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.
In the first ever nationally televised CAA event, Villanova did not disappoint as they controlled things from the first play of the game all the way until the end. Chris Whitney hooked up with Brandyn Harvey for a 57-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the game, setting the tone for a very impressive performance on the afternoon.
Whitney was stellar for 'Nova on Saturday.
On a day when Villanova’s vaunted rushing attack wasn’t as dominant, Whitney responded to the critics by finishing 10-13 through the air for 146 yards. Whitney was helped out by 3 Villanova rushing touchdowns (all inside the 5 yard line) including the first two of the year by Matt Szczur. Angelo Babbaro rounded out the Villanova scoring with his 3-yard touchdown run.
Despite Villanova seemingly controlling the game throughout (personally, I was never worried), a lot of credit has to be given to Villanova’s defense, which was very much a bend-but-don’t-break style on Saturday afternoon. R.J. Archer threw for 354 yards and the Tribe out-gained Villanova by nearly 200 total yards in offense. But it was Villanova’s defense that came up with big play after big play.
James Pitts made a couple of enormous plays to help seal the victory. The first came late in the 2nd quarter when he recovered a fumble and returned it 20 yards to set ‘Nova up deeep in W&M territory for a drive that eventually led to 7 points.
Pitts was at it again in the 3rd quarter. The Tribe had driven down deep into Villanova territory but Pitts was able to get his hands on a pass and Marquis Kirkland hauled it in to give the ball back to Villanova. In my opinion, the play of the game and one that really sealed the deal.
Villanova will travel to New Hampshire next weekend in yet another tough CAA matchup of ranked opponents.
…Would have liked to see Antwon Young get a little more time, but Whitney really did have a great game…that shouldn’t be the end of Young though because he has definitely earned more PT in my eyes…really weird to see Villanova Stadium on TV like that…I’ve seen it before but it wasn’t as big a broadcast….
…Fans looked great and the students came out which was also great to see…this team still needs more support though as the stands were definitely not all the way full…
…I could really get used to being able to watch ‘Nova on TV…great win by the team but no time to relax…another tough game awaits next weekend…
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.
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…
A glorious Labor Day weekend. I was lucky enough to be up at Lake Sabego in Maine (many thanks to our hosts Tom and Jackie) where a great weekend with absolutely picturesque weather ensued. Alas, we’re no longer labor free. So for me, back to obsessing over ‘Nova sports. I hope everyone’s weekend was great!
Yako won it for 'Nova as time expired.
Here’s a look at how the ‘Nova programs fared over the weekend.
Football (1-0)
WR Brandyn Harvey and K Nick Yako earned CAA honors following the team’s 27-24 victory over Temple. Harvey was named the Offensive Player of the Week while Yako got the nod as Special Teams Player of the Week. The team returns to action this Saturday when they host Lehigh at 7:00 p.m.
On Sunday the team found itself in a dogfight as Charlotte came back to tie the game twice before Amy Greco sent ‘Nova into the lead on 70 minutes for a 3-2 victory. Goals from Grace Hawkins and Rachel Breton helped ensure the women’s soccer team (4-0-1) remained undefeated in the young season.
