The year 2006 was a tale of two seasons for the football team, as it finished 6-5 after starting the year 0-3 and ending the season on a four-game winning streak. The ‘Cats first game was a showdown with Division IA Central Florida, a 35-16 loss that was the Wildcats lone blowout of the season. ‘Nova began its winning ways with a nailbiter at Penn, where a late 17-yard receiving touchdown from quarterback Marvin Burroughs to runningback DeQuese May put the team ahead for victory. The Wildcats went on to lose back-to-back games in mid-October to Maine and Towson then turned it around to finish off their schedule. The four-game stretch to end the season included home victories over No. 15-ranked Richmond and No. 4-ranked James Madison. The victory over JMU included a ‘Nova 80-yard drive in the last minute to win the game by one. The Wildcats ended the season by defeating Delaware on the road, their first victory over the rival Blue Hens in four years. Burroughs, a tri-captain along with center Christian Gaddis and defensive back Allyn Bacchus, was the offensive leader of the team, compiling 2,123 passing yards to go along with nine passing touchdowns and nine interceptions. The senior quarterback was dominant on the ground, tallying 342 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. The ground game was this team’s strength, featuring a duo of star runningbacks. May led the team in rushing and receiving yards, with 538 yards on the ground, 470 through the air and nine total touchdowns. Junior runningback Matt Dicken was the high-Wildcat scorer with 11 rushing touchdowns. Bacchus, the star defensive player for Villanova, led the team with 103 tackles. He, along with Gaddis, was named to the All-Conference Atlantic 10 First Team.