Villanova linebacker Garrett Rogan is making his biggest plays at a critical time for the Wildcats

Garrett Rogan had spent his entire collegiate career, up until this past summer, as a safety. He only switched to the linebacker position in July after spending four years in the D-back role. Talk of a position change wasn’t exactly whispered, however.

“I mean, I was always a bigger safety and it’s funny because Coach [Forrest] Rhyne, a linebackers coach, was always joking about me being a linebacker in the long run and he always was like, ‘Come join me in individual drills’ and whatnot,” Rogan said. “He was sort of joking at first, but then it got obviously legitimate and real halfway through camp, which was tough at first mentally with the position being a whole lot different. All the run fits are different, all the pass responsibilities are different.”

Rogan has certainly shown the ability to adapt.

The graduate student and former walk-on had the game-sealing sack in last Saturday’s 24-18 win over No. 12 Lehigh, also recording a season-high 13 total tackles (11 solo) in the win. With three seconds to play, Lehigh stood at Villanova’s 2-yard line and needed a touchdown to force overtime or set up the game-winning extra point. That’s when Rogan was able to slip by Lehigh’s guard and sack quarterback Derek Morgan as time expired.

It was a win that kept the title hopes of the Wildcats (4-4, 3-2 Patriot League), currently in a four-way tie for second place in the conference, intact. Mark Ferrante’s team, which took down Fordham the previous week, is looking to continue its season turnaround on the road against Lafyette (3-4, 2-2 Patriot League) on Saturday (12:30 p.m., ESPN+).

“It was definitely a lot of motivation and hunger coming off the bye being 2-4, not having a game for another two weeks and going away at Fordham,” Rogan said about the momentum the team has. “So it was really, like, we dug deep and sort of came together and became a very hungry, motivated team those past two weeks.”

Hungry and motivated are descriptions that also fit Rogan well. The team leader has been around the ball frequently this season, logging 39 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss and an interception in addition to last week’s sack. The native of Mercer Island, Wash., says a lot of his love of the game comes from his father, Paul, who played defensive line and linebacker at Northern Illinois.

“My dad was a very good outside linebacker in college, and he sort of coached me and my brother when we were younger,” Rogan said. “And I always grew up watching football, so that got me really into it and wanting to play. And definitely him being a great player and teaching me the game and inspiring me definitely was the kickstart to me wanting to play football.”

Rogan, a former preferred walk-on who eventually earned a scholarship on the Main Line, is one of the few Wildcats historically to hail from the Pacific Northwest.

“We probably found out about him as he found out about us,” Ferrante recalled of Rogan’s recruitment. “And I think Villanova was one of the schools he was looking at. He came across [special teams coach] Matt [Colangelo’s] desk and Matt did a good job communicating with him through the process and staying in touch with him.”

Rogan emerged last season, playing in 15 games and tallying 33 tackles (25 solo) and three pass breakups for a team that fell one win short of playing for a FCS national championship.

This season, the Wildcats are in a spot where every game will determine whether they return to the postseason. With a win over Lafayette, the Nov. 7 home meeting with Patriot League leader Richmond (1 p.m., ESPN+) becomes more important.

Rogan says this Villanova team believes it still has much to achieve despite the early-season struggles.

“Faith is a huge thing in our program,” Rogan said. “We kept a lot of faith in each other and our coaches that we were going to turn this thing around and never really had a doubt that we can still go on a run.”