LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Junior running back
Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) scored on a 65-yard pass play in the first half and junior kicker
Dominic LeBlanc (Dawsonville, Ga.) made a pair of field goals as No. 21/18 FCS Villanova (1-2) displayed several encouraging signs in its annual game against an FBS foe at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium on Friday night. The visiting Wildcats scored on their opening drive and had the second-most first half yards against an FBS opponent in their last 10 such games.
Graduate quarterback
Pat McQuaide (Solon, Ohio) threw for 166 yards and a touchdown on 18-of-31 passing, with sophomore wide receivers
Braden Reed (Pottstown, Pa.) and
Brandon Binkowski (Haymarket, Va.) combining for 11 receptions. Reed caught a career-high six passes and Binkowski tied the career high of five receptions that he set at Bucknell last week. The pair have combined for 26 catches and 289 receiving yards through the first three games of the season.
It was the season opener for No. 24 FBS Louisville (1-1) and an announced attendance of 46,385 was on hand as Villanova stepped up to play an FBS opponent for the 29
th time in its FCS era which began with the 1985 season. The game was the first-ever between the two teams, the Wildcats first matchup against a current member of the ACC since 2016 and the program's first game since 1972 and eighth overall in the state of Kentucky.
The first half showed that the stage was not too big for a Villanova team which has been one of the dominant FSC programs of the last half-decade. McQuaide engineered a 12-play, 58-yard drive on the Wildcats first possession of the game, culminating in LeBlanc making a 35-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3 with 6:24 remaining in the first period. There were four first downs on that drive, all of them coming via completions to either Reed or Binkowski.
Minutes later, the Wildcats got the ball back at their own 25-yard line after a Cardinals kickoff just before the end of the opening quarter. McQuaide threw a 10-yard pass to Binkowski to close out the period, then hit Mace along the sideline on the first play of the second quarter for what turned out to be a 65-yard touchdown. It was the first reception of longer than 35 yards and the third career receiving touchdown for the do-it-all Mace, who has 36 career catches to go along with his rushing and kick return feats.
The score was 31-10 at halftime, but by that point Villanova had amassed 174 yards of total offense in the first 30 minutes. It was their most yards in the opening half against an FBS foe since having 247 yards against Temple in 2018, and the second-most yards other than that 2018 contest in the last 10 matchups against FBS foes. Friday's game also marked the third time in the last nine FBS matchups that the Wildcats had scored any points before halftime.
The linebacker duo of junior
Christian Caballero (Niceville, Fla.) and redshirt freshman
Walker Murray (Yardley, Pa.) led the Villanova defense with career highs of eight tackles apiece. Murray had seven solo tackles and a tackle for loss among those eight stops. Five different players had at least five spots and two dozen recorded one or more tackles in the contest. Sophomore linebacker
Omari Bursey (Broomfield, Colo.) had five total stops and is still averaging more than 11 tackles per game (11.3) through the first three games of the season. He began the night leading the FCS with 29 tackles on the year.
Sophomore punter
Luke Myers (Breinigsville, Pa.) averaged 44.1 yards on eight punts during the game. He placed four of those attempts inside the Louisville 20-yard line and kicked a pair of punts of 60+ yards – his second and third such kicks of the season. A 64-yard punt in the second quarter was a new career-long attempt.
Villanova was playing its first non-conference game of the season after opening the year with a pair of Patriot League contests. Another road trip for a non-conference contest awaits the Wildcats next week when they travel to LIU for a 12 p.m. kickoff in Brookville, N.Y.
