FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION

• Villanova upsets No. 1 Richmond

  
  

  By David Coulson, FCS Executive Director Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - It was a day of firsts at Villanova on Saturday afternoon, from the Wildcats' 26-20 victory over No.

  1 ranked Richmond to the exuberance of the students, tentatively running onto the field to join in the celebration.

  "That just blew my mind," Villanova coach Andy Talley, now in his 24th year with the Wildcats, said of the celebration. "This is happening at Villanova? I have never seen that here." Defensive end Greg Miller, who helped lead the defense with eight tackles and 2.5 sacks, said the student reaction also caught him by surprise.

  "I just jumped in the middle and started jumping around with them," Miller explained. "It was a lot of fun." Villanova (3-1, 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association) dominated both sides of the line, holding the tough Spider rushing attack to 83 yards on 33 attempts and running wild for 226 yards of its own on the ground.

  Aaron Ball ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns and gave the Wildcats a boost midway through the second half with a 63-yard scoring scamper.

  Chris Whitney, starting at quarterback ahead of Antwan Young, was an efficient 14-of-22 passing for 176 yards and - more importantly - just one interception.

  Joe Marcoux joined in the fun with four consecutive field goals, including a career-long 48-yarder that helped the Wildcats pull away from the Spiders.

  Those elements all came together to lift Villanova to its first-ever victory over a No. 1 ranked team after four previous losses. It was the first time a top-ranked opponent had ever faced the Wildcats at home.

  Richmond (3-2, 2-1) pulled out all the stops in the second half as Villanova gained confidence and momentum. The Spiders pulled off a fake punt, down 20-13 in the third quarter, and gambled three times on fourth down, converting two, but missing on Eric Ward's 4th-and-goal pass to tight end Joe Monteverde from the six to open the fourth quarter.

  Monteverde had his hands on the ball momentarily before bobbling it and having Martel Moody swoop in to knock a potential touchdown pass away for an incompletion.

  "I just felt, with the momentum, we just really weren't stopping them," Richmond coach Mike London explained. "Going into the second half, I thought anything we could create momentum-wise, fake punt, going for it on fourth down, we needed to do." Villanova survived some nervous moments early in the game when safety Michael Ireland (game-high 13 tackles) intercepted a Whitney pass and Justin Rogers blocked a Zach Ugarte punt.

  But the Wildcat defense held the Spiders to just three points after Richmond started drives at the Villanova 33 and 22.

  "The key for me was early in the game when we had the interception and punt block and we only gave up three points," Talley said. "That's when I knew we could beat them." Villanova limited Richmond running back Josh Vaughan to 44 yards on 16 carries.

  The Spiders logged eight total yards in the first quarter on nine plays and had 14 carries for 13 yards rushing in the first half.

  Richmond quarterback Eric Ward got his arm working in the second half to complete 23-of-32 passes for 236 yards and an eight-yard touchdown throw to Joe Stewart, but he was bottled up as a runner, being limited to 39 yards rushing on 17 attempts. Ward was also sacked six times.

  "We kind of went in thinking we needed to win all three phases of the game," Talley said. "We went in knowing we were not going to let them run the ball. We took some of the play away from them. Their strength is running the ball and we took that away from them. We made them pass the ball." And it led to an unforgettable day for the 6,107 fans at Villanova Stadium.

  "That's really probably as good a game as we've ever played and won at Villanova," said Talley.

  09/28 01:48:11 ET