This is the 157th week that the Wildcats have been ranked in the top 10 nationally since becoming an FCS program in 1985. Villanova's total of 157 weeks in the top 10 is the 11th most all-time.
Villanova appears in the national media poll this week for the 337th time, which is the fourth most weeks being ranked in FCS history (since 1978). Only two current FCS teams have appeared in more national polls than the Wildcats: Montana (453) and Northern Iowa (413). There are 18 FCS programs (current and former) who have been ranked in the polls at least 200 times; all 18 ascended to the No. 1 spot in the rankings at least once.
This is the 33rd season out of the last 38 that the Wildcats have been ranked in at least one national poll during the season. Villanova has been ranked a total of 336 times and has appeared in the top 10 for a total of 157 weeks. The team has been ranked in the top five 66 times and has spent 10 weeks ranked at No. 1 in the nation, most recently on September 28, 2010 when the Wildcats were defending national champions.
Villanova has the fifth-longest active streak of consecutive weeks in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 at 36 weeks in a row beginning with the October 16, 2023 poll.
VETERAN EXPERIENCE
Villanova has 93 players on its 2025 roster and they have played in a combined 1,716 games in their collegiate careers. The roster has been an ideal balance of experience and youth this season, as the Wildcats have 19 active players with 30 or more career games played while also seeing 26 players make their collegiate debut so far this season.
50-40-30
Three members of the Villanova roster have played in at least 50 career college football games, while 11 players have appeared in 40 or more contests and 19 have played in 30 games or more. Offensive lineman
Stephane Voltaire is expected to become the fourth active member of the roster to reach 50 career games played in this week's playoff game against Harvard. Wide receiver
Luke Colella and safety
Julian Talley each have a chance to reach the 40-game milestone this week, while linebacker
Jason Hall can become the next member of the 30-game club.
WINNING CLOSE GAMES
Villanova is 9-2 over the last two seasons in games decided by single digits, including a perfect 4-0 mark this year with close wins over Colgate (24-17); William & Mary (31-24); Elon (29-21); and Stony Brook (30-27). Head coach
Mark Ferrante is 22-14 (.611) in his career when games are decided by single digits.
TURNOVER STORY
Villanova has committed the fewest turnovers in the country with just five miscues all season. On the defensive side, the Wildcats have forced 11 turnovers by their opponents, an average of one forced turnover per game. Villanova leads CAA Football and ranks 18th nationally with a plus-six turnover margin. In addition, the Wildcats have a 37-10 scoring advantage in points off turnovers for the year. Aside from a pick-six by FBS and Big Ten member Penn State, Villanova has allowest just three points off turnovers to FCS teams all season. They came on a field goal by Sacred Heart after a lost fumble by the Wildcats at their own 28-yard line.
GAINING GROUND
Villanova leads CAA Football with an average of 178.6 rushing yards per game. That mark looks even better during the team's eight-game winning streak when the Wildcats have averaged exactly 200.0 yards per game on the ground. Villanova's success running the ball has been an ensemble effort: sophomore running back
David Avit led the team with 683 rushing yards when he was injured early in the ninth game of the season, but juniors
Ja'briel Mace (600 yards) and
Isaiah Ragland (500 yards) have been season-long options for the Wildcats as well.
PUTTING UP POINTS
Villanova is averaging 30.6 points per game this season and has scored 28 points or more in each of the eight games in its current winning streak. This is the second time in the last three seasons that the Wildcats have averaged better than 30 points per contest.
THIS AND THAT
Villanova has won the coin toss in eight of its 11 games this season and had won the toss in six straight games before Sacred Heart won the toss in the regular season finale.
The overtime game between Villanova and Stony Brook was a rare one even before the teams played an extra period. During regulation, 39 percent of the offensive plays by the two teams (49 of 126) were snapped between the 40-yard lines. The NFL average for such plays is 27 percent, while the college average is 26 percent.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS
Rushing Defense: Over the last four games the Wildcats defense has given up an average of just 86.5 rushing yards per contest. The past two games have been particularly impressive, as Villanova held both Stony Brook (76 yards) and Sacred Heart (87 yards) to less than half of their average per-game rushing yards for the season. Sacred Heart came into last week's regular season finale averaging 229.7 rushing yards per game but was held to 2.9 yards per carry on 30 attempts.
Defending Passes: Villanova has done a good job of defending passes this season and has recorded 45 pass breakups in 11 games. The average of 4.1 pass breakups per game would be the highest in a full season for the Wildcats in at least 20 years. In the win over Stony Brook, sophomore
Zahmir Dawud had a career high four pass breakups. It is the most in a game by a Villanova player since
Trey Johnson had four against UAlbany in 2017. Dawud (nine) and safety
Anthony Hawkins (eight) lead the team in pass breakups.
Story on Sacks: Villanova tied a season high with four sacks in the Sacred Heart game last week. Earlier in the year, the Wildcats had a streak of five straight games recording three or more sacks. That was the longest streak of games with at least three sacks in at least 23 years and possibly more based on easily available statistical records.
WALK-OFF WIN
Villanova ended its 30-27, overtime thriller against Stony Brook on a 17-yard touchdown pass from
Pat McQuaide to tight end
Antonio Johnson on the Wildcats first overtime series. It is the first walk-off win for Villanova since September 22, 2022 when a field goal as time expired gave the Wildcats a 31-29 victory over UAlbany. That game was noteworthy for another reason, as it was the first win in Villanova's current 22-game home winning streak.
WORKING OVERTIME
The Stony Brook game was Villanova's first overtime contest since a 40-37 loss to Rhode Island on March 13, 2021 during the abbreviated Spring 2021 season. The last time the Wildcats won an overtime game was a year earlier, 52-45, at Towson on September 21, 2019. Villanova has played in only 19 overtime games over the last 41 seasons since becoming an FCS member in 1985.
VILLANOVA FOOTBALL HISTORY
Villanova has compiled a 296-172-1 (.632) record in 40 seasons as an FCS member. The program's success includes 17 appearances in the FCS playoffs and appearing in the final national rankings of the season 20 times in the last 37 years.
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
Villanova is making its 17th playoff appearance this season which is the 10th most in FCS history and ranked sixth among programs who still compete at the FCS level. The Wildcats are 15-15 all-time in the playoffs and have won at least one playoff game in 10 of their last 12 postseason appearances. Villanova has won one national title (2009) and made three semifinal appearances (2002, 2009, 2010), while its 15 playoff wins all-time are tied for the 12th most ever among current FCS programs.
PRESEASON WATCH LISTS
Sophomore running back
David Avit and senior linebacker
Shane Hartzell were named to the preseason watch lists for the Walter Payton Award and the Buck Buchanan Award, respectively. These honors are given to the top offensive and defensive players in the FCS at the end of each season. Villaonva is one of 10 teams to have at least one player on both watch lists at the start of the season. The others are Harvard, Illinois State, Montana, Montana State, North Dakota State, Rhode Island, Samford, South Dakota State and UIW.
PICKED THIRD
Villanova was predicted to finish third in the CAA Football standings this season in a preseason poll of league head coaches. The Wildcats were picked one spot behind Monmouth and then fell to the Hawks in the conference opener on September 20. Villanova went on to win its last seven conference games to finish 7-1 and in sole possession of second place, one spot ahead of Monmouth at 6-2.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Villanova's starting offensive line has played in a combined 177 games in their collegiate careers. That includes graduate left tackle
Stephane Voltaire (49 games, 41 starts, 38 consecutive starts) and left guard
Temi Ajirotutu (48 games, 41 starts) who were each named first team All-CAA selections this season.
Four of the five members of the current starting offensive line — left tackle
Stephane Voltaire, left guard
Temi Ajirotutu, right guard
Chris McCullers and right tackle
Kyle Fay — have started all 11 games this season. Center
Quin Whalen has started the last six games.
QUARTERBACK NOTES
Pat McQuaide has been nothing short of a revelation for the Wildcats this season. He played at Nicholls in 2023 and 2024 before coming to Villanova this year, where he has thrown for 2,356 yards and 19 touchdowns with only two interceptions. McQuaide is 176-of-288 through the air this season. He has completed 61.1 percent of his passes and ranks second in CAA Football in passing efficiency (150.2) as well as third in the league in passing yards per game (214.2), yards per completion (13.39) and yards per attempt (8.18).
Including his career at Nicholls and this season with the Wildcats, he is 571-of-974 (58.6 percent) passing for 6,770 yards with 46 TDs and 24 interceptions. During the Wildcats current eight game win streak, McQuaide has thrown for 1,697 yards with 16 touchdowns and just one interception.
McQuaide is only the third left-handed quarterback to start a game for Villanova in their FCS era. The others are Christian Culicerto (2011) and Zach Bednarczyk (2015-18).
DRIVE FOR FIVE
Pat McQuaide threw a career high five touchdowns passes despite only attempting 13 passes in the Hampton game on October 18. He was 10-of-13 through the air for 166 yards and the five scores. His previous career high for touchdown passes in a single contest was four against Southern last season while he was playing for Nicholls. McQuaide's efficiency rating for the game was 311.1 and is only the second game over 300.0 in school history.
RECORD-SETTING DEBUT
No Villanova quarterback has ever thrown for 300 yards in his first start for the team. However, the last two signal callers to debut for the Wildcats have thrown for 298 and 299 yards, respectively. Graduate student
Pat McQuaide, a transfer from Nicholls, made his first start for VU against Colgate on September 6 and threw for 299 yards and a score. He surpassed the previous school record for most passing yards in the first start for the team which was held for the past three years by
Connor Watkins, the starter from 2022-24 who threw for 298 yards in his first career start against Lehigh to open the 2022 season.
In addition to setting a record for most passing yards by a quarterback in his first VU start, McQuaide became the third straight Villanova starter to win his debut while throwing for over 200 yards and recording at least one passing and rushing touchdown.
RUNNING BACK NOTES
Ja'briel Mace broke one of the most hallowed offensive records in Villanova history when he rushed for a school record 291 yards in a 28-10 win over Towson. Mace broke the previous single game school record of 287 yards which had been set by Wildcats legend
Brian Westbrook on November 10, 2001 against Hofstra.
Mace had 28 rushes for his record 291 yards and scored four TDs on runs of eight yards (second quarter), 39 yards (third quarter), 82 yards (fourth quarter) and 22 yards (fourth quarter). His 28 carries are the most by any Wildcats player since
Jalen Jackson rushed 28 times (for 187 yards) against Monmouth on September 24, 2022.
Some of the numbers for Mace in the Towson game were simply staggering. He rushed for 198 yards in the second half, including 138 in the fourth quarter alone and 124 yards in the final 4:20 of the game. He finished with four more rushing yards (291) than Towson had yards of total offense (287).
Mace has six plays for 50 yards or longer this season and four plays of at least 80 yards. He had an 82-yard rushing touchdown at Towson and an 80-yard run for a score in the Sacred Heart game. Those two plays are tied for ninth and tied for 14th among the longest rushing plays in Villanova history. Five of his 10 offensive touchdowns this season have come on plays of 20 yards or longer.
WIDE RECEIVER NOTES
Fifth year collegian
Luke Colella has made an instant impact on the Villanova offense in his first year with the team. After playing his undergraduate college ball at Princeton the last four years, Colella is the Wildcats leading receiver this year with 58 catches for 844 yards and seven touchdowns. He ranks fourth in the CAA in receiving touchdowns and fifth in both receiving yards per game (76.7) and receptions per game (5.27).
Colella had a career high 10 receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns at Elon on October 11. It was the first time a Villanova player reached double digits in receptions in a single game since
Matt Szczur had 11 catches against Stephen F. Austin in the 2010 FCS playoffs. Colella has five 100-yard receiving games this season which is one off the single season school record of six that has been accomplished on four occasions. The last player with six 100-yard game in a season was
Murle Sango in 1999.
Colella topped 2,000 career receiving yards during the regular season finale against Sacred Heart. Including his undergraduate career at Princeton and this season with the Wildcats, Colella has collegiate totals of 151 catches for 2,032 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Sixth year collegian
Lucas Kopecky has caught at least one pass in all 22 college football games he has played in. The streak of 22 straight games with a reception is the longest by a Villanova player since
Poppy Livers had a catch in 29 straight games spanning the 2012 to 2014 seasons.
Kopecky continued the streak with a 13-yard reception in the Sacred Heart game last week. His career totals in his 22 games played now add up to 54 receptions for 736 yards and four touchdowns. He made his collegiate debut last year when he had 26 catches for 302 yards and two scores, finishing third on the team in receiving.
Kopecky played four years of lacrosse for Villanova (2021-24) and appeared in 40 games before walking on to the football team as a graduate student entering the 2024 season. He was a three-year football letterwinner at Montgomery (N.J.) High School in his scholastic career, earning two all-conference honors and two honorable mention all-state accolades.
Sophomore wide receiver
Chris Colby established career highs with five catches and 112 receiving yards in the Sacred Heart game last week. It was the first career 100-yard game for Colby, who hauled in a 57-yard catch in the second quarter which set up a Villanova score on the next play. Colby previously had a 65-yard touchodwn reception in the win over Hampton on October 25. His season totals are 15 catches for 293 yards.
TIGHT END NOTES
All four tight ends on the Villanova roster have seen consistent playing time this season. The group includes veteran
Antonio Johnson who is in his fifth year with the Wildcats along with
Nolan Clayton (third year),
Sean Brodnik (second year) and
Sean Welde (first year). The quartet has combined to make 18 receptions for 197 yards and four touchdowns on the year, with at least one of the four making a catch in nine of the 11 games played.
In the Hampton game (Oct. 18),
Antonio Johnson had a 10-yard touchdown reception for his third career score and
Sean Brodnik caught his first career pass for a four-yard touchdown. It was the first time since November 1, 2003 against Richmond that VU had two tight ends catch a touchdown pass in the same game. In the 2003 game the two tight ends with scores were
Anthony Wright and
Quinn Matt. Just like Johnson and Brodnik, Wright and Quinn also recorded the third and first touchdowns of their careers that day.
Prior to the Hampton game, the last time VU even had two tight ends catch a pass in the same game was on September 16, 2023 against UCF when Johnson and
Justin Marcus each had one reception.
DEFENSE NOTES
Prior to the Hampton game on October 18, the Wildcats defense had not recovered a fumble by the opposition this season and had not had a fumble recovery for a touchdown in more than eight years. Those are the kinds of trends that are good to wipe off the board, and it only took one player — fifth year defensive lineman
Obinna Nwobodo — to do it. In the second quarter against the Pirates, Nwobodo forced a fumble at the VU 47-yard line, immediately scooped up the ball and then returned it 53 yards for his first career score. It was the second career forced fumble and first recovery for Nwobodo.
Nwobodo became the first Villanova defensive lineman to score a touchdown current NFL veteran
Tanoh Kpassagnon had a 25-yard fumble recovery for a score against Lafayette in 2016. The Wildcats last player with a fumble return touchdown before Nwobodo was
Rob Rolle who went 99 yards for a score against Maine on October 7, 2017.
The fumble return touchdown by
Obinna Nwobodo against Hampton was the first defensive touchdown of the season for Villanova, but it was also the third non-offensive score in a span of four games. That is thanks to the efforts of junior
Ja'briel Mace who registered kickoff returns for touchdowns against William & Mary on September 27 and at Elon on October 11. This is the first time since 2019 that the Wildcats have scored as many as three non-offensive touchdowns in a season. It is the third time during the
Mark Ferrante coaching era (since 2017) that Villanova has scored three non-offensive touchdowns in a span of four games.
KICKOFF RETURN NOTES
Ja'briel Mace was the first FCS player this season to have two kickoff returns for touchdowns. He had a 100-yard return for a score against William & Mary on September 27, followed by a 97-yard return for a touchdown at Elon two weeks later on October 11. Before Mace, the last Villanova player with a kcikoff return for a touchdown was
Nowoola Awopetu against Richmond in 2019.
Mace is only the fifth player in school history to even have two or more career kickoff returns for touchdowns. The others are
Brian Westbrook with five career kickoff return scores;
Martin Gibson (three);
Angelo Babbaro (three); and
Matt Szczur (two).
The kickoff return touchdowns by Mace against William & Mary (September 27) and Elon (October 11) mark the first time in Villanova's FCS era (since 1985) that the team scored two special teams touchdowns in the span of three games. Mace becomes the Wildcats third player ever — joining
Brian Westbrook and
Angelo Babbaro — to have two kickoff return touchdowns in a season.
Mace has 22 kickoff returns on the year for 723 yards and an average of 32.86 yards per return. He ranks second in the country in average return, trailing only
Javon Ross of Bethune-Cookman whose season is complete after averaging 33.73 yards per return (15 returns, 506 yards, two touchdowns). Mace's 723 kickoff return yards rank second in the country and seventh in a single season in school history.
Only one previous player in Villanova history has ever averaged better than 30.0 yards per kickoff return with a minimum of 250 total return yards. That player was
Bob Dunn in 1963 when he had 11 returns for 357 yards and an average of 32.5 yards per return.
PUNT RETURN NOTES
True freshman
Braden Reed ranks second in the FCS with an average of 16.4 yards per punt return this season. He has 17 punt returns on the year for a total of 278 yards, including eight returns of 20 yards or longer. Before him, the last Villanova player to even have five punt returns of 20+ yards in a single season was
J.J. Outlaw in 2004. Reed's current average of 16.4 yards per return would be the third-best mark for a full season in school history.
SPECIAL TEAMS DEFENSE
Not only has Villanova been one of the best teams in the country this season when it comes to kickoff returns ad punt returns, they have also done a good job of stopping the opposing team on special teams returns. The Wildcats lead CAA Football in punt return defense (6.18) while ranking third in the league and 32nd nationally in kick return defense (18.82).
The trio of junior
Josh Oluremi, senior
Julian Glantz and sophomore
Jason Hall has combined to be the top special teams tacklers for the Wildcats this year. Oluremi has a team-high nine special teams tackles (seven kickoff returns, two punt returns), while Glantz has eight (all on kickoff returns) and Hall has seven (four kickoff returns, three punt returns).
KICKING NOTES
Villanova kicker
Jack Barnum tied a season high with 11 points in the UAlbany game thanks to three made field goals and a pair of PATs. Barnum kicked field goals from 41 yards and 23 yards in the second quarter, followed by a season long 44-yarder in the third period. He has 14 career made field goals from 40+ yards, including three this year in his first season with the Wildcats. Barnum started his collegiate career at UAlbany and went on to play at Central Connecticut State before coming to the Main Line. Barnum is 12-of-20 (60.0%) on field goals this season and 36-of-38 on PATs. His career totals are 41-of 59 (69.5%) field goal kicking and 100-of-104 on PATs for a total of 223 points.
PUNTING NOTES
The oldest active player in Division I college football this season is Villanova punter
Luke Larsen who recently turned 33 years old and made his Wildcats debut in the season opener against Colgate. Larsen is a graduate student transfer from East Carolina and a native of Australia who played Australian Rules Football, volleyball, cricket and tennis during his scholastic career prior to coming to the United States.
Larsen is having a strong season for Villanova and has punted 32 times in 11 games. He is averaging 40.6 yards per punt with two attempts for over 50 yards and 10 that have been downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
Larsen played in his 50th career game against UAlbany on October 25 and during that contest surpassed 8,000 career punting yards. His career collegiate totals are 206 punts for 8,398 yards with an average of 40.8 yards per punt. Larsen punted 174 times at East Carolina while averaging 40.8 yards per punt. He landed 51 punts inside the 20-yard line, booted 19 punts for 50+ yards and had 75 of 174 attempts fair caught.
