Injury-plagued Villanova pins its hopes on dynamic defense
PHILADELPHIA » Mark Ferrante just shakes his head when the subject of injuries comes up. The firstyear Villanova coach has never seen anything like it.
Starting quarterback Zach Bednarczyk was the latest player loss for the season when he underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a Grade 3 MCL tear in his left knee. That means redshirt freshmen Jack Schetelich will get the second start of his career.
That’s five offensive starters the 11th-ranked Wildcats (4-2 overall, 2-1 CAA) have lost for the season to injury and that list does not include right guard Louis Csaszar, who is out the second straight week with a broken right orbital bone. The 6-3, 300-pound junior is expected to return.
Going to Harrisonburg Va. with a revamped offense is not the way Ferrante wanted to go into Saturday’s 3:30 showdown with James Madison (50, 2-0), the No. 1-ranked team in the FCS and the defending champion in the division. The Wildcats have soldiered on behind one of the best defensive units in the FCS.
Villanova is No. 2 in rushing defense (50.0 ypg.), sixth in scoring defense (13.2 ppg.) and 14th in total defense (283.8 ypg.). The Wildcats are giving up just 1.8 yards per rush and have not allowed a team to run for 100 yards in eight straight games. They are also tied for ninth in takeaways (14) and have scored nine touchdowns off those turnovers, three by the defense and six by the offense.
This has happened without All-America safety Rob Rolle, who has missed the better part of the last three games with a season-ending knee injury.
The key has been the play up front, especially sophomore ends Jafonta Johnson and Aaron Seigle. They have made the graduation losses of AllAmerican Tanoh Kpassagnon and Bryan Osei a little easier to bear. Johnson and Seigle are among the 13 sophomores, redshirt freshmen and true freshmen listed on the defensive depth chart, and that does not include redshirt freshman Peter Fallon, who was moved from offense to give the defensive line some depth. He has been a big plus in shortyardage situations.
“They’re playing really well,” Ferrante said of his defense. “They’re focused on stopping the run and we’ve been able to do that every week so far. Knock on wood, we still haven’t had a team rush for over 100 yards and we hope to keep that.”
That defense will be put to the test this week. The Dukes have won 15 games in a row and are fourth in the FCS in total offense (517.4) and scoring offense (41.8), and seventh in rushing offense (298.8). Quarterback Bryan Schor is the driving force behind that high-powered attack. He is one of the leading candidates for the Walter Payton Award and has thrown for 1,031 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for another 169 yards and two scores.
“They’re really balanced,” Ferrante said. “They do run more than they throw, but they’re pretty effective throwing the football. We need to stop the run game and our defense is looking forward to that challenge.”
It should be a great atmosphere. The game has been sold out for several weeks and College GameDay will broadcast from the quad at JMU.
“It’s going to be Ferrante said. “It’s to be noisy and it’s to be exciting.”
In other action LYCOMING AT WIDENER » The Pride (4-2, 4-1 MAC) looks to make it three in a row and stay in the conference championship race when the Warriors (3-3, 3-2) invade Quick Stadium for Homecoming (1 p.m.).
The Widener defense has been superb. The Pride ranks 13th in Division III in scoring defense (11.7 ppg.). Leading that charge are linemen Vince Char and Casey Kerschner. They rank 11th and tied for 22nd, respectively, in tackles for loss in Division III. Sophomore Graham Jespersen has done a solid loud,” going going
Saturday: job at QB. He’s thrown for 560 yards and five touchdowns in the last two games.
The Warriors bring a three-game winning streak to Chester. They have averaged 42 points per game in those three games. Expect a close one. Of the 38 games played in the series, 22 have been decided by a touchdown or less, including last year’s four-overtime thriller won by Widener, 24-21, in Williamsport. SHIPPENSBURG AT CHEYNEY » The struggling Wolves (1-5, 0-3 PSAC East) have their hands full again when the Raiders visit O’Shields-Stevenson Stadium (1 p.m.). Shippensburg (5-1, 2-1) is ranked first or second in scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense and total defense. The Raiders are also coming off their first loss, a 37-27 setback to West Chester.
The Wolves took a step back in last week’s 62-0 loss to Lock Haven. The shutout was the first of the season. The defense has had its problems, too. Cheyney is last in the PSAC in scoring defense (48.3 ppg). DELAWARE GAMECOCKS AT WILLIAMSON » A win on Homecoming/Parent’s Day will guarantee at least a .500 season for the Mechanics (3-2). Williamson is coming off a 47-20 loss to Thaddeus Stevens. One bright spot for the Mechanics has been junior DeJuan Outlaw. He has 128 yards receiving, 20 yards rushing, 190 yards in kickoff returns and has punted five times for a 35-yard average.
The Gamecocks (1-2) took advantage of five turnovers to beat the Mechanics 38-23 last season for their only win in the series.