Villanova too tough for Football

In their first meeting since 1980, Villanova stormed past the Quakers with little trouble in a 34-6 romp. Prior to Saturday, it had been 19 years since Penn and Villanova had last met on the football field. After the powerful passing display put on by the No. 14 Wildcats in their 34-6 win over the Quakers (1-1) this weekend, Penn may just want to wait another 19 years before challenging 'Nova on the gridiron again. "Until you look at the films, you don't know how you technically played," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "But I think that just from a casual observation, you can see why Villanova is the 14th-ranked team." Penn's secondary, for one, could definitely see why the Wildcats (3-1) came in as the favorite in this cross-town matchup -- Villanova quarterback Chris Boden was 33-for-43 passing for a school-record 424 yards, including two touchdowns. Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman, by comparison, completed only 14-of-28 passes for 108 yards in the loss. Any possible highlights for the Quakers, including the success of the team's rushing defense and two interceptions by freshman Travis Belden, were overshadowed by Boden and his endless corps of receivers. Nine Wildcats caught passes, and 18 of Boden's 33 completions went for 10 or more yards. Only three of Hoffman's 14 were of that length. "Coming into the game, we knew that their quarterback and their passing attack was their strong point," Penn defensive back Anthony DeSalle said. "And throughout the game we tried to disguise our defenses and coverages. We were in position to make some plays and sometimes we did and a lot of time we didn't, and that's what it came down to." Try as they might, though, the Quakers secondary just could not stop Boden's aerial assault. Behind 57 yards passing by Boden, Villanova moved easily down the field on its first possession. A 24-yard field goal staked the visitors to a 3-0 lead. The teams then proceeded to trade several punts and after one quarter, the stands remained full and the scoreboard remained stuck at 3-0. But then the second quarter came along, and the roof caved in for Penn. The first three plays of the quarter saw Boden hit three different receivers with passes, covering 87 yards and culminating with a Brian White touchdown reception. Needless to say, it would be a long day for the Quakers. "I thought we'd do OK versus the run but they were able to exploit [our secondary]," Bagnoli said. "They've got a kid [Boden] who's really a headache to play against? who knows where the ball should go and who throws it on time." But the most damaging point in the contest came later in the quarter. Down by seven, the Quakers were a beneficiary of a holding penalty that brought back another 'Nova passing touchdown. Penn's defense then held to force a punt and it appeared that the Quakers might be able to put together a drive before halftime. But on Penn's first offensive play of the series -- a screen pass to running back Mike Verille -- Hoffman threw directly into the hands of Villanova defensive end Joe Kearing, who ran it back 16 yards for a touchdown and a 17-3 lead. "It was pretty disappointing to throw a pick for a touchdown," Hoffman said. "I guess I didn't see him -- he just stepped right in front of it." "That's one of those plays in the game, where if you're Penn it's a backbreaker," Villanova coach Andy Talley said. "We weren't setting the world on fire at that time and I think that really hurt them because it was a cheap play -- it's not something that you worked hard to get." And things did not go any better on Penn's next two possessions. Penn running back Kris Ryan fumbled away the ball at the end of a 20-yard run to end one drive and Hoffman threw two incompletions to stall another. When the Wildcats took the opening kickoff of the second half and went 63 yards on five plays for yet another score, the stands began to empty. Not even a determined six-minute, 17-play drive by the Quakers -- which ended with a missed field goal -- could convince Penn fans to stay. This missed field goal, one of two on four attempts by Jason Feinberg, was symbolic of Penn's day. Offensively, the Quakers were shaky at best. Hoffman had several passes batted down at the line of scrimmage and was sacked twice. Ryan rushed for 81 yards but the rest of the Quakers running game could only amass 26 yards on 26 carries. And any Penn drive that remotely approached the end zone seemed to stall. "I thought we had a solid approach to what we were trying to do," Bagnoli said. "But when it came crunch time and we got down into the red zone and we had to make some third-down plays, I don't think it was anywhere near the efficiency that we had last week." Limited success was exactly what Villanova did not face on offense. Wide receiver Murle Sango had 10 receptions for 125 yards. And White pulled down six more catches for 78 yards despite throwing up on the sideline following a bone-rattling hit. "We have a ton of weapons and we're ready to use them," said Boden, who has now thrown for a touchdown in 28 straight games. Still, the Wildcat's offensive leader was less than beaming about his record-setting performance. "I had no idea about the passing record -- I was just pissed off at the three interceptions I threw," Boden said. The Quakers, however, only could manage a second-quarter field goal out of these turnovers. "Villanova did well on defense," Hoffman said. "They had some good athletes out there, but I didn't play well either, to account for part of what they were doing." Chalk Villanova's win up to the great play of Boden and his receivers. Or chalk Penn's loss up to the fact that this was only the Quakers' second game in 1999 -- as Talley suggested. Whatever it was, though, this meeting -- much like Villanova's 34-3 win in 1980 -- was thoroughly one-sided.

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