Villanova linebacker Austin Calitro said, “We’ve got a big game next week. I told the team, ‘we’ve got to focus on next week, this week’s out the window.'”

Overshadowing Andy Talley’s final regular season home game at Villanova Stadium was a battle among top 10 teams. Talley’s Wildcats were ranked ninth in the country while James Madison came in at No. 6 at the FCS level. It was a tight game with the Dukes finally able to prevail 20-7 to win the CAA title and the automatic birth to the playoffs that comes with it. For Villanova (7-3, 5-2 CAA), they have a chance to keep their season going beyond next week’s regular season finale at Delaware. With a win against the Blue Hens, the ‘Cats figure to be in the postseason; a loss won’t eliminate them outright but they would be on the bubble.

The Dukes (9-1, 7-0 CAA) marched down the field after the opening kickoff and took a 7-0 lead on a 5-yard run by Khalid Abdullah. To get the score, they have to convert and third-and-15 and a four-and-four. All the Wildcats could manage in the first quarter was a pair of three-and-outs. At the end of the first, JMU started another long drive that ended in the second quarter with a missed field goal. As they often do missed kicks change momentum, this was no different. The Wildcats got their initial first down of the game two plays after the miss and tied the score two plays after that on a 56-yard run by Zach Bednarczyk. The Wildcats sophomore quarterback raced up the middle practically untouched for the score.

For the rest of the half there was no scoring but a lot happened. Each team failed on a fake punt, the Dukes missed another field goal, the Wildcats turned it over on downs and could do nothing with two interceptions.

The Wildcats opened the second half with a 16-play drive that took nearly 10 minutes but they came away empty handed when Gerard Smith’s 29-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Cornell Urquhart.

“That was really deflating,” said Talley. “To take the ball, move it down the field and come up short. That was probably one of the real keys to us losing the game.”

The ‘Cats next possession ended when Bednarczyk was intercepted at the Villanova 30. The Dukes were held out of the end zone by the Wildcats defense but Tyler Gray final made a field goal and JMU was up 10-7.

Early in the fourth quarter, Talley went for it on a fourth-and-1 at the Dukes 16 but Aaron Forbes was stuffed for no gain. After trading punts, JMU went 69 yards and got another field goal from Gray. The drive took over six minutes and 10 of the 11 plays were running plays.

Following an interception by defensive lineman Martez Stone – the second tipped pass of the game that was picked by the Dukes – Abdullah scored on a two-yard run that sealed the deal.

“In a game like this,” said Stone, “I’ll never forget the moment. To make a play like that, for us to overcome all these obstacles to get the win, there’s no better feeling.”

The Wildcats defense held the Dukes to 29 points under their season average but they were not able to overcome four interceptions.

“We did not play well on the offensive side of the ball,” said Talley, “and blew a tremendous defensive effort.”

“He said, ‘maybe we’ll see you in the playoffs,’” said Dukes head coach Mike Houston when asked about the retiring Talley. “I sure hope we don’t, he’s got a good football team.”
“It’s not easy but we’ve got to do it,” said linebacker and team tri-captain Austin Calitro when asked how the ‘Cats can put this loss behind them. “We’ve got a big game next week. I told the team, ‘we’ve got to focus on next week, this week’s out the window.’ Our goal coming into the season was to win the CAA and make it to the playoffs. Unfortunately, we didn’t get our first goal, our second goal is still very obtainable.”

Email Rock Hoffman at Rock@footballstories.com