VILLANOVA, Pa.—Sophomore wide receiver
Braden Reed (Pottstown, Pa.) recorded his first career 100-yard game and junior running back
Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) caught a touchdown pass for the third straight game as No. 23/22 Villanova (2-3, 1-2 Patriot League) fell to visiting Colgate (4-1, 3-0 PL) by a final score of 28-21 on Saturday afternoon. A late comeback attempt fell just short as the Wildcats drove down the field in the closing minutes.
Reed finished with six catches for exactly 100 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter which opened the scoring. The teams were tied at 7-7 and 14-14 in the first half before the Raiders built a two-possession lead with a pair of scores in the third quarter. Sixth year quarterback
Pat McQuaide (Solon, Ohio) was 12-of-23 passing on the day for 192 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked six times in the team's first home game since the season opener.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Mace caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from McQuaide to cap a four-play, 75-yard drive and pull Villanova to within 28-21. Later in the period, Colgate missed a 36-yard field goal attempt with 2:40 to play and the Wildcats took over from their own 20-yard line with two of their three timeouts remaining. That possession crossed midfield and reached the Raiders 20-yard line before stalling when a holding penalty on first down was followed by a sack on second down, leaving Villanova with 3
rd-and-30 and with 30 seconds remaining.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first half, with Reed's being equalized when Colgate scored on a six-yard run with 1:35 to play in the opening quarter. Early in the second period, junior running back
Isaiah Ragland (Alexandria, Va.) rushed 13 yards to put the Wildcats back in front by a 14-7 margin. The Raiders tied the game at 14-14 with 4:37 to play before halftime and needed just three plays in 42 seconds for a 65-yard scoring drive to open the third quarter.
Ragland rushed 10 times for 56 yards in the contest and Mace carried 13 times for 42 yards to finish the day with a game-high 109 all-purpose yards. Mace caught the 25-yard touchdown pass to go along with his rushing yards and two kickoff returns for a total of 42 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore linebacker
Omari Bursey (Broomfield, Colo.) tallied his third double digit tackle game of the season with 12 total stops. Redshirt freshman linebacker
Walker Murray (Yardley, Pa.) added a career-high nine tackles and senior defensive lineman
Capri Martin (Harlem, N.Y.) also had a new career high with eight stops.
A crowd of 6,753 fans on Family Weekend at Villanova braved the elements for the team's return home after playing three consecutive road games. Although the heaviest of the rain from a weekend storm held off once the game got underway, it was 57 degrees with winds that gusted 20-30 miles per hour for most of the game.
Sophomore punter
Luke Myers (Breinigsville, Pa.) had another good day with an average of 42.3 yards on three punts, including his fourth attempt of the season for over 50 yards.
Villanova returns home next week to host a non-conference matchup against Morgan State at 1 p.m.
