Penn Readies For Annual Match-Up With Villanova
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Penn Quakers won't have to travel far for their second game of the season. On Thursday night, they'll head to the Main Line for a match-up with the Villanova Wildcats.
Penn opened its season this past Saturday with a 41-21 loss to Lehigh in Ray Priore's debut as head coach.
"We took some positives out of (the game)," Priore tells KYW Newsradio. "Obviously, some things to draw back from. The positives were we played some young talented players - (defensive back) Mason Williams, Jay Cammon our running back. First time starters at linebacker, Colton Moskal and Nick Miller, all which had productive days. Christian Pearson is a wide receiver (caught a 45 yard TD pass). That was a positive thing. They acclimated themselves pretty well to the early fight."
Listen to the entire interview with Penn's Ray Priore:
Penn sophomore quarterback Alek Torgersen had a big day in defeat against Lehigh, throwing for 336 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Now, on Thursday, the Quakers will not be facing Villanova's fine senior quarterback John Robertson. He is out indefinitely after suffering a knee injury last weekend against Delaware. But Priore still expects a lot out of the Villanova offense.
"Obviously, Robertson is a talented player," Priore says. "The young quarterback (redshirt freshman Zach Bednarczyk) comes in last week and right then and there he leads them right to a scoring drive. He then scrambles for 25 yards, everything that Mr. Robertson had done in his career. So I think they'll jump right into it."
Priore is also very impressed with the Villanova defense.
"They run the 3-3 stack to perfection," Priore says. "And they have some really, really talented players all around, mostly up front. They have three guys that can really bring the rush."
This is a tough match-up for the Quakers, but Priore says they'll give it everything they have.
"Obviously I think you have to draw upon what your strengths are," Priore says. "Try to find and pick their weaknesses. I think ball control is a huge part of the game. You've got to keep the ball out of their hands, so we have to eat up time on the clock that way. And keeping our mistakes to a minimum will be huge. When we've done our best playing against Villanova, it's when we've been able to control the ball and try to play for that last shot going down the line."
Penn and Villanova will kickoff at 7:00pm.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
