Villanova falls to Incarnate Word in second round of FCS playoffs

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — In six seasons at Villanova, Connor Watkins has seen a lot. Four of those seasons ended in the FCS playoffs after just a game or two.

That includes Saturday. Villanova lost, 13-6, to Incarnate Word in the second round of the FCS playoffs. The Wildcats’ season ends at 10-4, while Incarnate Word (11-2) will visit South Dakota State for the FCS quarterfinals at a time to be determined.

Villanova’s veterans were a major storyline entering Saturday’s game, and that experience was much needed in a defensive battle in the misty chill at the Cardinals’ Benson Stadium.

“Their quarterback is a stud,” Incarnate Word coach Clint Killough said of Watkins. “He can definitely hurt you with his legs. They have a few young running backs [who] are really, really dangerous. I thought our defense really stepped up and took the run away from them.”

Incarnate Word had experience on its side, too, in the form of Zach Calzada, formerly of Texas A&M and Auburn. He is among the top FCS quarterbacks and entered Saturday with the most passing touchdowns (33) and sixth-most passing yards (3,351) in the subdivision.

He came out firing and threw deep twice on the Cardinals’ first drive but was unable to complete either, though he finished with 182 yards on 22-of-37 passing. Their big plays largely came on the ground, whether it was Calzada (87 yards on 14 carries) or Lontrell Turner (120 yards on 18 carries), while Jalen Walthall and Roy Alexander had 75 and 69 receiving yards, respectively.

For the Wildcats, David Avit was the leading rusher with 36 yards on 10 carries. Watkins threw for 103 yards on 12-of-27 passing, while Jaylan Sanchez caught six passes for 54 yards.

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“You never expect to not score a touchdown, so that definitely wasn’t our goal today,” Sanchez said. “But I can say my guys fought on offense, so I’m proud of that.”

UIW outgained Villanova, 184-43, in the first half and 437-138 for the game, but grad transfer Ethan Gettman tied it, 3-3, with a 49-yard field goal with 4 minutes, 2 seconds to go in the second quarter. His boot capped a drive in which Villanova capitalized on a short punt and a 15-yard pass interference penalty but gained just 8 yards on four offensive plays. Overall, Villanova converted just one third down in 12 opportunities.

“We were never ahead of the chains,” Villanova coach Mark Ferrante said. “We either threw an incomplete pass at times or they stopped us for no or 1-yard gain, so now you’re looking at second-and-long. It kind of gets us out of our rhythm a little bit. And they stayed on the field. They had some really good drives. ... Eighty-seven plays to 50, that’s not what you want.”

Villanova penalties, twice kept Incarnate Word’s first scoring drive alive. After an offside call on third-and-5 gave the Cardinals a first down, offsetting penalties wiped a Zahmir Dawud interception off the books. Calzada’s 10-yard scamper on the replayed third down gave his team new life, though they settled for a 23-yard field goal to open the scoring after nearly turning it over — again — on Ayden Howard’s forced fumble at the Villanova 7.

That field goal exemplified the resiliency with which the Wildcats defense played. The unit had multiple big plays, including Dawud’s forced fumble at the Incarnate Word 39 that was recovered by Ethan Potter with 12:12 left in the fourth quarter and Christian Sapp’s tackle for loss on fourth-and-3 at the Villanova 29 with 4:26 left in the third.

“Our defense did a great job holding that high, explosive, 37-points-a-game offense to only 13 points,” Ferrante said. “We have a lot of guys with a lot of experience on that side of the ball, and I think they did a good job holding it down. We didn’t do as well as we normally do against the run today, but they didn’t hit us with too many [explosive plays] or anything like that.

“We blitz a decent amount. We put a lot of pressure on our DBs to cover their really good wideouts. They had some drops, but we had some good defensive plays when they did try to take some of their shots as well. ... I don’t want to say we’re a bend-but-don’t break [team], but that’s happened to us a little bit this year, and we’ve held some people to some field goals like we did today, even though we seem to give up some yards between the 20s.”

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Though the Wildcats were unable to capitalize on the fumble, the 9-yard pass from Watkins to Sanchez after the turnover on downs felt massive, considering how difficult yards were to come by. Watkins then dropped a 23-yarder into Sanchez’s waiting arms down the left sideline on the next play. After a brief review, the call was confirmed, but the Wildcats couldn’t manage much else on the drive.

Enter Gettman. He drilled a 52-yard field goal — a season high — for Villanova’s first lead of the game, 6-3, with 2:24 left in the third quarter. It was the second-longest field goal in program history.

But the lead didn’t last long.

The Cardinals, undeterred, quickly drove down the field and, despite pressure in the Villanova red zone, scored the game’s first touchdown with 14:08 left on a 17-yard catch-and-run by Alexander. Then came the fumble, but the Cardinals held the Wildcats scoreless the rest of the way as they padded their lead with a 35-yard field goal by Brack Peacock with 4:14 left.

Mason Chambers picked off Watkins on the first play of the next drive, and, although the Wildcats defense kept Incarnate Word off the board, the damage was done.