Villanova Readies For Saturday Playoff Opener
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The postseason begins for the Villanova University football team on Saturday afternoon as they host Saint Francis University in the first-round of the FCS Playoffs.
The Wildcats bring an 8-3 record into Saturday's game. They wrapped up the regular season in impressive style last weekend, hammering rival Delaware down in Newark, 41-10.
"We just feel good about our win at Delaware and we couldn't be in better shape for a first-round playoff game," Villanova head coach Andy Talley tells KYW Newsradio.
Listen to the entire interview with Villanova's Andy Talley
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Zach Bednarczyk was 13 of 17 throwing the football against the Blue Hens for 195 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 78 yards. Junior running back Matt Gudzak rushed for 121 yards and a score on just 13 carries in the win.
This will be Villanova's first appearance in the playoffs since 2014 and Talley is happy to start the post-season on the Main Line.
"This is great," Talley says. "In the playoffs it's the most important thing, really. You have to play at home throughout the playoffs, especially against the really tough teams and we're fortunate to have a first-round game here to get us off to a good start."
While the Wildcats are in the postseason for the 12th time under Talley, who is retiring at the end of this season after 32 seasons, St. Francis is FCS playoff-bound for the first time in program history. The Red Flash, who earned the automatic bid out of the Northeast Conference, are 7-4 and Talley says they played a challenging schedule.
"They've played at Montana (40-21 loss)," he says. "They've played Towson (35-28 loss), they've played Albany (20-9 loss), so they've been through some rough teams in our league. I feel that they are a dangerous team to play, especially their first playoff experience, ever. So we're going have our hands full with this team. They are very, very physical, maybe amongst the most physical teams we've played this year."
Saint Francis University is located in Loretto, Pennsylvania.
The winner of this game will get South Dakota State in the second round.
Saturday's game kicks off at 2:00 p.m.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @Mattleonkyw.