Last week, the Villanova Wildcats dominated the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on the road, winning 31-9. This Saturday, the Wildcats will return to the Main Line and look to improve to 3-0 against the Towson Tigers.

The Towson Tigers are currently 1-1, coming off a loss to FBS opponent, Wake Forest. The Tigers were thumped 51-20 by the Demon Deacons. However, the game began close, as the Tigers scored through the air twice in the first quarter. The Tiger defense could not keep up with the FBS competition, however, and the score quickly got out of hand as Wake Forest scored on four of their five second quarter drives. The Demon Deacons ran away with the game in the second half. 

The Towson offense is led by transfer quarterback, Tom Flacco. Flacco is the younger brother of Baltimore Ravens quarterback, Joe Flacco. Flacco is in his first season as a Tiger after graduating from Rutgers. Flacco is 12th in the FCS through two games with 590 passing yards, and he also leads the Tigers in rushing yards gained. Junior wide receiver Shane Leatherbury leads the team in receiving yards, with 181, including 88 off 8 catches against Wake Forest. The Towson offense has yet to show any real running threat outside of Flacco, as former CAA Rookie of the Year running back, Shane Simpson, is averaging only 2.6 yards per carry.

The Towson defense returned 6 starters from last year. Although they naturally looked weak against the FBS opponent Wake Forest, the defense looked strong against Morgan State in Week 1. In a 36-10 win, the Tigers let up only 170 yards of offense. The Tiger defense impressively held the Bears to only 1.8 yards per carry. However, it would be best to take these stats with a grain of salt; Morgan State went 1-10 in 2017 and had a offense which was only 65th nationally. The Tiger defense, so far, has been led by senior linebacker, Diondre Wallace. Wallace is certainly a premiere playmaker, as he had a sack and interception in Week 1, and led the team in tackles in Week 2 with 16. 

An injury-depleted Wildcat team easily defeated Towson last year, led to a 24-9 victory by backup quarterback Jack Schetelich. While one should not underestimate the playmaking ability of Tom Flacco, a healthier Wildcat team should be able to handle the Tigers just as easily as last year.