Villanova has only itself to blame after squandering a 10-point lead in the final minute vs. William & Mary
The Wildcats, who led 32-22 with 58 seconds left, were at the center of one of the most embarrassing collapses you will ever see in Friday's season-opening loss.
Of all the things that could have gone wrong for Villanova in the final minutes of its season opener, everything did.
With just 58 seconds left to play, Villanova led William & Mary by 10 points and was staring down a win in its season opener, but a series of late-game mistakes paved the way for an epic collapse in the final seconds.
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The end result was Villanova (0-1, 0-1 Patriot League) began its inaugural Patriot League season with a messy 35-32 loss to conference foe William & Mary (1-0, 1-0 Patriot League) after the Tribe’s Max Lipinski hit a game-winning 45-yard field goal as time expired.
“We made a lot more mistakes than they did,” Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante said. “Turnovers, penalties, never comes down to one play, but unfortunately it came down to one play. And [William & Mary] played a cleaner game than we did, so they deserve the victory.”
Self-inflicted wounds
Villanova’s loss to William & Mary was largely due to self-inflicted errors. The Wildcats were terrorized by penalties and their own mistakes against the Tribe .
“We gave them free yardage,” Ferrante said. “We set ourselves backwards a few times. And then turnovers, I don’t care who you’re playing, if you lose the turnover battle four to one, you’re probably gonna lose the game, especially when you have a team that’s the caliber of William & Mary.”
The Wildcats racked up 15 penalties for 107 yards, while William & Mary was penalized just three times for 24 yards.
“No matter what you do, no matter how good your scout team performs during the week, they never are able to execute the opponent’s schemes as fast as the opponent is able to execute their schemes,” Ferrante said. “So we do the best we can in our preparation. And I don’t know, they had three big plays over the top. Eliminate those three big plays, it’s probably a whole different ballgame. But again, it doesn’t come down to just those three big plays.”
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Ferrante also had a moment of self-accountability, noting that his coaching decisions changed the outcome of the game.
“Maybe I should have gone for the field goal instead of the first down when we were down two. Maybe we got to recover an onside kick. So it’s a lot of things that build into it. We’ll grow off of this, that’s for sure. But there’s gonna be a lot of correctables.”
Villanova ranked 112th in the FCS last season in penalties.
In addition to the penalties, Villanova had four turnovers and failed to recover a crucial onside kick that would have iced the game with under a minute to play. After William & Mary tied the game following the onside kick, Patrick McQuaide was picked off with nine seconds left to set up the Tribe’s walk-off field goal.
Patrick plays
After a summer-long battle over his eligibility, McQuaide suited up for Villanova in its season opener as its starting quarterback.
Hours before kickoff Friday, a Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court judge granted a preliminary injunction that named the Patriot League as a defendant, clearing McQuaide to be eligible for league contests.
» READ MORE: Villanova quarterback Pat McQuaide allowed to suit up after court ruling
“Yeah, we found out today,” Ferrante said when asked about the court decision. “And once we found out, there really was no hesitation. I mean, if it was 6 o’clock and a 6:03 kickoff, he probably would have rolled out there. If it was two hours before, if it was yesterday, yeah. The plan was, get the other guys reps. But if it happens, we’ll roll Pat out there. And he’s had a lot of practice under his belt.”
The injunction came after the Patriot League informed Villanova on Aug. 3 that it was deeming McQuaide ineligible for conference games.
McQuaide led Villanova to an FCS semifinal playoff appearance last season, throwing for 3,123 yards and 25 touchdowns.
In his return, McQuaide threw for 270 yards and one touchdown, while tossing three interceptions. Last season, McQuaide threw only four interceptions the entire season in 2025 (two in the regular season).
Up next
Villanova will prepare for back-to-back games on the road, beginning with a Patriot League contest against Bucknell on Sept. 5 (6 p.m., ESPN+). The Wildcats will then travel for an FBS matchup against Louisville.