Oct. 4, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Strong special teams play was complemented by an offense that was in top form in the first half and No. 14 Villanova (4-1, 2-0 CAA) ran out to an early lead in an eventual 38-28 win over William & Mary (2-2, 0-1 CAA) on Saturday afternoon at Zable Stadium. The visiting Wildcats scored the game's first 35 points and never looked back in winning their fourth consecutive game.

Villanova reached the end zone on five of its first seven possessions of the game and led 35-0 after sophomore Chris Whitney (Warminster, Pa.) found classmate Matt Szczur (Erma, N.J.) for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 51 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Wildcats scored 21 points off turnovers in the half thanks to scoring drives that began after a blocked field goal, fumble recovery and blocked punt.

With the ball in its hands during the opening half, Villanova was nearly unstoppable. Whitney completed 17-of-21 passes in the half for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while also rushing in for a score. The Wildcats generated 297 yards of offense and converted on 6-of-9 third-down situations before the break, while the Tribe had just 139 yards of offense and were 0-of-6 on third downs.

Whitney opened the scoring with 7:42 left in the opening quarter when he threw a five-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Stephen Pimm (Tampa, Fla.), who recorded his first career touchdown reception.

It was a half full of firsts before intermission and the game turned in the second quarter when Villanova had back-to-back scores just 49 seconds apart. True freshman running back Lawrence Doss (Bellflower, Calif.) caught his first career pass for a 15-yard touchdown with 12:52 left in the second quarter. On the second play of the next William & Mary drive, sophomore Marquis Kirkland (Syracuse, N.Y.) forced a fumble that was recovered by classmate Frederick Maldonado (West Chester, Pa.) and returned to the Tribe 32-yard line. From there, sophomore Aaron Ball (Los Angeles, Calif.) rushed for a 32-yard touchdown on the first play of the ensuing Wildcat drive to spot Villanova a 21-0 lead.

The Wildcats blocked two kicks in the same game for the first time since 2004 and also recorded both a blocked field goal and blocked punt in the same game for the first time since 2002. The drive that ended with Pimm's touchdown began on a blocked 32-yard field goal attempt by junior Tim Kukucka (Wall, N.J.) that sophomore Ross Ventrone (Pittsburgh, Pa.) recovered. In the second quarter, junior Damian Kelley (Wyoming, Ohio) blocked a punt that was recovered by freshman Mikey Reynolds (Moorestown, N.J.) at the William & Mary 18-yard line. Whitney ran in for a 1-yard score four plays later.

Despite the early surge, Villanova had to hang tough in the closing minutes of the game to win in Williamsburg for only the second time since 1997. Jonathan Grimes returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown with 37 seconds left in the first half to make the score 35-7 and Michael Alvarado blocked a field goal attempt as time expired to give William & Mary a bit of momentum going into the second half. Scoring drives early in the third and fourth quarters eventually allowed the Tribe to score 21 unanswered points and pull to within 35-21 on R.J. Archer's 3-yard run with 11:50 left in the game.

After that score, however, the Wildcats consumed more than five minutes of clock during a 13-play drive that ended with a 23-yard field goal by senior Joe Marcoux (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) with 6:15 remaining and restored a three-possession lead. Archer's six-yard run with 4:20 to play closed the scoring at 38-28.

An onside kick by William & Mary was recovered by Villanova and the Wildcats ran another two minutes off the clock before turning the ball over on downs with exactly two minutes left. Three plays and only 40 seconds later, an Archer pass attempt was picked off by Ventrone and Villanova ran out the clock to end the game.

Whitney finished 20-of-27 for 186 yards and two scores and Ball established a career high for the second straight game with 137 rushing yards. Whitney also ran for 60 yards on 19 carries, Szczur finished with a game-high seven receptions for 78 yards and senior Phil Atkinson (Media, Pa.) caught five passes.

Archer completed 21-of-37 passes for 307 yards and a touchdown for the Tribe, who played without quarterback Jake Phillips, running back Terrance Riggins and a top offensive tackle. Grimes carried 11 times for 58 yards and caught six passes for a game-high 105 yards for William & Mary. He also accounted for all 161 yards of the team's kickoff returns to finish with 324 all-purpose yards.

Villanova enters its bye week and will return to action on October 18 with a Noon game at Rhode Island.