The No. 5 Villanova Wildcats (5-2, CAA 3-1). will host the University of Richmond Spiders (2-

2, CAA 4-3). Last week, the Spiders took care of business by defeating the Towson Tigers 28-6

in a CAA football contest. The Spiders could not be stopped on the ground rushing for a season

high 237 yards. And they did it all while ten regulars out with injury and their fourth-string

quarterback at the helm. Richmond comes ready to battle Villanova after their first consecutive

wins of the season.

Richmond on Offense

The game was Richmond’ s second consecutive game starting true freshman Montel White at

quarterback. He didn’ t pass much, only throwing for 73 yards on 7 of 10 passing. His single

touchdown pass was a three yard toss to tight end Kevin Finney. Instead, Richmond’ s offense

was focused on the rush, running the wildcat formation on many occasions. Sophomore running

back Kendall Gaskins led the way by scoring a touchdown in his first career 100 yard rushing

game. Redshirt freshman Jovan Smith finished with 76 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown in

the victory. The Spiders also received contributions on offense from kicker Wil Kamin despite

missing on two PATs. He added three field goals with the longest coming from 45 yards out.

Richmond was sure handed with the ball, committing no turnovers on the day.

Villanova on Offense

Senior back Matt Szczur sat out for the fourth consecutive game with an ankle sprain. Amidst his

absence, the ‘ Cats relied on two thrown touchdowns. Quarterback Chris Whitney found targets

in receivers Norman White and Mikey Reynolds for both touchdown scores. Aaron Ball finished

with 55 yards on 13 carries. Ball’ s performance on Saturday was good enough to push his career

total to 2,571 career yards. He now sits number two on Villanova’ s all time rusher list behind

Brian Westbrook’ s untouchable 4,499 yards. The first ranked offense in the CAA only managed

368 yards of total offense on the afternoon.

Richmond on Defense

Richmond’ s defense forced a season high four turnovers against Towson. They have only

allowed three offensive touchdowns in the last three games. When Towson scored in the third

quarter last week, it marked the first touchdown surrendered by Richmond in 60 minutes of

play. The Spiders are led by senior All-American defensive tackle Martin Parker. He led the way

with a team high 12 tackles and 1.5 sacks. The Spiders roughed up Towson’ s quarterback with a

season high five sacks. Also making contributions were sophomore linebacker Darius McMillan

who had 9 tackles. Ironman linebacker Eric McBride, added to his longest active streak in the

CAA by making his 50th consecutive start for the Spiders.

Villanova on Defense

Last week, the ‘ Cats relied on a James Pitts interception in the end zone on the last play of the

game to preserve the 14-7 victory. Villanova’ s efforts held JMU to300 yards of offense. Coach

Talley will prepare his ‘ Cats on Richmond’ s ground oriented attack.

The Wildcats are now winners of 14 in a row at home. Even without Szczur, Villanova is still a

top five team. Expect Villanova to roll against an injury plagued Richmond squad.