Villanova loses two games amid Patriot League cancellations
Villanova football coach Mark Ferrante was in his office for the first time in an official capacity Monday since the university was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic in midMarch.
He was back on campus four other times, once to conduct several Zoom conferences when his power went out at home and three other times to help with various volunteer projects.
As he was trying to do some work, Ferrante said he received 10-12 text messages from players, other coaches and his wife, about the Patriot League’s decision that it will not compete in intercollegiate athletics in the fall. In its statement the Patriot League said it is exploring the possibility of playing fall sports and championships in the second semester.
The decision by the Patriot League has a direct impact on Ferrante’s football team. The Wildcats were scheduled play their first two games against Patriot League members Lehigh and Bucknell, respectively.
Villanova was set to open the season at home for a Thursday night game on Sept. 3 against the Mountain Hawks and then visit the Bison on Sept. 12.
Ferrante had a feeling that the start of his season was going to be delayed when the Patriot League announced in June that non-league competition would not start prior to Sept. 4. Monday’s announcement confirmed those suspicions.
“The way I explained it to our team at first, there’s Plan A through Z,” Ferrante said by phone. “We’ll see which one we have to execute when the time is right. All I know right now is that we lost Plan A because A was a full season.”
At best, the decision by the Patriot League likely means the Wildcats will start the season at Wake Forest on Sept. 19. The Demon Deacons are coached by former Villanova offensive coordinator Dave Clawson. It would also leave the Wildcats with just nine games, the one against Wake Forest and eight CAA contests starting with a home game with Rhode Island on Sept. 26.
The Wildcats could fill one or both of those two voids with some creative late scheduling, but that’s highly unlikely at this late juncture.
“I have seen that some other schools have looked to do that,” Ferrante said.
“Some schools have announced, ‘Hey, if we lose one, we’ll just try to reschedule someone else.’ But we have not had any of those discussions, especially after today.”
The CAA has yet to announce its plans for the fall season and it’s a complicated matter. Delaware, Elon, James Madison, Towson and William & Mary are the only full-time members that play football. Villanova is in the Big East for most sports. Rhode Island and Richmond are in the Atlantic 10. Albany, Maine, New Hampshire and Stony Brook are members of the America East Conference.
In a television interview with a Richmond, Va. station last week, CAA commissioner Joe D’Antonio said the conference does not have a date when it will make an announcement.
“The primary part of any decision is the health, safety and welfare of the individuals that make up our campuses around the country,” D’Antonio said.
Ferrante said Villanova is waiting on a decision from the CAA and the Big East. Villanova’s football camp is scheduled to start on Aug. 4. Classes are slated to begin on Aug. 17.
“I’m hoping we can give something a little more definitive to our team and our student-athletes and their families,” Ferrante said.
He isn’t the only local football coach playing the waiting game. Widener’s Mike Barainyak hopes to have an answer for his players and their families after the Middle Atlantic Conference announced last Friday that it will attempt to play a conferenceonly schedule for all sports in the fall.
The conference-only approach would cost the Pride non-league games with Rowan and Hampden-Sydney, and could limit the number of games the team will play. No contests will be played before Sept. 18, according to the release by the conference.
“There’s kind of an excitement, but I wouldn’t be naive to think that there’s also some concerns because there’s a lot of logistics that have to get done to make sure that all of our players are as safe as possible and we can play,” Barainyak said. “But I know our guys, when they heard the announcement, were extremely excited, and I’m excited and hopefully we can get everything squared away that we can play football and everybody who comes to enjoy a football game at Widener, whoever’s on the field or our students, we can all be safe and get back to a normal fall at Widener.”