The No. 5 James Madison Dukes clinched the CAA Conference today with a win over No. 11 Villanova 20-7. Sophomore quarterback Zach Bednarczyk had a miserably bad day, barely completing 40% of his passes and throwing four interceptions. Villanova’s defense had a slightly better day, but were kept on the field far too long. The loss likely won’t drop Villanova outside of the Top 20. It will however make next week against Delaware a must win sitting at 7-3 now. Here is the LWOS analysis of the Villanova loss.
Breaking Down the Villanova Loss to JMU
Zach Bednarczyk
Bednarczyk had a day to forget this week against James Madison and rightfully so. The sophomore only completed 12 of his 30 passes for 71 yards threw four interceptions, and fumbled once. He did however score the only Villanova points, rushing for a 65 yard touchdown in the second quarter. Bednarczyk was not sacked in the contest but still struggled to find any open receivers. He was however able to spread around his 12 completions to eight different receivers. If Bednarczyk can keep his offense diverse, but complete the passes, Villanova should have no problem winning next weekend.
Villanova Defense
Despite giving up 20 points, the Villanova defense was solid. Bryan Schor and Cole Johnson combined for 15/23 and 151 yards with two interceptions by Rob Rolle and Malik Reaves. Senior defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon recorded his 8.5 sack of the season. Khalid Abdullah rushed 33 times for 101 yards and scored twice, but one rush went for 30 yards. The Villanova special teams even forced enough pressure for Tyler Gray to miss a 34 yard field goal. Overall, the Villanova defense could not have done much more to stop James Madison even though the stats may look bad against them.
Aaron Forbes
At the beginning of the season, it was expected that Javon White would take over the rushing duties for Villanova. However, as the season went on, Aaron Forbes began to prove that he should be taking over rushing duties. Today was not his best day, rushing 17 times for 65 yards, but it proves that he can consistently take 15+ carries per game for the third consecutive game. Forbes will need to be one of the top performers for the Wildcats next week if Villanova wishes to make the FCS playoffs at a high rank.
Overall
This game for Villanova is disappointing but it should not be taken too harshly. The Wildcats offense let them down today but there were still several signs of life for Villanova. Next week, Villanova will travel for the Battle of the Blue against Delaware. The Blue Hens are currently 4-6 this season.
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