TOWSON, Md.—It seemed like every time junior running back Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) touched the ball on Saturday afternoon there was a new superlative or milestone attached to it. His heroics were as crucial as they were impressive for No. 10 Villanova (7-2, 6-1 CAA Football) as Mace led the Wildcats to a hard-fought 28-10 road victory at Towson (4-6, 2-4 CAA Football) on Saturday afternoon.
 
Mace broke one of the most hallowed offensive marks in the Villanova record book with a stunning 291 rushing yards on 28 carries. He scored all four of the Wildcats touchdowns and eclipsed the previous school record of 287 rushing yards in a game by Brian Westbrook which had stood since November 10, 2001 in a game against Hofstra. The most significant play of the day for Mace was an explosive 82-yard burst on the first play of a fourth quarter drive which made the score 21-10 and all but sealed the game in Villanova's favor with 4:08 to play.
 
It took a 21-3 scoring margin by the Wildcats in the second half to overcome what had been a grudge match in the first 30 minutes of play. Villanova did not score its first points of the game until Mace's eight-yard run with 1:14 to play in the second quarter tied the score 7-7. He ran nine times for 93 yards before halftime, with those 93 yards the most rushing yards by a Wildcats player since quarterback Connor Watkins had 107 before halftime against Rhode Island on September 23, 2023. By the end of the game that note was laughable.
 
Mace rushed for 198 yards in the second half and 138 in the fourth quarter alone. His performance is the ninth 200-yard rushing game in school history and the third instance of a player rushing for more than 250 yards. He was not far off doubling his career total entering the game. Mace started the day with 359 career rushing yards; his new career total is 650 yards, of which 44.7 percent came in Saturday's game. Oh, and he finished with four more rushing yards than the host Tigers had total yards (291-287). Not bad for the FCS national leader in average kickoff return yards (33.6 yards per return).
 
The outcome of the game hung in the balance until the closing minutes. Villanova led 14-10 at the start of the fourth quarter but missed a 23-yard field goal – its third missed field goal of the game – with 6:47 to play and Towson took over from its own 20-yard line with a chance to put together a go-ahead drive. Two first downs on the first three plays of the drive gave the Tigers some momentum, but the drive stalled at their own 48-yard line which led to a punt tat was downed at the Wildcats 18-yard line with 4:20 to play.
 
The best was yet to come. Even if the game did only have 260 seconds of play remaining, Mace still had well over 100 yards in him. He rushed for 124 yards the rest of the way, most of that coming on his 82-yard breakaway on the very next play which pushed the score to 21-10 with 4:08 remaining. The run tied the ninth-longest in the Villanova record book and was the longest since an 83-yard run by Justin Covington against Stony Brook on November 13, 2021. And to keep the countdown going, Mace still had another 42 yards and a touchdown in him.
 
All the game's momentum was with the Wildcats after Mace's third touchdown of the day, which marked his second game of the season with three scores. He also had three touchdowns in a 37-7 win at New Hampshire on October 4. Towson punted from its own six-yard line with the score still 21-10 and just under three minutes on the clock. Villanova got the ball at the Tigers 42-yard line with 2:44 to play and Mace rushed five times for 42 yards culminating with a 22-yard scoring run with 1:48 left. The run set the school record, making Westbrook's 287-yard game only the number two mark in the record book.
 
Neither team's offense gained much of a foothold in the first half. Towson strung together consecutive plays of 28 yards and 45 yards, the latter a touchdown run by John Dunmore, to take a 7-0 lead at the 1:42 mark of the first quarter. Aside from those two plays, the Tigers ran 31 plays for 112 yards the rest of the half and they would not end up scoring again until kicking a 34-yard field goal in the final minute of the third quarter.
 
On the Wildcats side, the offense was 0-for-6 in the first half and had managed just 126 yards with no points up until the 4:15 mark of the second quarter. The trend changed with an omen of things to come. Mace rushed five times for 65 yards on the drive.
 
The first five minutes of the third quarter gave Villanova the spark it needed. A surprise onside kick by the Wildcats to start the half was recovered and Villanova started the ball on offense at its own 48-yard line instead of on defense in a tie game. It took just four plays and 52 yards for the Wildcats to take the only lead they would need in the game.
 
Towson then started its first possession of the second half at its own 25-yard line following a kickoff for a touchback. It was third-and-four for the Tigers from the Villanova 43-yard line when an offside penalty against the Wildcats gave Towson a first down at the 38-yard line. On the very next play, redshirt freshman defensive lineman AJ Koukou (Havertown, Pa.) forced a fumble which was recovered by graduate tackle Obinna Nwobodo (Wilmington, Del.) with 10:15 to play in the period.
 
Graduate quarterback Pat McQuaide (Solon, Ohio) was 11-of-23 for 120 yards on a day when the Wildcats offense was stymied for large stretches of the game. The team's top receiver was true freshman Braden Reed (Pottstown, Pa.) who recorded three catches for 41 yards. Reed also had three punt returns for 43 yards, including a 26-yard return which was his seventh punt return for 20 or more yards this season. Before him, the last Villanova player even to have five 20-yard returns in a season was J.J. Outlaw in 2004.
 
Senior running back Eli Smith (Houston, Texas) gave the Wildcats valuable touches in the first half especially and finished the day with six carries for 32 yards. Villanova topped 300 rushing yards as a team for the first time since running for 365 yards against LIU on September 10, 2022.
 
The result was the Wildcats first win at Johnny Unitas Stadium since 2019. Villanova has outscored the opposition by a 210-92 margin during its six-game winning streak, good for a +19.7 scoring margin in the six games.
 
There are two games remaining on the regular season schedule for the Wildcats, both at home and only one in conference. Villanova hosts Stony Brook at 1 p.m. next Saturday before finishing the regular season with a non-conference matchup against Sacred Heart on November 22.