Villanova Wildcats
Overall Rank: #28
#6 Colonial
Villanova Team Page
2010 Record: (9-5, 5-3)
2010 Postseason: FCS Playoffs
Coach: Andy Talley (188-107-1 at Villanova, 216-125-2 overall)
Returning Leaders:
Rushing: Lawrence Doss, RB, 182 yards
Passing: Christian Culicerto, QB, 17 yards
Receiving: Norman White, WR, 886 yards
Tackles: James Pitts, CB, 84
Sacks: Rakim Cox, DE, 2.0
Interceptions: James Pitts, CB, 3
It has been a fun three year run for Villanova, but now it time to find out if the Wildcats will continue to be a major competitor in the CAA or fall back into the middle of the pack, or worse. Redshirt freshman Dustin Thomas is expected to take over the quarterback duties. Replacing Chris Whitney, who was a four year starter and passed for 6,241 yards and rushed for 2,450 more during his career, will be impossible. However, Thomas is a quality quarterback and could be a surprise player in the conference this year.
Strengths:
Having a great group of wide receivers to work with will certainly make Thomas’ job easier. Norman White caught 69 passes for 886 yards and 11 scores last season. Dorian Wells was the other favorite target and he was second behind White in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns. The offensive line will miss the services of Ben Ijalana, but the unit is pretty experienced and should not have too much of a drop off, if any, and the line will once again pave the way for a solid offense. The line on the other side of the ball is full of potential. Rakim Cox is just a sophomore, but the defensive end had a fine freshman campaign and could turn into Nova’s big time pass rushing threat. Former end and fellow sophomore Antoine Lewis will move to the nose guard position for 2011. That would put junior Marlon Johnson at the other end spot and give the Wildcats a very big and strong line. The secondary should also be a strength for Villanova. Cornerback James Pitts is the experienced senior of the group and Eric Loper is a quality cover corner with starting experience. Coach Andy Talley will have to find a couple new safeties, but he has two of the best corners in the conference.
Weaknesses:
The problem for the defense will be at linebacker where all three starters are gone. Anthony Johnson, Marquis Kirkland and Terence Thomas were a key component to stuffing the run. Kirkland not only led the team in tackles, but he also tallied 4.5 sacks and 15.0 tackles-for-loss. He even picked off two passes and recovered a couple of fumbles. Replacing Kirkland alone would be an issue, but replacing the entire linebacker corps is going to cause a lot of problems for the defense even if the line and the secondary are much improved. The problem on offense is in the running game. Aaron Ball, Angelo Babbaro and multi-purpose threat Matt Szczur are all gone. Ball rushed for 794 yards and five scores, while Babbaro added 528 yards and five more touchdowns. Quarterback Whitney was a good rusher too and he ran into the end zone 13 times. That is why Villanova was the best rushing team in the CAA. Lawrence Doss is the most experienced running back returning and he rushed for just 182 yards on 186 carries during his junior campaign. At 5-7 and 185 pounds, Doss will not be able to handle the load on his own and some other backs will need to emerge this fall.
The Bottom Line:
Coach Talley will have this team back in the playoff picture sooner or later, but his team lost too much talent to compete in the CAA week in and week out. In 2010 he had 13 senior starters. Not only is this team pretty young, but even many of the upperclassmen have limited experience. There is potential if Thomas can run the offense effectively and the defense can find a playmaker or two at the linebacker spots. With the help of talented lines on both sides of the ball, Villanova will not fall too far in 2011.
Projected Postseason: none
2010 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 194.86 (20th in nation, 1st in conference)
Passing Offense: 175.14 (75, 6)
Total Offense: 370.00 (43, 3)
Scoring Offense: 30.79 (22, 1)
Rushing Defense: 99.57 (7, 1)
Pass Defense: 224.64 (85, 8)
Total Defense: 324.21 (34, 5)
Scoring Defense: 19.21 (19, 5)
Turnover Margin: .64 (21, 4)
Sacks: 1.43 (84, 6)
Sacks Allowed: 2.00 (64, 8)
Madness FCS Football Recruit Rankings:
#9 Jamal Abdur-Rahman
#24 Morgan Craig
#34 Dillon Lucas
#45 Chris Polony
#63 Patrick Williams
#72 Corey Majors
#101 John Robertson
