College Football: Villanova Looking to Rebound Saturday Against Towson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Not a whole lot went right for Villanova in that season-opening 42-7 loss to Temple in the "Mayor's Cup" game last Thursday (see related story).
"They are a very good football team, and probably the most talented Temple football team I've seen," Wildcats head coach Andy Talley says. "We struggled against them. They were a big, physical team. We learned a lot from the game and came out of it fairly healthy, so hopefully we will be ready to go against Towson this coming week."
The Wildcats will be on the road for Saturday's 7:00pm kickoff with the Tigers, a team Talley says is tough.
"Towson is much improved," he tells KYW Newsradio. "They've got a junior college quarterback (Grant Enders) they brought in, he maneuvered the team very nicely against Morgan State, they blew them out (42-3). They have 16 starters back, so they have experience, which is what we don't have. So they are really waiting for Villanova, a national team, coming in, and they are looking forward to playing a team of our caliber. So we really have to be ready."
Hear Matt Leon's full interview with Andy Talley in this CBS Philly SportsPod…
Podcast
As for getting better from week one to week two, Talley doesn't hesitate when talking about the first thing that has to improve:
"We have to eliminate turnovers immediately (four against Temple). And I'm just not sure what we can do offensively and defensively yet because we are so young. We're still trying to figure it out. So we need a performance by our players on Saturday. Our kids need to really step up in a very tough atmosphere."
Villanova was dealt a tough blow just before the season-opening loss to Temple, as the team learned that they will be without senior wide receiver Norman White for the season with a left foot lis franc injury. Talley says that leaves a big void in the offense.
"He's your franchise player -- he's the guy you are going to go to on third down. He's the guy who makes a lot of big plays for you, especially in the red zone -- he's 6'5". He's a pro prospect, so whenever you lose a guy like that, it's tough. But we will redshirt him, bring him back next year, and now we just have to figure out where we are going to go with the rest of our receiver core."
White caught a team-high 69 passes last season.
Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio 1060
