By Marc Narducci
Photos by Mike Nance
VILLANOVA, PA--With each week the task becomes more difficult, but Villanova’s football team has so far been up for the challenge.
The Wildcats have one of the best FCS teams in the country, which isn’t like a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
Since 2008, the Wildcats have earned seven NCAA tournament appearances, which included the national championship in 2009.
Keep in mind, Villanova competes in one of the top FCS conferences in the country, the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
This is a league that annually has several teams nationally ranked, often beating each other up during the regular season.
Villanova is quite accustomed to being ranked and competing for an FCS playoff berth, but this year the Wildcats have turned heads by going about business, well, in a business-like fashion.
They are 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the CAA heading into Saturday’s 1 p.m. home game against another difficult CAA team, William Mary.
Villanova is ranked No. 4 in this week’s American Football Coaches Association FCS Coaches Top 25.
The schedule has been brutal as ever, but Villanova has certainly navigated itself to a good position.
Four of the first seven games have been against nationally ranked team, including the lone loss, 38-17 at perennial FBS power Penn State, which was ranked No. 6 in the country at the time, but has fallen out of favor with two recent hiccups against Iowa and Illinois.
That said, losing to an FBS power did nothing to hurt Villanova’s standing, or its morale.
“I think, the Penn State game, you walk into that type of environment, that size of the stadium and that many people and sometimes you get a little, star-struck or whatever, but that moment didn’t seem too big for our guys,” Villanova coach Mark Ferrante said on this week’s CAA conference call.
Even the Penn State matchup showed the grit of Villanova. The Wildcats were outmanned and really never in the game, but behind 38-3, they fought and scored two fourth quarter touchdowns.
Villanova Coach Mark Ferrante (photo/James Williamson for PSD)
"I think that game helped us mentally as much as anything else and we were able to hang in there, we did well against the run on defense, and we got those late couple of score on offense, which I think helped….” Ferrante said
The three wins against nationally ranked FCS teams have been 34-27 against then No. 21 Richmond, 28-27 at then No. 3 James Madison and last week’s 44-0 blanking of then No. 18 Rhode Island.
This year the CAA is more balanced and there are fewer ranked teams because like Rhode Island, they keep losing to fellow CAA squads.
James Madison is No. 5 right behind Villanova in the Coaches poll, the only other CAA team in this week’s rankings.
Either way, the league is a tough as ever and deeper and after last week’s convincing win over a then-ranked Rhode Island team, Ferrante was asked if it is difficult to keep the players’ heads from getting swelled just a little bit.
I mean, they did just beat a ranked team by 44 points.
“I like the maturity of this team, we have an older group for sure, we have sixth-year guys, fifth-year guys, four-year seniors and they’re taking that tap the rock mentality that we always talk about, the one day at a time mentality...," said Ferrante.
It’s quite impressive because it would be easy for Villanova to be overly impressed with what it has accomplished to date.
Take the Rhode Island game for instance.
Villanova was without top running back Justin Covington, out with an injury. Covington has rushed for 469 yards (6.1 avg.) and three touchdowns. Ferrante says Covington is day to day and he expressed hope that he would return this week.
Even without Covington, Jalen Jackson rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns in just 12 carries. DeeWil Barlee, the junior from Episcopal Academy, rushed for 99 yards on 19 carries.
That is some serious depth.
It doesn’t include quarterback Dan Smith, who added 61 yards on six carries, continuing his fine season as a major dual-threat.
So, there is no shortage of players capable of carrying the ball for Villanova.
In fact, coming into the season the question was how Ferrante was going to find enough carries for so many talented running backs. Injuries have a way of answering that question, especially at the running back position.
Rhode Island coach Jim Fleming, a former Villanova assistant, when asked about the Wildcats, had a long list of reasons why they have excelled this year.
“They’ve got a solid offensive line that knows what to do…, they got running backs, pretty deep there,” Fleming said. “Obviously Covington was out and the other kids ran extremely hard with good pad level.”
Fleming was just getting warmed up.
Villanova junior RB and Episcopal Academy standout DeeWil Barlee rushed for 99 yards on 19 carries in game vs. Rhode Island. (photo/Mike Nance)
Villanova's senior RB Jalen Jackson rushed for 104 yards and scored 2 TD's in game vs. Rhode Island. (photo/Mike Nance)
Villanova Quarterback Dan Smith in game vs. Rhode Island. (photo/Mike Nance)
“They have an extremely dynamic receiver with (No.) 19 (Rajoun) Pringle and a quarterback who makes things happen,” Fleming said about Pringle, who had four receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns against Penn State. “You put that defense out there, it is a good scheme...they make you earn every step of the way.”
One of the leaders is defensive back Christian Benford, a master thief who shares the FCS lead with five interceptions.
Villanova junior WR Rajoun Pringle. (photo/Mike Nance)
Villanova senior DB Christian Benford leads FCS with 5 interceptions. (photo/Mike Nance)
On both sides of the ball, there are plenty of playmakers, but as talented as Villanova is, the Wildcats know the potential minefield the CAA schedule presents. .
Ferrante isn’t just going with coach-speak when he talks about the tough challenges each week. A case in point is Albany, which at 0-7 is the lone winless team in the CAA.
Villanova went to Albany on Oct. 16 and barely escaped with a 17-10 win. The Wildcats had to stop Albany on fourth down with two minutes left to preserve the win.
So, if a winless team can make Villanova sweat so profusely, imagine a team like William & Mary, which would earn a first-place tie with a win over the Wildcats on Saturday.
So, the combination of a veteran team, one that knows how difficult the weekly CAA competition is, and some exciting playmakers has made this a special season so far for Villanova.
Don’t expect the players to bask in their press clippings just yet. They know there is much football to be played and in Villanova’s case, plenty to still accomplish.
Villanova vs. Rhode Island gameday photo gallery by Mike Nance
