Villanova has only itself to blame after squandering a 10-point lead in the final minute vs. William & Mary

Seemingly everything that could have gone wrong for Villanova in the final minutes of its season opener did Friday night against William & Mary.

With less than a minute to play, the Wildcats led by 10 points and were staring down a win in their season opener, but a series of late-game mistakes paved the way for a collapse in the final seconds.

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The result was a messy 35-32 conference loss to begin Villanova’s inaugural Patriot League season 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 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.”

The Wildcats were plagued by penalties and mistakes against the Tribe.

“We gave them free yardage,” Ferrante said. “We set ourselves backward 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 going to 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 22 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 noted 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 going to be a lot of correctables.”

Villanova ranked 108th in the FCS last season in penalty yards.

In addition to the penalties and four turnovers, Villanova failed to recover a crucial onside kick that would have iced the game. After William & Mary tied the game following the onside kick, Villanova quarterback Pat McQuaide was picked off with 9 seconds left to set up the Tribe’s walk-off field goal.

After a summer-long battle over his eligibility, McQuaide started for Villanova.

Hours before kickoff, 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 [Friday],” 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 weeks after the Patriot League informed Villanova that it was deeming McQuaide ineligible for conference games.

McQuaide led Villanova to an FCS semifinal playoff appearance last season and threw for 3,123 yards and 25 touchdowns.

On Friday, McQuaide threw for 270 yards and one touchdown, and had three interceptions. McQuaide threw just four interceptions all season in 2025.

Villanova will prepare for back-to-back road games, beginning with a Patriot League contest against Bucknell on Sept. 5 (6 p.m., ESPN+). The Wildcats then will travel to Kentucky for an FBS matchup against Louisville on Sept. 11.