Villanova football extends a couple of streaks and makes history in its season-opening win over Colgate

Villanova stretched its home winning streak to 17 games with a 24-17 win over Colgate on Saturday night.

In its ninth consecutive season-opening win, the Wildcats (1-0) battled it out with the Raiders (0-2) for the final time as nonconference opponents. Villanova is moving to the Patriot League next season.

“Well, being 1-0 is definitely better than the alternative, so we’re really happy and excited about that,” Wildcats coach Mark Ferrante said. “We’ll enjoy the victory tonight, look at it tomorrow, make corrections, and move on to get ready for the next.”

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Nicholls State graduate transfer Pat McQuaide took over Villanova’s offense after longtime quarterback Connor Watkins graduated. McQuaide wasted no time putting his mark on the program. His 299 passing yards marked the most by a Villanova quarterback in their first start, passing Watkins’ record of 298 yards.

The decision to name McQuaide the starter came after a summer-long battle between him and junior Tanner Maddox.

And he put on a show.

Late in the first quarter, McQuiade completed a 51-yard pass to graduate receiver Luke Colella to set up a 1-yard run by redshirt sophomore Isaiah Ragland for the first points of the season.

On the following scoring drive, McQuaide ran for a 28-yard rushing touchdown to stretch Villanova’s lead to 14-0 with 10 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first half.

McQuaide completed 18 of his 28 pass attempts (64%), including seven for seven in the first quarter. He also rushed for 41 yards on three carries. As a team, Villanova finished with 416 total yards to Colgate’s 350.

“It’s not a reflection of me,” McQuaide said. “The offensive line is incredible. I don’t think there was a sack. The stats go to me, which they shouldn’t, because that was those guys that did the work.”

This offseason, Villanova lost notable talent from its secondary, including Isas Waxter, Tyrell Mims, Brendan Bell, Ty Trinh, and Jalen Goodman.

The Wildcats also were missing graduate linebacker Richie Kimmel because of injury, so they knew they’d have work to do.

They combined for 61 tackles and eight pass breakups.

“We’re young back there, so I knew we’d taken a few lumps,” Ferrante said. “But they’re pretty athletic. There are a couple other places where, to their credit, we had [Colgate] covered pretty well, but their guy came down with the ball. So we got to do a better job at punching up through the ball or pulling the wrist down, and not letting him grab the ball with two hands. We got the stops and we needed them in the fourth quarter, and we were able to secure the victory.”

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Despite shutting out Colgate in the fourth quarter, both of the Raiders’ touchdowns came on passes longer than 20 yards. That includes Zach Osborne’s 24-yard toss to Winston Moore, which tied the game, 17-17, late in the third quarter.

Sophomore defensive back Zahmir Dawud, a preseason all-conference honoree who had two pass breakups and three tackles, went down with a leg injury in the second half.

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A new season means new players are stepping up.

Returning for his second season, graduate receiver Lucas Kopecky is poised to take a large role for the Wildcats this season. Kopecky, a former Villanova lacrosse player, was granted a final season of eligibility. He hauled in a 56-yard touchdown with 52 seconds left in the third quarter to put the Wildcats on top for good and caught five passes for 98 yards.

Opposite of Kopecky, Princeton graduate transfer Luke Colella was another bright spot.

Colella had 562 yards on 43 catches last season, and, in his first game as a Wildcat, he led the way with 124 yards on five catches.

“It feels like I’ve known a lot of these guys forever,” Colella said. “Just the chemistry there is on this team, and props to Coach Ferrante for building such a special culture here where guys like myself and Pat can come in and feel like immediately a part of the family.”

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With a win under its belt, Villanova will travel to State College, Pa., next Saturday (3:30 p.m., FS1) to take on No. 2 Penn State (2-0) for the first time since September 2021. Villanova is 3-4-1 all-time against Penn State.