Villanova Performed in Entrance of Largest Crowd in its Historical past in Saturday Battle at Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—An upstart Villanova protection which is rapidly gaining expertise within the early phases of the season was recreation for the problem towards the second-ranked FBS workforce within the nation and the Wildcats held their very own for giant stretches of the sport towards No. 2 Penn State (3-0) on Saturday afternoon. In the workforce’s annual recreation towards an FBS foe, No. 11 Villanova (1-1) wound up with a 52-6 choice at West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium.
 
The recreation ended with a spotlight reel play for the Wildcats when redshirt freshman extensive receiver Brandon Binkowski (Haymarket, Va.) made a leaping, one-handed catch behind the tip zone for his first profession landing and Villanova’s solely factors of the sport. He hauled within the cross from junior quarterback Tanner Maddocks (Reading, Pa.), with replay assessment confirming he had management of the ball with a foot ultimately zone. It was the primary profession landing cross for Maddocks.
 
The introduced attendance of 109,516 is the most important that the Wildcats have ever performed in entrance of at any venue. It is the second time that Villanova has ever performed in entrance of a crowd above 100,000 – the one different time got here in the identical venue in 2021 when Penn State introduced an attendance of 105,790 in what was – on the time – the primary assembly in 70 years between the in-state groups. These two video games of 100,000+ followers in State College surpass the Wildcats largest-ever house attendance of 97,803 at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in a 1953 recreation towards Georgia.
 
Villanova entered the 2025 season with the duty of changing six defensive starters from final yr. There are seven gamers within the Wildcats defensive rotation who had six or fewer profession video games performed coming into Saturday’s contest, whereas the trio of linebacker JR Strauss (Reading, Pa.), security Anthony Hawkins (Arnold, Md.) and security Garrett Rogan (Mercer Island, Wash.) have every been first time starters within the first two weeks of the season.
 
The first drive of the sport noticed the Nittany Lions go 12 performs and 78 yards for a landing on the 8:48 mark of the primary quarter, however Penn State’s subsequent 4 possessions resulted in two punts and two area objectives in a span that stretched to the 6:39 mark of the second interval. On these 4 drives the Nittany Lions had been a mixed 1-of-5 on third down. One of the younger gamers on the Villanova protection – redshirt freshman linebacker Omari Bursey (Broomfield, Colo.) – recorded his first profession interception within the third quarter. It was additionally the primary time in three video games this season that the Nittany Lions had dedicated a turnover.
 
Senior linebacker Shane Hartzell (Perkasie, Pa.) had a workforce excessive 9 tackles and 21 totally different gamers recorded no less than one cease. Redshirt freshmen Anthony Hawkins (Arnold, Md.) and Jamie Tyson (Somers Point, N.J.) every had two cross breakups.
 
Sophomore working again David Avit (Frederick, Md.) grew to become the 43^rd participant at school historical past to prime 1,000 profession dashing yards. He reached the milestone on a 27-yard burst late within the second quarter and completed the day with 10 carries for a team-high 53 yards and now has 198 rushes for 1,025 yards and 9 touchdowns by way of the primary 16 video games of his collegiate profession. The working again trio of Avit, Isaiah Ragland (Alexandria, Va.) and Ja’briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) who’re all of their second years of collegiate eligibility mixed for 82 dashing yards on 23 carries.
 
The recreation was the ten^th all-time in State College for the Wildcats, who visited Penn State eight instances between 1902 and 1949, then didn’t return for greater than seven a long time till the 2021 season. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time collection by a 7-3-1 margin with Saturday’s win. It additionally marked the primary time since 1945 that Villanova performed a workforce ranked within the prime two of the Associated Press Top 25 ballot. The solely larger ranked workforce the Wildcats have ever confronted was two contests versus Army West Point when the Black Knights had been ranked No. 1 within the nation through the 1944 and 1945 seasons.
 
Villanova has now performed 28 video games towards FBS competitors since changing into an FCS member in 1985. Although the Wildcats are 4-24 in these matchups, most of the video games have been shut, with 10 video games determined by a single landing and Villanova tallying three wins in these video games. This was the primary time in its 28 matchups towards FBS opponents that the Wildcats allowed a workforce to succeed in the 50-point plateau, whereas Vilanova’s late rating maintained its streak of not being shutout in any of its FBS matchups.
 
Next week will carry a second straight highway recreation and the beginning of CAA Football competitors for Villanova when it travels to Monmouth for a 1 p.m. contest.