BROOKVILLE, N.Y.—Sixth year quarterback
Pat McQuaide (Solon, Ohio) engineered a game-winning 85-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter as No. 22 Villanova (2-2) rallied for a 20-16 road victory over LIU (0-4) at Shark Stadium on Saturday afternoon. McQuaide drove down the field in eight plays after the Wildcats fell behind by a 16-13 margin with less than three minutes to play. His 13-yard touchdown pass to
Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) with 1:08 to play swung the pendulum back to Villanova for the team's seventh consecutive road win against FCS competition.
McQuaide was 6-of-7 for 78 yards on the game-winning drive. Three of those completions for 35 yards went to Mace, while sophomore wide receiver
Brandon Binkowski (Haymarket, Va.) had two catches for 38 yards on the drive as part of a career day which saw him top 100 yards for the first time. McQuaide moved into the top 10 in school history in career passing yards with exactly 4,000 yards.
It was not until the decisive drive that the Wildcats finally had enough momentum to take control of the game. Villanova led 13-6 and had possession of the ball in the fourth quarter, but the Sharks returned an interception 50 yards for a game-tying touchdown with 9:51 to play. After the Wildcats went three-and-out, LIU got the ball back and used 5:39 of clock time on a 10-play, 62-yard drive culminating with a 29-yard field goal for the lead at the 2:44 mark of the final quarter.
A flag against Villanova on the ensuing kickoff resulted in the Wildcats starting from their own 15-yard line with 2:36 to play. McQuaide's only incompletion on the game-winning drive came on the very first play before he found Mace for 11 yards and a first down on the next snap. It was on from there, and Villanova never looked back.
Sophomore safety
Jamie Tyson (Somers Point, N.J.) sealed the outcome with an interception at the Sharks 37-yard line with 1:02 left. LIU still had two timeouts remaining, but junior running back
Isaiah Ragland (Alexandria, Va.) carried twice and picked up a first down with 53 seconds left which effectively ended the game. Ragland moved into the top 20 in school history in career rushing yards on a seven-yard run in the first quarter and had increased his total to 1,640 yards in his career by the end of the game.
It looked like the Wildcats would have a chance to take control of the game on the opening drive of the second half when Mace capped a nine-play scoring drive with a 20-yard touchdown run for a 10-3 lead. Neither team managed more than a field goal in the first half, 30 minutes of play which felt like they were dominated by a 22-play, 72-yard Sharks drive spanning the first and second quarters.
Villanova came out of the locker room and went 61 yards on nine plays, covering 4:56 to take its first lead of the game. Mace rushed five times for 51 yards on the drive, including the 20-yard touchdown run which was his second rushing touchdown of the season and first of two giant scores in the game. He wound up with a game-high 170 all-purpose yards for the day, including 97 rushing yards on 14 carries, three receptions for 35 yards, and two kickoff returns for 38 yards.
Binkowski had six catches for 113 yards, both career highs. It is the third time in four games this season that he has established a new career high for yards in a game. Binkowski has 18 catches for 259 yards in the first four games of the season and has nearly tripled the 99 yards on 11 catches that he had as a true freshman last year.
Junior linebacker
Christian Caballero (Niceville, Fla.) had a career-high 10 tackles to lead a Wildcats defense which forced three turnovers on the day. Tyson and junior cornerback
Newton Essiem (Frederick, Md.) each had interceptions, while sophomore defensive lineman
Ugo Nwotite (Linwood, N.J.) recovered a fumble.
Early in the game, sophomore wide receiver
Braden Reed (Pottstown, Pa.) moved into the top 10 in school history in career punt return yards with a 30-yard return on the game's opening drive. He has 25 career punt returns for a total of 351 yards and an average of 14.0 yards per return.
Villanova won its 21
st consecutive regular season non-conference game against FCS competition and improved to 6-2 in its last eight games in the state of New York. The Wildcats will make another trip to the Empire State next month for a conference game against Fordham on October 17. Having success on the road is nothing new for Villanova, which is 28-12 in FCS road games since the start of the 2019 season and 65-34 away from home against FCS competition dating all the way back to 2008.
Saturday's game was the third straight on the road for the Wildcats, who return home and return to Patriot League action with a 2:30 kickoff against Colgate next Saturday at Villanova Stadium.
