Chris Whitney came up big and delivered one of the best performances of his career, finishing with 277 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air. He was backed by a Villanova defense that continued to stand on its head throughout the game and deny the Spiders the endzone.
Brandyn Harvey will go down as the hero in this one for his game-winning TD grab with 59 seconds left. On 4th an 10, Andy Talley drew up a play for the senior WR, and Harvey delivered with a one-handed catch. But there was still plenty of game left to be played after that.
Richmond was able to drive back down the field and get into field-goal range. It wasn’t meant to be for the Spiders though, as the kick went wide left. The moment will be remembered in Villanova football history forever.
Some quotes:
“The play was designed to go to me. [Whitney] saw me and I was open,” Harvey said. “I should probably have caught the pass with two hands but you can’t put your arms as far out as with one hand. Once I made the catch, I knew someone was behind me but I just wanted to make sure I scored.” -- Brandyn Harvey
“Like Brandyn said, the play was designed to go to him,” Whitney added. “On fourth-and-10 I didn’t have much choice but to go to him. We have counted on Brandyn all year. He is 6-4 and a big target. I thought I might have overthrown it at first but I am glad that it worked.” -- Chris Whitney
“The game pretty much went accordingly to what we expected coming in.” “I thought both teams were very evenly matched and we were comfortable playing here because we thought we had a chance to get after [Richmond] if we could shut down their running game. We maybe had an opportunity to close it out earlier but Richmond is a very good team and they were everything we thought they would be. We have a lot of respect for them. They did a great job and the game could have gone either way.” -- Andy Talley
Here’s a bonus, dug up by Brian of VUHoops. One less person is employed today.
Brandyn Harvey had 7 catches for 77 yards and a TD.
Even with a steady rain putting a damper on the Homecoming festivities, the football team made it look easy en route to a 36-7 win over Rhode Island. It was the 200th career victory for Andy Talley, and he had to be proud of the way his team played.
Both the offense and defense put forth dominating performances. The defense held the Rams to just 30 yards rushing and 151 yards overall and the offense racked up over 500 yards of offense, including 376 on the ground (the 3rd time this year they’ve eclipsed the 300 mark).
Matt Szczur was again at the forefront of the ‘Nova attack as he ran it in from 1 yard on the team’s first possession of the game and then later threw a 3-yard pass to Mikey Reynolds as ‘Nova built a 21-0 halftime lead. Aaron Ball and Chris Whitney both ran the ball well, finishing with 99 yards and 124, respectively.
The rain seemed to have an effect as Villanova’s scoring slowed down as the rain picked up in the 2nd half, but their dominating rushing attack ensured that their was no comeback in the minds of the Rhode Island players.
It was a solid win, and they did what was expected against a weaker opponent. They now head into their bye week sitting at 7-1 overall, and 4-1 in the conference. In 2 weeks they travel to Richmond to face the #1 team in the country, and a team they’ll be looking to take revenge on after losing to them at home last year.
Andy Talley gained the 199th victory of his career and saw his defense put on a dominating performance that more than made up for last year’s two defeats while spoiling homecoming weekend for the hosts. Terence Thomas and Fred Maldonado led the way with 10 and 11 tackles, respectively and John Dempsey forced 2 fumbles on the afternoon.
Chris Whitney had one of the best games of his career as he threw 3 touchdowns on the afternoon while posting 97 yards on the ground. Matt Szczur was again in the thick of it all as he caught 2 touchdown passes for the first time in his stellar career.
But the defense was the main story for Villanova, which posted its first shutout in nearly 7 years. A year after losing twice to James Madison, this one was never close. ‘Nova scored on their first possession of the game and built a 20-0 halftime lead before controlling the ball for 18 minutes in the 2nd half, never giving the hosts a chance to climb back into the game.
Some eye-openers:
JMU only got into ‘Nova territory twice, and never reached the redzone.
They gained just 116 yards rushing, by far the strongest asset of their team.
Most importantly though, this was the kind of game this team needed after a gut-wrenching loss the week prior. This reaffirms their confidence in themselves, and gets them back on track to make the FCS playoffs, while effectively eliminating a rival in the process (always a great feeling).
Great game men. Homecoming game is next weekend vs. Rhode Island. Should be great!
Villanova (5-1, 2-1) overcame an early 16-point deficit early in the 3rd quarter, but it couldn’t hold on as New Hampshire (5-0, 2-0) notched a pair of field goals in the 4th quarter to steal the game away from the visiting Wildcats.
It wasn’t the best day by any means for ‘Nova, and their head coach was quick to voice his displeasure.
“We have shown at this point in time in the season that we do not have the ability to go on the road and win a tough game,” Villanova head coach Andy Talley said. “Until we do that, we’re not a serious football team. I’m very upset with this football team because we had a great opportunity for ourselves and we didn’t get off the bus ready to play.”
Matt Szczur was the star on the day for ‘Nova, totaling 283 yards of offense, including his 58-yard scamper that gave ‘Nova it’s first and only lead of the day. Antwon Young and Chris Whitney again split time, and both seemed to perform admirably well, although it was a Whitney interception inside his own 20-yard line that led to the final FG for New Hampshire.
New Hampshire QB R.J. Toman finished just shy of 300 yards passing (292) on a day when he picked apart the Wildcat defense. ‘Nova returns to action next weekend for yet another Top-10 matchup when they travel to James Madison.
…Hard not to be disappointed…but when you fall behind early on the road it is always difficult to pull out a win, and we nearly did it…now it is time to refocus for next weekend when they travel to JMU…another tough matchup and one that a team with National Championship aspirations does not want to lose…
…Keep your heads up fellas and rebound and kick the piss out of JMU next weekend!…
The Game: #2 Villanova (5-0, 2-0) at #5 New Hampshire (4-0, 1-0)
Location: Cowell Stadium in Durham, New Hampshire
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Broadcast: 950-AM ESPN Radio
Brief Rundown: Villanova is coming off the 1st game of a brutal stretch, but they made it look relatively easy last week disposing of then #5 William & Mary at home. Villanova’s rushing attack didn’t live up to it’s season averages, but they made it count scoring 3 rushing touchdowns. Chris Whitney and the passing attack picked up the pace though, scoring on a long pass on the 1st offensive play of the game. ‘Nova’s defense continued it’s opportunistic ways, holding William & Mary under it’s season averages in points despite giving up huge chunks of yardage.
New Hampshire moves into the Top 5 after they remained undefeated last week by crushing Towson 57-7 on the road. New Hampshire hasn’t played the stiff competition that Villanova has thus far, but they are a solid program with a very good defense, which currently ranks 1st in all of FCS. Keep an eye on QB R.J. Toman, who is suffering from a bout with turf toe.
3 Keys to Victory:
May the best defense win - I’ve got a feeling this one isn’t going to be particularly high-scoring, despite both programs averaging over 30 points per game. New Hampshire has forced 18 turnovers on the year, and like Villanova, can get after the QB and force bad decisions. Whichever defense comes out and sets the tone for their team is probably going to be the difference in this game.
Stick with the run – It’s the strength of the team, with 5 guys capable of impacting the game with their legs (including both QB’s). It wasn’t the easiest time on the ground last week for Villanova, but that should only motivate the OL and RB’s to really bring it this week. Aaron Ball has been the main workhorse for ‘Nova.
Unity – This is the first conference road game of the year, and as Coach Andy Talley described it, a pseudo-playoff game. Rally around each other and scrape out a win. It isn’t supposed to be pretty on the road. Grind this one out and come home with a win.
Brief Rundown: Villanova travels in to famed Franklin Field after last week’s home-opening win over Lehigh where the Wildcats racked up over 300 yards on the ground. Villanova leads the all-time series 8-5, and is 7-0 since head coach Andy Talley took over the program. Last year, Villanova won the matchup 20-14 in overtime.
For Penn, WR Kyle Derham and RB Mike DiMaggio are the top returning players on the offensive side of the ball, while LB Jake Lewko is the top returning tackler and the leader of the defense. Coach Al Bagnoli ranks 2nd on the active coaches winning percentage list, and his Penn teams are usually amongst the best in the Ivy League.
3 Keys to Victory:
Stick with the ground game – As they say, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Villanova tore apart Lehigh on the ground last week, and will most likely attempt to do the same this weekend. Even if it’s not working early, expect a heavy dose of Aaron Ball and Angelo Babbaro.
Lean on Whitney – It seems like more and more the sophomore QB is getting the reigns of the Villanova offense. Quietly, he’s making a name for himself by efficiently running a vaunted Villanova attack. If this game is close down the stretch, don’t be afraid to give him the ball.
Crowd support – The first two weeks have gotten good reviews from the ‘Nova staff about the attendance levels, so hopefully the students and alumni make the short trip to inner-Philly in droves to support the ‘Cats. Those are the things that can help good teams out in tough road spots.
Corey Fisher has seen his role steadily increase over the past two seasons, and it looks like he is finally ready to assume a starting spot in the backcourt. We’ve got big ideas when it comes to Fisher this season, but it appears we aren’t the only ones.
‘Nova is likely to be pretty guard-oriented (similar to 2005-06) and if that vaunted 4 guard offense is to return, Mr. Fisher-Price is going to be one of the key ingredients. Here’s some morning links.
VUHoops has a new blogger on the staff. Derp’s first article helps you get to know ‘10 target Cory Joseph. Speaking of Joseph, Jay Wright and Chris Walker will both be going to see the recruit for in-home visits in the coming weeks. Two separate visits, that is. I like the sound of that.
I’m getting bored waiting for basketball season. It’s a long time until October when things really start moving on that front. So I decided that from now on we’re going to at the very least update you on the other ‘Nova sports teams as their seasons progress. We won’t be going nearly as in-depth as we do for basketball, but being a graduate, I have come to realize that I’m going to end up pulling for more than just the basketball team.
Four players were selected as pre-season 1st team All-CAA; Szczur, LB Osayi Osunde, OT Ben Ijalana, and DE Tim Kukucka. Osunde was also given pre-season All-American honors by the FCS. Osunde has led the team in tackles for the last two seasons.
…I’m really glad the football team has big aspirations…Villanova has been primarily known for the basketball team, but it’d be great if another team could consistently be on the national radar…who knows, maybe in a few years they’ll even make the jump to the FBS if the Big East looks to expand…
