Quarterback Daniel Smith passed for a touchdown and ran for two more, and the #8 Villanova Wildcats rushed for 200 yards Saturday afternoon to knock off the #12 Maine Black Bears 33-17 in a key CAA football matchup at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
Maine (2-3, 0-2 CAA) didn’t do themselves any favors in this one committing a pair of turnovers and having a punt blocked in falling behind 30-0 in the first half. The Wildcats took the opening kickoff and immediately drove the field culminating in a three yard touchdown run from DeeWil Barlee to cap off a nine play, 80 yard drive in less than four minutes. The Bears first drive stalled at the ‘Nova 46 forcing a punt. On the second play of the hosts second possession quarterback Smith would hit Changa Hodge for a 77 yard touchdown. The extra point was missed and it was 13-0. Late in the first a short Villanova (5-0, 2-0) drive after blocking a Maine punt would lead to a Drew Kresge 38 yard field goal.
In the second Smith would score on a pair of seven yard touchdown runs, with one very early in the quarter set up after a Ferguson interception. Ferguson later threw a second interception of the half at the Wildcats goal line. The Black Bears finally got on the scoreboard on a 44 yard field goal from Kenny Doak with 23 seconds left to make it 30-3 at the break. Maine would storm out of the locker room for a quick third quarter score. Earnest Edwards returned the second half kickoff 33 yards to set up good field position. Ferguson would then hit Edwards on a 55 yard play to the Villanova 9 yard line, and three plays later Edwards would throw his second touchdown of the season to Andre Miller. Maine was driving deep into Villanova territory at the 16 yard line as the fourth quarter started, that included a 22 yard run by Joe Fitzpatrick. But a Devin Young rush for an eight yard loss, an incomplete pass to Young, and then a Ferguson sack on 4th down ended the Black Bears scoring threat. The Wildcats would then chew up almost four minutes off the clock and got another field goal from Kresge of 24 yards to make it 33-10. Curtis Murray would fumble at the VU 46 on the Bears next possession for their third turnover of the day. With just over three minutes left in the contest though Maine would get on the board again to make it interesting to cut the lead to a pair of scores. Ferguson passes of 13 yards to Miller, 25 to Edwards, and 14 to Young would lead to a 32 yard touchdown toss to Edwards to complete an 84 yard drive in just 1:32. The visitors would attempt an onside kick but that was recovered by Villanova. A 17 yard run by the Wildcats leading rusher Justin Covington on a 3rd down and 1 would allow the Wildcats to kneel down in victory formation and burn out the clock.
Ferguson would end the day 29-49 passing, 347 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions in the Maine loss. Fitzpatrick ran 11 times for 53 yards as the Black Bears only managed 68 rushing yards on 20 attempts against one of the top CAA run defenses so far this year. Edwards had a big day with four catches for 140 yards as he threw and caught a touchdown, while Blair had a career high 12 receptions for 120 yards. Taji Lowe had nine tackles to lead the defense. The Bears now have a negative nine turnover ratio so far in 2019, after finishing with a plus five in 2018. Smith went 15-24, 213 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions in the Villanova win. He also ran six times for 34 yards and two touchdowns. Covington who entered the game fourth in all of FCS with an average of 139 yards per game rushing, would tally 118 yards on 19 attempts Saturday. Jaaron Hayek caught six passes for 70 yards, while Hodge caught two for 82 yards with one of those being the first quarter 77 yard touchdown. Nowooola Awopetu had 10 tackles to lead the defense. Villanova is now an impressive 18 for 19 in red zone opportunities this season with 16 touchdowns (4 on Saturday). The Wildcats are 5-0 for the first time since 2009 when they went 13-2 and lost in the National Championship game to Montana, and are likely to move into the top five in the FCS top 25 rankings next week.
Maine will need to win out the remainder of their CAA schedule in order to have a chance at a playoff berth this season. The Black Bears now have a bye week before returning to action on Saturday, October 12 when they host Richmond at 12 p.m. at Alfond Stadium.
Maine quarterback Chris Ferguson looks to make a pass in a game earlier this season at Alfond Stadium in Orono. Ferguson threw for 347 yards Saturday in a 33-17 loss to #8 Villanova. Photo by Anthony DelMonaco
UM (2-3) 0 3 7 7- 17
VU (5-0) 16 14 0 3- 33
Total yards- Maine 423 Villanova 413
Turnovers- Maine 3 Villanova 0
Third downs- Maine 8-15 (53%) Villanova 5-12 (42%)
Time of possession- Maine 29:18 Villanova 30:42
