Villanova Returns From Bye To Host William & Mary Saturday
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It has been a while since we've seen the Villanova University football team in game action.
The Wildcats last played way back on September 24th, a Thursday night, when they lost at home to Penn, 24-13, to fall to 2-2 on the season. That was followed by a bye week, so the Wildcats should be well rested when they welcome William and Mary to the Main Line on Saturday.
"There's no questions we had a great two weeks to be able to prepare for William and Mary," Villanova head coach Andy Talley tells KYW Newsradio. "We have a chance to give our quarterback, Zach Bednarczyk, some reps and get him prepared with a two week game plan. And we had a chance to get some of our guys healthy in the offensive line. Ethan Greenidge, our big tackle, is back now and I think that these guys up front are ready to give a good performance."
Listen to the entire interview with Villanova's Andy Talley
Bednarczyk is taking over the offense for injured senior quarterback John Robertson. He is a redshirt freshman who made his first start in that game against Penn, completing 18 of 31 passes for 185 yards. He threw a touchdown and was intercepted once. He also rushed for 23 yards.
That Penn loss was also the final non-league game for the Wildcats. From here on out it is all Colonial Athletic Association action, starting with Saturday's match-up with the Tribe.
"This is where all these teams in the CAA are going to find out what they're made of," Talley says. "This is a very difficult game for us, and we have seven of them in a row."
The Wildcats are 1-0 in the CAA. They beat Delaware 28-21 back on September 19th.
William and Mary is also 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the CAA. The Tribe is coming off a 24-23 loss on the road at Delaware last time out. The Blue Hens scored the game's final 10 points in the 4th quarter to grab the victory.
"They are really good," Talley says. "Stacked. They have a great running back in (Mikal) Abdul-Saboor, not sure if he's going to play, he didn't play against Delaware (last week). I have a feeling he's going to be ready for us. It's a must game for William and Mary. It's a must game for us, for sure. Our games with William and Mary have been wire jobs, right down to the last series. It was last year (35-31 Villanova win). I think with Zach schemed up a little bit more, this should be a terrific game."
Villanova and William and Mary will kickoff at noon on Saturday at Villanova Stadium.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
