No. 6 Villanova heads to Long Island with another win in sight

Connor Watkins couldn’t have asked for a much better start to his new role as Villanova’s starting quarterback.

The junior needed just 11 completions on 15 attempts to accumulate 298 yards and three touchdowns in Villanova’s 45-17 blowout last Saturday vs. Lehigh. He even got to relax for a lot of the fourth quarter.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see more of the same from the No. 6 Wildcats (1-0) on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Brookville, N.Y., to take on Long Island University, projected to be one of the bottom dwellers in the Northeast Conference.

Saturday will mark the second meeting between Villanova and LIU. They met in 2019 and Villanova rolled to a 35-7 win in what was LIU’s inaugural season in Division I FCS football. The Sharks went winless in 2019, were 2-2 in the delayed 2020 season, and finished 2-10 in 2021.

LIU (0-1) went just 2-5 in NEC play last season and was outscored 249-122 over those seven games.

The school turned to veteran coach Ron Cooper to take over the football program following last season. Cooper joined LIU from Alabama, and has a resume that features recent stops at LSU, South Carolina, and Arkansas.

LIU dropped its first game last week, a 37-0 defeat at Toledo, an FBS team, and had a lot of trouble moving the ball. The Sharks gained just 113 total yards, 68 in the air (on 14 completions) and 45 on the ground (on 34 rushing attempts).

LIU used two primary quarterbacks in the game. SMU graduate transfer Derek Green, son of former NFL quarterback Trent Green, started, completing 7 of 16 passes for 32 yards with an interception. Freshman Luca Stanzani came on in the second half. He went 7-for-10 for 36 yards.

LIU picked up just seven first downs on the day, punted 10 times, and took just nine snaps in Toledo territory.

Defensively, LIU surrendered 437 yards, though they did manage to keep Toledo, projected to be a top team in the Mid-American Conference, out of the end zone until allowing a 69-yard touchdown catch with five minutes until halftime.

» READ MORE: Villanova quarterback Connor Watkins, already proven under pressure, waited his turn

LIU was susceptible to the big play during its loss to the Toledo Rockets. Meanwhile, big plays came in bunches for Villanova last week vs. Lehigh.

Watkins completed passes of 42, 66, 38, and 68 yards during the first half of the win. His roommate of three years, receiver Jaaron Hayek, caught six passes for a career-high 141 yards. That’s 23.5 yards per catch.

Lehigh at one point cut Villanova’s lead to 14 in the third quarter, but Watkins hit Rayjoun Pringle on a 47-yard gain to get the offense moving again.

Saturday marks the first road game of the season for the Wildcats, who have had some recent success away from Villanova Stadium. They were 5-1 on the road last year, with the only loss being at FBS Penn State, and have won 12 of 16 away from home since the start of 2019.

Villanova has three straight wins in the state of New York, with victories over Albany, Stony Brook, and Colgate.

The Wildcats will hope to carry that streak beyond next weekend, too, because they’re going right back up to West Point for a test against FBS Army.