RADNOR — Harvard’s first foray into the Division I Football Championships didn’t go well Saturday. Villanova’s offense saw to that.
The Wildcats rampaged out of the gates, led by 31 points at halftime and punished Harvard’s every miscue in a 52-7 win in the first round of the FCS playoffs.
Pat McQuaide threw for three touchdowns and ran for one.
Villanova ran up 512 yards of total offense, with 319 on the ground led by Isaiah Ragland (17 carries for a career-high 152 yards) and Ja’briel Mace (18 for 88). McQuaide hit Lucas Kopecky (30 yards), Luke Colella (29 yards) and Antonio Johnson (8 yards) for TDs on the way to 193 yards on 14-for-22 through the air.
Villanova’s defense limited Harvard to 213 yards of offense. It caused three turnovers, with interceptions by Newton Essiem and Christian Sapp.
The win sends No. 12 seed Villanova to next Saturday’s second round against No. 5 Lehigh.
The Crimson (9-2) was playing its first postseason game since the 1920 Rose Bowl, in the first year of Ivy League participation in this tournament. It didn’t seem quite ready for the moment.
“All the credit goes to Villanova,” said head coach Andrew Aurich, who added an apology to his fellow Ancient Eight mates for the effect their performance may have the league’s ability to earn two bids in the future. “They completely dominated us. They dominated us up front. They dominated us on the back end, both sides of the ball. Early in the game, when it is actually close enough, they made plays in critical situations. We were in similar ones. We didn’t make the plays.
“When a team executes at the level they were executing, and a team like us doesn’t execute at the level we were not executing, that’s when you end up with a score like we had today.”
It’s the third straight year and fourth in the last five that Villanova has won a first-round playoff game. It has won a game in the postseason in 11 of its last 13 FCS playoff trips. Saturday was the 23rd consecutive win at Villanova Stadium for the Wildcats.
The gulf in playoff experience was evident early.
“I think being here for the third year in a row, we know what playoff football is like,” Villanova and Archbishop Carroll All-Delco linebacker Richie Kimmel said. “We know the intensity and the execution needed to succeed in the playoffs.”
“We said that approaching playoffs is the same as any regular-season game,” Harvard running back DJ Gordon said. “There’s always more hype in a win-or-go home. It’s a different feeling. And since it’s our first year here and we’re kind of rookies in this playoff, we didn’t really know what to expect.”
Villanova dominated the first half. It collected 336 yards to Harvard’s 33, winning the time of possession battle 22:07-7:53. Of those yards, 212 came on the ground.
Harvard entered seventh in the nation in rush defense, allowing an average of 105.5 yards per game. Villanova hit that number in the first quarter with 131 yards.
The Wildcats surpassed their season average of 178.6 midway through the second quarter. A Ragland burst with 5 minutes left in the first half took Harvard past its season-high of 189 yards allowed.
“I don’t know, maybe people just stop trying to run against them as much as we thought we were going to try to run against them,” Villanova coach Mark Ferrante said. “Statistically, they had a good run defense. But when we were watching the film, we felt we could attack them in the run game, and that’s what we went out and did.”
Harvard had allowed three rushing touchdowns in their first eight games and nine for the season. Ragland, McQuaide and Mace had the first total in the first half.
Villanova also shut down the Crimson’s bread-and-butter passing attack.
Harvard quarterback Jaden Craig led an air attack that ranked ninth the nation in yardage per game at 291.5. Craig entered halftime 2-for-11 for 13 yards and two sacks for a loss of 12 yards. He finished 9-for-21 for 107 yards with a TD, two picks and three sacks. Gordon led the rushing attack with 10 carries for 59 yards.
The game pivoted early on a Harvard passing miscue. Villanova pounded the ball with Mace before Ragland broke a 45-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead on the opening series.
Harvard looked set to get it right back, reaching the 28 for Craig to attempt a double-reverse flea flicker. Tight end Ryan Osborne was open in the end zone, but he bobbled the throw long enough for Villanova’s Newton Essiem to close the distance and pin the ball against Osborne in the process of tackling him, emerging from the tangle with an interception and a touchback.
“I feel like that really changed the game and set the tone for the rest of the game,” Kimmel said. “He made a great play on that ball. We trust in our young DBs, we trust in Newt to get that play made.”
McQuaide orchestrated a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 30-yard touchdown to Kopecky on fourth-and-11, after Harvard’s Austin-Jake Guillory dropped a sure interception on third down.
Jack Barnum made it 17-0 with a 29-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
The Wildcats got a short field when an Obinna Nwobodo (Delco Christian) tackle for loss short-circuited Harvard’s series. McQuaide scrambled for a 10-yard score on Villanova’s next possession, capping an eight-play, 65-yard march set up when Cam Henry dropped a Craig deep shot well behind the Villanova defense.
The Wildcats made it 31-0 on Mace’s 5-yard rush with exactly 2:00 left to halftime.
Harvard re-established the run in the second half, gaining 116 yards in the quarter.
Craig found Jordan Harris for a 6-yard TD on fourth-and-goal to end the shutout bid. Villanova replied instantly, a four-play drive ending with McQuaide hitting Colella for a 29-yard TD.
The next time Villanova got a fourth-down shot, it stymied Harvard, Christian Sapp with a third-down tackle for loss and Capri Martin a sack on fourth. Converted lacrosse player Julian Glantz capped the scoring with a 5-yard run in the fourth for Villanova.
It was the final touch on what Ragland said was a week where Villanova clocked and channeled the disrespect coming its way.
“We don’t like to be in the media and stuff like that, but we know we were getting a lot of disrespect, and we took that to heart, as we should,” he said. “Going into this week, our mentality was just to dominate the whole game, all four quarters. That’s what we did today.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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