STUDENT BODY RIGHT: A potent passing attack has long been the signature of Villanova football. Villanova's defense has only surrendered one touchdown in the fourth quarter thus far in 2002.

The fourth quarter has also been a time where the Wildcats have prospered. The 'Cats now own a 31-7 scoring advantage over their opponents in the opening period. Villanova broke out to a 7-0 lead when sophomore running back Terry Butler scored on a four yard run less than four minutes in to Saturday's game. The Wildcats have done exceptionally well in both departments in their 3-1 start. Villanova posted shut out Delaware 10-0 and downed Richmond 20-3 in that campaign.įAST STARTS AND STRONG FINISHES: Coaches love to have their squads break quickly from the gate and close with a flurry. The three points are the fewest a Villanova team has allowed in Atlantic Ten play since the 1996 season. 'It's nice to be able to give them a lift.' 'I think the offense is starting to feed off of us,' noted the senior. Young made another observation about the confidence that seems to be growing with regards to Villanova's defensive unit. 'Once we were comfortable with what they wanted to do, we were on our way.' 'We are still a real young team on defense so it took us a couple of quarters to get a feel for what they were doing,' said linebacker Jamison Young, who had one of those interceptions.

The Wildcats intercepted UNH quarterback Mike Granieri twice and sacked him on six other occasions. It really gave us an opportunity to have more possessions.' They do a lot of things that are tough to defend so I really think this game was won by our defense. In the three games they played prior to this they really piled up the yardage. Their offense has scored points against everybody. 'What's happened in the past - and those who have watched our games with New Hampshire have seen it - is that our defense was as porous as theirs, so it ended up being 52-51 or something like that. 'We went into this game with a pretty good feeling that we would be able to score,' said head coach Andy Talley. Villanova limited New Hampshire to 131 yards of total offense, including only 32 on the ground. Saturday, September 21, 2002, Villanova StadiumĭYNAMITE DEFENSE: It has been the story of the early weeks of the 2002 campaign and was again on a warm Saturday afternoon at Villanova Stadium.

The Mark of Cain by A.D. Seeley