Villanova quarterback Connor Watkins, already proven under pressure, waited his turn

The other day, new Villanova starting quarterback Connor Watkins walked by a room full of offensive coaches.

“They’ve been in there awhile,” Watkins noted from the hallway, since he’d been around the football offices himself earlier that morning before he had gone off to a couple of classes.

Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante, standing in the hallway, has a sense of humor that leans toward the dry side.

“They’re trying to simplify things for our new quarterback,” Ferrante deadpanned.

Watkins smiled.

“We’ll be all right,” he told his head coach.

This new guy, preparing to start his first game Friday when Villanova hosts Lehigh, isn’t so new, in his fourth year on campus. He probably would have started last season except Daniel Smith got an extra pandemic year of eligibility and used it to lead Villanova to a share of the Colonial Athletic Association title and the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.

Top backup for the past two seasons, Watkins takes over having already proven he can handle a big stage. Last season, Villanova at Penn State, the Wildcats’ punter couldn’t punt, so Watkins picked up that duty despite never having been a regular punter, even in high school.

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Watkins punted eight times for 34.6 yards a try.

“I was joking with him, ‘Dude, punt the ball out of bounds so you don’t get hurt, OK?’” said Villanova offensive coordinator Chris Boden, thinking he really didn’t need his backup QB going down that way.

“He in turn punted the ball down the middle and he was one of the first ones down the field,” Boden said. “The year before, when we played Delaware, he was running down on kickoffs because we ran out of bodies. I thought it was a joke, then special teams, he’s standing out there.”

Punting in front of 105,790 people, which is usually about a season’s worth of fans for Villanova, is no big thing. Watkins punted several rugby-style to try to keep them away from Penn State star Jahan Dotson, now in the NFL. Rugby-style was brand new for Watkins, picked up on the fly that week.

“Honestly, I kind of liked it,” Watkins said right after the game about the framing provided by the full stadium. “It kind of helped. I felt like the visual was better.”

So, no, this guy probably isn’t going to be frazzled by taking over an offense for a team picked to win the CAA — again.

“I think we have a lot of talent on this football team,” Watkins said. “I think we can go special places.”

“He’s a very confident kid,” Boden said. “You want that in a quarterback.”

It is a luxury in college football right now to have a new starting QB who is a fourth-year player in the same program.

“Especially with all the quarterbacks transferring all over the place,” Boden said.

From where Watkins was as a freshman to where he is today, “I mean it’s night and day,” Boden said. “From a maturity level, from understanding the offense. So when Danny was leaving — even last year, when [Watkins] was the backup — he came a long way and really with the run game and identifying the defenses … When he stepped in this spring, we really didn’t miss a beat.”

The rest of it …

“He can chuck it,” Ferrante said. “We’re not going to be concerned about underthrows.”

“He’s always been physically talented,” Boden said of the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder, an all-state first-teamer at Loyalsock Township High, near Williamsport. “He’s always had a huge arm. From my experience, from Arena League, and NFL tryouts, college, and junior college — he has the strongest arm I’ve ever seen.”

From the start …

“One day, I think as a freshman, I was standing behind him and he’s throwing a hitch, just a five-yard stop route,” Boden said. “It looked as if the ball was going to bounce and it literally just rose, like a four-seam fastball. He just kept doing it. In practice, he’s flipped the ball 65 yards, no problem, off his back foot.”

Very, very quick release, Boden added.

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“I always compared him from day one to Brett Favre, because he’s going to go out there and run around and he’s going to make some amazing throws and I just hope to eliminate the mistakes,” Boden said. “So far through spring and camp, he hasn’t really made any. Connor has the arm where he feels he can fit it in there, and he can.”

The other Favre comparison …

“Connor is always out there with a big smile on his face,” Boden said. “Laughing and joking. You can coach him hard and he’s going to joke around and laugh with you.”

“I would say early on, there was a little bit of back and forth between me and Coach Boden — he’s gotten to the point now where he knows I understand defenses and kind of how to read plays,” Watkins said. “He understands that I can read leverage and I have tons of confidence in our receivers. We have tons of talented receivers. If a guy is going to win over the top, he’s perfectly OK with me taking those shots.”

“You’re going to take some good with some bad,” Ferrante said. “He can throw it at a lot of different angles. He can throw it on the move or in the pocket. And he’s got good size. And I think he’s improved. Early spring, a lot of his deep balls were overthrown because they were flat, he didn’t put arc on them. That’s really improved. I think the next area of improvement is some of the shorter throws with a little more touch.”

Taking time to learn from Smith and other vets about “college football in general” … “Now I have a total understanding of our offense. I know the ins and outs, all the checks, all that type of stuff,” Watkins said. “So now it’s more just about understanding defenses, where guys are lined up, what kind of looks we’re going to get when guys are lined up like this. You can eliminate a lot of things pre-snap.”

Last season, Watkins got in seven games and completed nine of 13 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. The previous spring, Villanova had a short CAA schedule after the fall 2020 season was canceled due to the pandemic. Ferrante purposefully played more players that spring, looking ahead. Watkins got into three games and completed all six passes he tried for 83 yards. That wasn’t meant to give him and other reserves the snaps to prepare for being a backup last fall. It was for 2022 and beyond.

“Here we are,” Ferrante said.