LEWISBURG, Pa.—Junior placekicker
Dominic LeBlanc (Dawsonville, Ga.) kicked a go-ahead field goal with just over eight minutes left and No. 18 Villanova (1-1, 1-1, Patriot League) withstood an attempt going the other way with less than two minutes to play in a 17-16 nailbiter over Bucknell (0-2, 0-2 PL) at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. The win is the Wildcats first as a member of the Patriot League and the team's sixth consecutive road win dating back to last season.
The contest came down to a battle of field goals in the fourth quarter, starting with the host Bison making a 40-yarder with 12:06 to play to take their first and only lead of the game at 16-14. Villanova led 14-0 at halftime but gained just one total yard in the third quarter and saw its lead trimmed to 14-13 by a pair of Bucknell touchdowns in that period. The second of the two, with 1:09 left in the third quarter, resulted in a missed PAT by the Bison which maintained the Wildcats narrow lead for the time being.
Villanova found its footing with an eight-play, 65-yard scoring drive, covering 3:42 after losing the lead early in the decisive fourth quarter. It had immediate momentum after graduate quarterback
Pat McQuaide (Solon, Ohio) began the drive with three consecutive completions for a total of 53 yards. Sophomore wide receiver
Brandon Binkowski (Haymarket, Va.) caught the first two of those passes for 14 yards and 30 yards, respectively, followed by a nine-yard pass from McQuaide to junior tight end
Nolan Clayton (King of Prussia, Pa.).
McQuaide finished the night 13-of-20 through the air for 218 yards and two touchdowns. He surpassed 8,000 passing yards in his collegiate career and 3,500 yards during his Wildcats career on the go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter. McQuaide threw two touchdown passes to sophomore wide receiver
Braden Reed (Pottstown, Pa.) earlier in the game as Villanova built a two-possession lead in the first half.
On the eventual game-winning drive, the Wildcats had first-and-goal at the eight-yard line when McQuaide was sacked for a loss of six yards. Junior running back
Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) rushed for 10 yards, however, bringing the ball back to the four-yard line and setting up LeBlanc's go-ahead attempt from 22 yards with 8:20 to play. Those three points wound up being the final points of the game, although not before a few tense moments in the closing minutes.
Bucknell consumed more than six minutes of clock time during a 13-play, 64-yard drive which finally stalled at Villanova's 11-yard line at the two-minute warning. Following the timeout, the Bison attempted a 29-yard field goal and missed wide left to give the Wildcats back the ball with 1:57 to play and all three of Bucknell's timeouts remaining.
Junior running back
Isaiah Ragland (Alexandria, Va.) ran for 12 yards on the first play of the Villanova possession, then picked up five more yards on two more carries. McQuaide and Ragland sealed the outcome on a 21-yard pass play on third down with 1:06 left and from there the Wildcats could take a knee to run out the clock.
Binkowski tallied a career high in receiving yards for the second straight game to start the season and wound up with three catches for 71 yards. Reed scored two touchdowns in a game for the first time in his collegiate career and had five catches total for 68 yards.
Junior linebacker
Omari Bursey (Broomfield, Colo.) had his second straight monster game with 14 total tackles, including eight solo stops. He has now recorded 29 tackles (16 solo) through the first two games of the season after beginning the year with a previous career high of eight stops in a game. Sophomore defensive lineman
Ugo Nwotite (Linwood, N.J.) had two sacks.
The outcome marks the 10
th consecutive win for the Wildcats against Bucknell, nine of which have come since Villanova became an FCS program in 1985. The first win in the streak of 10 came back in 1945; the series between the schools dates all the way back to a scoreless tie in the first meeting in 1900. Villanova leads the all-time series by a 16-11-2 margin.
Villanova returns to action next Friday for an FBS matchup against ACC member Louisville. Kickoff on September 11 is at 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.
NOTES: Villanova defeated Bucknell for its first win as a member of the Patriot League … The program's first-ever conference victory came on September 24, 1988 when the Wildcats defeated Boston University, 31-24, in what was then the Yankee Conference … Ironically, the game prior to that contest was a Villanova win over Bucknell … The six-game road winning streak for the Wildcats is the longest for the team (excluding FBS competition) since an eight-game road winning streak that spanned the Spring 2021 through 2022 seasons … McQuaide is 662-of-1137 passing in his collegiate career for 8,038 yards … His Villanova totals are 267-of-451 for 3,611 yards … Reed caught three touchdown passes as a true freshman last season before notching his first career multi-score game tonight … Villanova did not give up a sack on its first 98 offensive snaps of the season before McQuaide was sacked in the third quarter tonight … After having possession of the ball for 9:43 in the first quarter, the Wildcats had possession for just 8:49 in the second and third quarters combined … Three possessions in the third quarter resulted in just one total yard of offense on seven plays.
