Last Saturday, freshman running back David Avit broke a 46-year-old Villanova record for most rushing yards by a freshman in a game. In the 42–24 win over Stony Brook, Avit rushed for 183 yards and four touchdowns on 13 carries, topping Pat O’Brien’s 173-yard performance against Delaware on Oct. 15, 1977.
Along with this record setting performance, Avit was named as Stats Perform FCS National Freshman Player of the Week and earned CAA Rookie of the Week for the second week in a row.
Avit, a true freshman from Potomac, Maryland, has been a feature in the Wildcats’ backfield in the past two games. He rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries against LIU. Avit’s preparedness to contribute early in his career stems from a youth-football desire to be the one with the ball.
“I remember playing pretty young, it was first or second grade,” Avit said. “At the time, quarterbacks really couldn’t throw the ball because we were so young. So the person who would always get the ball was the running back. I wanted to play running back because I thought I would always get the ball.”
Avit’s mentality carried him to great heights during his career at Winston Churchill High School. He finished his career with 3,841 rushing yards, setting a new benchmark for the team. He was also named 2023 Maryland 4A Player of the Year and Montgomery County Offensive Player of the Year after his senior season.
Even before his successful senior year, Villanova saw recruiting potential in Avit.
“I was most involved with the early recruitment of [Avit] in his junior year,” Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante said. “He was a guy that we just liked from junior film. And when you see him in person, he’s pretty young in age, but he’s pretty physically gifted and talented in size at six-foot [and] 225 pounds. I really thought he was a great student, a great player, but also a good person.”
Villanova was the first program to extend a scholarship offer to Avit on June 5, 2023. Avit, who was an unranked recruit, was impressed by the Wildcats’ early interest in him. He committed to Villanova over other FCS offers and offers from FBS programs Akron, South Florida and Navy.
“I really liked [Ferrante],” Avit said. “My dad was trying to convince me to go to Villanova for a really long time. I was pretty on and off about it. But, towards the end, I thought, ‘Well, the coaches have been here for a long time and really want me to come here, so it must be a good spot for me.’”
As Saturday’s game shows, Avit’s decision to join the Wildcats has proven to be a good one. While the offense struggled early against Stony Brook, Avit was able to bring the Wildcats back from behind. He scored three touchdowns across 13:28 of game time spanning the third and fourth quarters to bring the ‘Cats from a 10-point deficit to an 11-point lead.
“At halftime I was just looking at myself in the mirror like, ‘Man, we’re down, and this team is not better than us,’” Avit said. “I really just talked with my [offensive line] and they said, ‘David, just be patient. It’s going to be there.’ So I just had to put my trust in them because I knew they were going to do their jobs. And [they] did a great job because the holes were open, and that’s just a testament to them.”
Two of Avit’s second-half touchdown runs came from the ‘Cats own half of the field. Avit punched in a 59-yard run with 3:47 remaining in the third to give the Wildcats their first lead of the day. On the ‘Cats’ second drive of the fourth, Avit rushed up the middle for a 72-yard touchdown.
“Our motto is ‘Tap the Rock,’ so we just kept tapping the rock and persevered through the ups and downs,” Ferrante said. “And for [Avit] to hit those long runs in the third and fourth quarter just broke the game wide open with those explosive plays. I’m just proud of the way the whole team, offense, defense, and special teams hung in there, didn’t get down on themselves, didn’t get down on each other.”
Even with Avit’s record setting performance, there are still areas for the freshman to improve.
“We just want consistency with everybody,” Ferrante said. “ [Avit] still has some things to learn in the pass game and pass protection aspect of a running back. What we need [Avit] to do is just to stay humble and stay consistent, and come out each week with the same preparation that he’s had these last two weeks.”
Villanova is 5-1 this season, with FBS Maryland as its only loss. The ‘Cats are 2-0 in Coastal Athletic Association play, but have faced some early scares. A missed field goal against Towson and an explosive second half against Stony Brook, spearheaded by Avit, prevented the ‘Cats from stumbling in their quest for a CAA crown. The team thinks that if it can produce a complete effort for the remainder of the season, a CAA title will follow.
“We’re a team that likes to start off slow and turn up later in the game or we’ll turn up early and start to get slower,” Avit said. “We just got to play one hundred percent intensity the entire game, and I don’t think there’s anybody who can beat us.”
