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Advance: Villanova at UNH

The Villanova and University of New Hampshire football teams share the same nickname, but that’s not all they have in common. Both teams want to run the football.

CAA STANDINGS | CAA STATISTICS

The team that runs the ball more effectively – or is better at stopping the run – will likely prevail when the Wildcats meet the Wildcats on Saturday in Durham (1 p.m.).

UNH coach Rick Santos said churning out yards on the ground is what Villanova (2-2, 1-1 CAA) does best. 

“First and foremost we need to stop the run,” Santos said. “I think their running backs are really good starting with David Avit – 225 pounds, he’s physical. He can run through you. He’s got speed as well to get to the perimeter. 

“Coach (Sean) Devine … we know him extremely well, obviously being here when I was a student-athlete. He was the offensive coordinator when Chip (Kelly) left. I think he’s as good of an offensive line coach and offensive mind as anyone in the country, especially in the run game. He’s their run-game coordinator so I think all of it kind of goes through him.”

Avit, a sophomore, has run for 370 yards and six touchdowns on 60 carries this season (6.17 yards per carry). Villanova is rushing for an average of 149.25 yards per game. 

UNH (3-2, 1-0 CAA) is averaging 3.2 yards per carry, 110.6 yards rushing per game and has run for five TDs this season. Quarterback Matt Vezza has run for four of the five TDs.

“You know what you’re gonna get with them as far as the toughness,” Villanova coach Mark Ferrante said. “Typical CAA opponent. Our league is just always going to be that way, but when you go up to New Hampshire they always try to impose their will on you, maybe just a little more than some others. 

“Then on offense it looks like they’re trying to do the same thing that we want to do: have a balanced attack. They’re gonna try to run the football effectively.”

Villanova, which is ranked No. 18 in the country, plays a 3-3-5 defense that UNH rarely sees, and often switches from a three-man front to four down lineman without changing personnel.

“It’s as challenging of a unit as we’ve faced to date, including an FBS opponent (Ball State),” Santos said. “For us, we need to play our most complete game if we want to find a way to get this done on Saturday.” 

Villanova’s victories came against Colgate (24-17) and William & Mary (31-24). The team’s losses were against Penn State (52-6) and Monmouth (51-33). Both losses came away from home.

“We just have to win on the road,” Ferrante said. “We have to get on the plane, get up there and perform away from home. We’ve been doing pretty good at home so we have to be able to play well enough to win some games on the road — and that’s hard to do in this league.”

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– The UNH defense is allowing an average of 169.8 rushing yards per contest. Villanova is giving up an average of 177.8 rushing yards per game.

– Saturday’s game will be Homecoming at UNH. “The big message this week is going to be honoring the legacy of this program and playing for the guys who came before us – honor them with our toughness, our attention to detail and how hard we play,” Santos said. 

– UNH has intercepted a pass in each of its five games this season.

– Villanova has won the last two meetings with UNH, but UNH has a 14-1-3-0 edge in the series.

– UNH kicker Nick Reed has made 11 of 13 field goal attempts and 10 of 11 PATs this season. He made 3-of-4 kicks from at least 50 yards. 

– Villanova is a 1.5-point favorite.

 

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