Villanova’s final act, Penn State’s playing for something, and meet the football champs on the Main Line

When Villanova, which is on a six-game winning streak, hosts Stony Brook on Saturday (1 p.m., FloCollege), it will mark the end of a successful era.

The Wildcats are leaving the Coastal Athletic Association for the Patriot League next season. Before Saturday, though, here’s a look at some accolades Villanova has achieved in the CAA since the conference took over management of football from the Atlantic 10 in 2007:

With a win Saturday, Mark Ferrante would finish with a 7-1 record in conference play for the third time in the last five years. And his Wildcats (7-2, 6-1 CAA) have been red-hot since losing their conference opener to Monmouth on Sept. 20, rattling off six straight CAA wins to put themselves in position for an at-large bid in the FCS playoffs.

Winning their last two regular-season games against Stony Brook (5-5, 3-3) and Sacred Heart (7-3) likely would clinch the program’s third straight playoff berth, which hasn’t been done since a run from 2008 to 2010.

The Wildcats have leaned heavily on the running game, averaging 200.3 yards during the winning streak. Princeton transfer Luke Colella has become quarterback Pat McQuaide’s favorite target, catching all five of his touchdowns in three of the last four games.

The Wildcats also rank 19th in FCS time of possession (31 minutes, 48 seconds per game).

The defense has allowed just 15.3 points during the winning streak after Monmouth scored 51 points on the Wildcats in September.

There is still plenty left for Penn State to play for, and that starts with Saturday’s game at Michigan State (3:30 p.m., CBS3).

This rivalry dates back to 1914, and, coincidentally, the schools opened their doors within 10 days of each other in 1855. When Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993, the teams became designated rivals (until 2023), and former Michigan State coach George Perles and Penn State coach Joe Paterno helped design the Land Grant Trophy, which has been presented to the winner of the last 27 matchups.

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The Nittany Lions (3-6, 0-6 Big Ten) have won four of the last five against Michigan State and lead the series, 19-18-1. The programs last met in 2023, and the Nittany Lions trounced the Spartans, 42-0, at Detroit’s Ford Field.

Mel Tucker was fired two games into that season, and the teams will meet one month after Penn State dismissed James Franklin after his 12-plus seasons at the helm.

The Nittany Lions have come close to winning during their six-game losing streak, falling by three or fewer points in half of those games. Michigan State (3-6, 0-6) has lost by double digits in five of its six conference games.

Michigan State’s defense ranks 129th nationally in opposing completion rate (67.9%), 114th in scoring defense (31.4 points), and allows two rushing touchdowns per game. The Nittany Lions offense, which has struggled throughout the season, should find success in East Lansing, Mich.

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291: Former Villanova and Eagles running back Brian Westbrook had a single-game rushing record that stood until last Saturday. On Nov. 10, 2001, Westbrook rushed for 287 yards on 26 carries against Hofstra. That record lasted nearly 24 years, until Villanova running back Ja’briel Mace rushed for 291 yards on 28 carries with four touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 28-10 win over Towson.

🏈 Will Eastern University finish its season strong this weekend? We’ve been covering this team since September and every week we’re touting another W. In the Eagles’ latest, a 28-7 rout of FDU-Florham at home on senior day, Eastern (8-1, 7-1 Middle Atlantic Conference) captured a share of the conference title. The Eagles will play their regular-season finale on the road Saturday against Stevenson (1 p.m., watch live) in Owings Mills, Md. It’s particularly impressive when you realize that this is the team’s third season as a varsity program.

🏈 What is Temple doing during this bye week to ensure it puts its best foot forward against Tulane next Saturday? A victory would be the team’s sixth this season, making the Owls bowl eligible for the first time since 2019. But it’s been dangling like a carrot for nearly three weeks as the team hasn’t picked up a win since an overtime thriller against Tulsa on Oct. 25. A win against the Green Wave, or North Texas in the Nov. 28 regular-season finale, would be huge, considering both are among the top teams in the conference.

» READ MORE: Temple can still make a bowl game, but heading into the bye week it’s about ‘moving forward’

🏈 Can Matt Zollers get his first win at Missouri since taking over for the injured Beau Pribula two weeks ago? After a pair of losses to nationally ranked teams in back-to-back weeks, the Spring-Ford graduate has a good chance to do so at home against unranked Mississippi State, whose defense is ranked No. 14 in the 16-team Southeastern Conference, giving up 26.3 points per game.

No. 10 Texas at No. 5 Georgia (7:30 p.m., 6abc)

It’s been a roller-coaster season for Arch Manning and Texas, but the team found itself back in the running to become one of 12 teams in this year’s expanded College Football Playoff after falling out of the Associated Press Top 25 just a few weeks earlier. The Longhorns get another big test this weekend against the No. 5 Bulldogs, who are 6.5-point favorites at home in a rematch of last year’s SEC championship game.

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