I Bleed Blue and White

Apologies for the late post. Had a very busy weekend and busy Monday.

Szczur was unstoppable for 'Nova.

Here is the game recap and box score for those who missed the game.

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 (4-0, 1-0) vs. #5 William & Mary (4-0, 1-0)

Location: Villanova Stadium in Villanova, PA

Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

Broadcast: VERSUS

Brief Rundown: Villanova is coming off a complete shellacking of Northeastern in their conference opener last week. The running game was dominant for Villanova as they racked up over 300 yards on the afternoon. Chris Whitney and Antwon Young split time at QB and both performed very well. Expect more of that this week.

William & Mary started off the year knocking off Virginia in a big-time upset 26-14. They also won their conference opener last week by beating Deleware 30-20. Unlike ‘Nova, The Tribe get most of their yardage through the air behind QB R.J. Archer. Their defense is just as stifling as ‘Nova’s however, allowing just 15 points per game.

Last year Villanova won the game 38-38. Expect a war on Saturday afternoon.

3 Keys to Victory:

1. Don’t shy away from the run – W&M allows just 59 yards rushing per game. Villanova averages 228. I wouldn’t expect ‘Nova to run wild (although you never know) but they can’t get deterred if they don’t find success early. Stay with it, and wear them down.
2. Contain R.J. Archer – The Tribe’s QB averages almost 230 yards of total offense per game, with a lot of that coming through the air. Villanova’s defense has been adept at getting to the QB and that is going to have to happen again this week with a strong QB behind center.
3. Feed off the crowd – The Villanova homepage right now is a video of ‘Nova players telling the fans to get rowdy and push them to a victory. I agree. This should be like a big basketball game. The students should be going crazy and the alumni should pack the place.

Links:

• Philadelphia Inquirer
• Villanova Game Notes (PDF)

…Let’s Go Nova…c’mon boys let’s do this…I’m fired up for football!…

The past few weeks have been nothing short of spectacular for the various Villanova teams. Maybe it was the soft non-conference schedule that each team stole from the basketball program, or maybe it was just one of those weeks. Now that conference play has begun all across the country, things are only going to get tougher.

It was still a good though as the ‘Nova athletics program record of 4-3-1 for the week.

Football (4-0, 1-0)

• It was all smiles Saturday as the football team demolished Northeastern 56-7. A week after being benched, QB Chris Whitney split time with Antwon Young and both performed well in the rout. They’ll be hosting William & Mary next week in a nationally televised game.

Men’s Golf

• The team traveled to North Carolina for the Sea Trails Intercollegiate and came away with a 6th place team finish in the 16 team field. Junior Brendan Kelly led the team with a 13th place individual finish.
• Assistant coach Jake Moran received the GCAA Meritorious Service Award. Moran is in his 2nd season as assistant coach after stepping down from the head coaching spot after 15 years.

Men’s Soccer (5-3-1, 2-2)

• An early goal was all Georgetown needed as it held on to defeat ‘Nova 1-0 last Friday.
• The team rebounded nicely with a 4-1 victory at Seton Hall on Sunday. Mike Seamon had a career-night with 2 goals and 2 assists in the victory.

Field Hockey (6-2, 1-0)

• In a midweek contest, Villanova defeated Penn 4-0 to continue their winning ways. Emily Donaldson and Meg Ryan both recorded 3 assists in the team’s 4th consecutive win.

Women’s Soccer (8-1-2, 1-1-1)

• The women took advantage of two goals from Heidi Sabatura in the 1st half and cruised to a 3-1 win over visiting Seton Hall on Friday afternoon. Kelly Eagan had the other goal for ‘Nova.
• Two overtimes couldn’t separate Villanova and Rutgers on Sunday as the teams finished in a 1-1 deadlock. Rachel Schuyler scored her first career goal on 25 minutes for ‘Nova in the draw.

Women’s Volleyball (11-4, 0-2)

• Things came crashing down for the volleyball team this week as they began BIG EAST play. After a string of 6 consecutive wins, the team fell 3-0 to Cincinnati in their conference opener and then again 3-1 to Louisville.

Game recap and box score for those who couldn’t see the game.

Ball had a big day despite being slowed by injury.

In their conference opener for the season, Villanova (4-0, 1-0) made short work of visiting Northeastern (0-4, 0-2) as they trounced the Huskies 56-7 behind one of the best rushing attacks in school history. Villanova amassed 410 yards on the ground and 6 different Wildcats scored touchdowns. The 410 yards they gained on the ground was the most since 1991, and the 3rd highest total in school history.

RB Aaron Ball had a magnificent day as he totaled over 100 yards on the ground and was resting an injury on the sideline after getting some work in. (WR Brandyn Harvey had 102 yards receiving to create a 100-100 tandem). Ball got things started with a 31-yard TD run on the 3rd play of the game.

All week the main story concerning ‘Nova was the dilemma at QB after Chris Whitney was replaced in favor of Antwon Young. In our pregame report we called for the use of both QB’s, and when given the chance, neither disappointed. Whitney ran for 98 yards and passed for 84 along with a touchdown while Young passed for 58 and ran for 35 while accumulating a touchdown both ways. It looks like the platoon system worked wonders, at least for one week.

The defense has been spectacular to open the season and once again, led by John Dempsey’s team-leading 7 tackles, they did not disappoint holding Northeastern to just 7 points and 239 yards of offense. The defense picked off the Huskies 3 times on the afternoon.

Most of all though, Villanova needed a game like this to open the conference slate. The next 3 weeks bring games against Top-10 teams (the CAA is just brutal this year) and they’ll need all the rest they can get as their season unofficially begins next week against William & Mary.

The Game: #2 Villanova (3-0, 0-0) vs. Northeastern (0-3, 0-1)

Location: Villanova Stadium in Villnova, PA

Time: 3:30 p.m.

Broadcast: The Comcast Network

Brief Rundown: Villanova is coming a a hard fought, but sloppily played 14-3 win over Penn last weekend. The Wildcat defense was superb again, sacking the Penn QB multiple times and forcing a couple of turnovers. There wasn’t much offense for ‘Nova, and QB Chris Whitney was replaced in the 3rd quarter by Antwon Young, who led the team to it’s only offensive touchdown of the night. Whitney will start, but Young will most likely see extended action this week.

Northeastern has started off the season 0-3, with their only competitive game being a 17-7 loss to Maine at home. They are averaging just 9.3 points per game while allowing over 36 per game, and their offensive averages in both rushing and passing are under 130 yards per outing.

Last year Villanova won the meeting 20-14. On paper, this should be a nice tune-up into the CAA season for Villanova, but as we saw last week, never overestimate an opponent.

Injury Report:

• RB Aaron Ball (hip pointer) – Probable
• NG Thomas Weaver (turf toe) – Probable
• OT Chidozie Ekweozor (high ankle sprain) – Questionable

3 Keys to Victory:

1. Defense sets the tone – Villanova’s defense is big, fast, and nasty. They’ve been adept at getting to the QB and causing turnovers, and must continue to do so against a woeful offensive opponent.
2. Use both Whitney/Young - Antwon Young has earned more playing time after he came to the rescue last week. He may not be starting, but he brings a new dimension to the offense with his running ability. Whitney must get hiss passing attack back on track after a dreadful outing against Penn.
3. Feed off the home crowd – It is Parents’ Weekend at ‘Nova, so the home crowd should be pretty full. Feed off the students and alumni and put this game away by the early 2nd half.

Links:

• Villanova Game Notes (PDF)
• Where has the rushing attack gone? (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  

Football coach Andy Talley came out and defended starting QB Chris Whitney just two days after he pulled him in favor of 5th year senior Antwon Young. Talley stated that Whitney “wasn’t happy” about being pulled (ya think?) but that he will be the starter this weekend against Northeastern. So for now, no controversy.

But if Whitney struggles this weekend, and Young (who was replaced by Whitney as the starter last year against Penn, ironically) does well leading the team, what is next? I find it unusual that the #2 team in the country has this issue, but it is what it is. Hopefully Whitney rebounds and this can all end. On to some morning reading…

• Speaking of the Quakers, at least one man thinks that Penn doesn’t need Villanova in football. Usually you want to play the best competition, but not those Ivy Leaguers! Keep on striving boys!
• Tim Thomas had surgery on his right knee to repair torn cartilage. No word on how long he’ll be out.
• Tweeted this earlier, but in case you aren’t on Twitter the CAA announced that the October 3rd football game between William & Mary and Villanova will be broadcast nationally on VERSUS, at 3:30 p.m. It will be the first time a CAA regular season game has been broadcast nationally. Now I won’t have to watch us on crappy backdoor internet links, at least for one week.
• Time may be running out for the injury-prone Brian Westbrook in Philadelphia. As a Giants fan, let me extend a thank you to the Eagles’ front office.

It isn’t always pretty, but the good teams always find ways to scrap these types of games out. Villanova defeated Penn 14-3 on Saturday night at Franklin Field, but it was a hard fought contest that had ‘Nova fans nervous everywhere.

Young gave the 'Nova offense a big lift.

Things couldn’t have started much better for Villanova as WR Matt Szczur took the opening kickoff back 87 yards for a touchdown, but after that, nothing came easily. Villanova gained just 187 yards of offense on 50 plays and QB Chris Whitney struggled mightily throughout the night, finishing 3-7 for 38 yards and an interception.

QB Antwon Young accounted for Villanova’s other score late in the 3rd quarter when he came in to replace Whitney. Young led the Wildcats on a 78 yard drive which culminated in a TD pass to WR Brandyn Harvey. Young also had a 24 yard run on 3rd-and-11 early in the drive.

The Villanova defense were the stars of the night, holding Penn to 239 yards and just 3 points while they were on the field far more than they would have liked.

The win pushes Villanova to 3-0 as they await a visit from Northeastern next weekend when they kick off their CAA schedule.

…Ugly, ugly, ugly…but we deal with this in basketball and it’s even more true in football: a win is a win…Glad to see Antwon Young get a chance to make an impact, and do so to provide Villanova some cover late in the game…

…I said it at the top and I’ll say it again, good teams win these types of games…when you’re not at your best you still find ways to win…good for Villanova…