On Saturday, Sept. 20, No. 11 Villanova football fell to No. 18 Monmouth, 51-33, in West Long Branch, NJ. The defeat in front of a sold-out Kessler Stadium put them at 1-2 on the season, and Monmouth at 3-1.
The game, marking the start of Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play, was Villanova’s (1-2, 0-1 CAA) fourth time facing conference rival Monmouth (3-1, 1-0 CAA). The Wildcats have yet to win a game against the Hawks.
Villanova graduate quarterback Pat McQuaide threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns, while also surpassing 5,000 career passing yards. Two hundred and twenty of those yards came in the second half of the game.
Sophomore running back David Avit played his best football of the season so far, rushing for 135 yards on 18 carries and racking up three touchdowns.
Freshman wide receiver Brandon Reed had four catches for 71 yards, and redshirt freshman wide receiver Brandon Binkowski scored a touchdown. Graduate wide receiver Luke Coella recorded a career-high nine catches for 117 yards.
Senior linebacker Shane Hartzell notched his first double-digit tackle game of the season with a game-high 10 stops. Hartzell also recorded Villanova’s only sack of the game. Senior safety Christian Sapp and redshirt freshman Anthony Hawkins had seven tackles each.
By the end of the first quarter, Monmouth grabbed an early lead with a score of 17-7, as their defense held Villanova scoreless for 25 minutes and 11 seconds straight. About halfway through the second quarter, the Hawks extended their lead to a crushing 31-7. Villanova answered back with a touchdown from David Avit with 49 seconds remaining in the half. It headed into the locker room with a score of 31-14.
Avit continued his streak in the opening minutes of the third quarter with a touchdown to cut their deficit to 10 points. Monmouth then scored back-to-back touchdowns to go up 45-21. Avid struck one more time with three minutes to go with a touchdown off a two-yard rush.
Unfortunately, his efforts were not enough to keep the Wildcats in it. A four-yard rushing touchdown from Monmouth’s Rodney Nelson sealed the deal with 10 minutes to go.
This is the first time since 1952 that Villanova has given up 50 or more points in consecutive games. Additionally, Monmouth ran for 240 total yards and set the record for most first downs (34) allowed by the Wildcats in a single game. The Wildcats were also penalized 13 times throughout the game, totaling 124 yards.
Monmouth totaled 637 total offensive yards compared to Villanova’s 498. The Hawks tallied four sacks for 23 yards.
Villanova will return home next weekend to face No. 3 William & Mary (2-2, 1-0 CAA) on Saturday, Sept. 27 (FloSports, 3:30 p.m.). It is Family Weekend for the Wildcats.
