Villanova is still searching for its identity. Mark Ferrante believes the pieces are coming together.
Ferrante emphasized that each year brings a different team, but it took until this point in the season for last year’s group to click. He believes a similar trajectory will follow this weekend.
Villanova is off to a similar start as last season following a blowout loss to No. 23 Louisville.
But compared to last year, when Penn State trounced Villanova, 52-6, coach Mark Ferrante expressed some positives to build on entering Saturday’s matchup at Long Island University (12 p.m., NEC Front Row).
“This year, we seemed to be more competitive in the front end of the game,” Ferrante said of Villanova’s 59-13 loss to the Cardinals. “I think that will pay dividends down the road. I think our guys have gained confidence knowing that we could drive the ball down the field on our opening drive and put points on the board against a team like Louisville.
“You just got to do it more consistently, and you got to do it for four quarters so that’s really the learning curve.”
For Ferrante, that starts with his teams approach and execution in practice.
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After turnovers and penalties plagued the Wildcats in their season-opening loss to William & Mary, Ferrante turned his focus to reducing the “mental penalties” in practice. They have since allowed 12 penalties and committed one turnover across their past two games.
“If there’s going to be penalties, you want them to be aggressive ones during the play, not the pre- or post-snap penalties,” Ferrante said. “Those are some things we emphasize in practice and we have improved in that area. We’d like to create a few more turnovers in our favor, so we can steal a possession or two during the course of the game.”
As the turnovers and penalties have lessened, Villanova’s offense has improved. Graduate quarterback Pat McQuaide and rushing duo in juniors Ja’briel Mace and Isaiah Ragland “keep getting better each and every week,” Ferrante said.
“No matter how many guys you got coming back from a previous year or how many you lost, it’s never going to be the same. Each team has to find its own identity, I think this team is still searching for it a little bit.”
He noted that around this time last season is when his team started to click. He feels confident about the direction this year’s Wildcats are heading and believes they are getting to a similar place.
“We were already in preseason practice when McQuaide joined us, so he missed the first couple [of] days, there was a little catch up there, but I’m sure it’s got to affect your mental psyche a little bit,” Ferrante said. “But now that he’s been here, and August camp into the first three games, now we need to see the continual and steady progress.”
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Beyond the offense, Ferrante has been satisfied with special teams. Dominic LeBlanc has been perfect on field goals and PATs since transferring into the program this offseason, while sophomore Luke Myers has been impressive since taking over punting duties.
“He’s been doing a really nice job, he gets the ball out quick,” Ferrante said. “He averaged 44 yards a punt against Louisville, the unfortunate part is he had too many opportunities to go out against Louisville. We like to keep him off the field a little more than we did, but he did a great job.”
Heading into LIU, Ferrante emphasized that his defense needs to have patience and discipline.
“Don’t let the stuff around you get your eyes caught somewhere else, and all of a sudden, you’re not where you need to be,” Ferrante said. “I think this week especially, you can say it every week, but this week especially, how they maneuver the pieces that they have on the field around, we have to have really good discipline with our eyes and then just do your 111, play your assignment to the best of your ability.”
