Villanova Wraps Up Season Saturday At Home Against Delaware
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Villanova Wildcats will wrap up their 2017 season on Saturday when they host rival Delaware in Colonial Athletic Association action.
The Wildcats are coming off a 20-6 road loss to Rhode Island last weekend. This was the fourth straight defeat for the 4-6 (2-5 CAA) Wildcats who have dealt with numerous key injuries and some bad breaks which have helped derailed a promising campaign. Despite it all, head coach Mark Ferrante says his team has given him everything it has.
"We've been battling," Ferrante tells KYW Newsradio. "Our guys have been great. They are a fun bunch to be around. I really feel for them. I feel mostly for the seniors because they don't get another opportunity.
"If we can pull out a victory this weekend it will help send us into the off-season feeling a little better," he adds.
To get that victory, the Wildcats will have to defeat a Delaware team that is playing good football. The Blue Hens are 7-3 (5-2 CAA) and chasing an FCS playoff berth.
"They are doing a great job on defense," Ferrante says. "They are turning [opponents] over. They are ground and pound, the old style way of doing things. They're not killing people in the passing game, although they can throw the ball and they have some good wide receivers, so you can't sleep on that part of it. But they're going to rotate three running backs through, they have a really good offensive line."
Ferrante says it should be a great match-up on Saturday.
"It's one of those rivalry games where people say it all the time, you can almost throw the records out the window," he says. "There's been years where we've not been very good but seemed find a way to go out there and get a victory and vice versa. Then there's other years, early on in this series, it almost felt like the game meant playoffs or not. And it may be that for them this year."
Villanova has dominated the rivalry in recent years. The Wildcats have won the last five match-ups in this series and ten of the last eleven. Last year, Villanova won 41-10 in Newark.
Saturday's game will kick off at 1:00pm at Villanova Stadium.
