After scoring just one touchdown in the first half, Villanova found a way to win on Saturday night at Andy Kerr Stadium in Hamilton, New York.
The Wildcats flipped the game out of halftime for a 28–3 victory, extending their record to 7-1 against the Raiders.
Villanova improved its regular season win streak against FCS non-conference opponents to 18. The Wildcats were favored over Colgate after coming off an impressive 24–17 win against Youngstown State on Aug. 29.
Villanova is known for its rushing ability, especially sixth-year quarterback Connor Watkins. The Wildcats leaned heavily on the passing game in the first half instead.
It was a rough set of drives for both offenses. Villanova and Colgate could only cross onto their opponent’s side of the field for a select few drives.
The Villanova offense was quiet until Watkins connected on a 71-yard pass to graduate transfer Devin Smith for a touchdown. It broke the stalemate. Villanova went up, 7-0, heading into the second quarter.
Watkins finished the night throwing 18 completions for 247 yards and two touchdowns on 28 attempts.
On the next drive, Colgate quickly worked its way inside Villanova’s 25-yard-line. With the help of a loaded Wildcat linebacker room, Colgate was forced to settle for a field goal. Villanova’s seven-point lead was cut to four.
Besides the two scoring drives, every drive ended in a punt except for one, which was a missed field goal attempt.
The Wildcats entered the half in an opposite manner of last week against Youngstown St. Out of Villanova’s 336 yards of total offense in the first half, only six were rushing.
Last week, throughout the entire game, Villanova rushed for 246 yards and passed for 90 yards.
The Wildcats received the ball to start the second half and returned to the run game. A pass for six yards kicked off the drive.
Redshirt freshman Isaiah Ragland sat in the backfield ready to cause damage. He took a handoff for 23 yards to push Villanova into Colgate’s territory. That set up a 25-yard pass from Watkins to junior Jaylan Sanchez, putting Villanova on the four-yard-line. Ragland took one final rush for a one-yard touchdown, ending Villanova’s first drive of the second half with a score. Villanova led 14-3.
That was not the end of Ragland. The CAA Offensive Rookie of the Week rushed for 58 yards on a team-leading 12 attempts and caught two passes for 10 yards. Ragland is the first player in Villanova history to earn league Rookie of the Week accolades in more than one season
After rushing for only six yards in the first half, Villanova ended the game with 132 rushing yards.
Smith found the end zone one more time following his 71-yard first-half touchdown. The grad transfer led the Wildcats in receptions and yards with 6 catches for 116 yards. It was Smith’s third career 100-yard receiving game.
On the other side of the ball, Villanova’s defense came up huge on multiple drives. Linebackers Shane Hartzell, Richie Kimmel and Brendan Bell combined for 21 tackles. Bell led the team in tackles with 10.
After Watkins ran in a late touchdown, Villanova led Colgate 28-3, with 3:59 left in the game. Colgate relied on the passing game to move the ball quickly down to Villanova’s 22-yard-line.
Colgate sophomore quarterback floated a pass to the corner of the endzone and Villanova safety Christian Sapp came away with the game-sealing interception.
Villanova improved to 2-0 after a strong second half.
The Wildcats will return home to play their first conference game of the season against Towson. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. The game will air on FloSports.
