Villanova Looks To Take Care Of Business At Georgia State
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Villanova Wildcats will look to build off the momentum of what was easily their most impressive win of the season on Saturday as they head down to visit Georgia State in CAA action.
Last time out, the Wildcats dropped the hammer on then #3 Old Dominion on the road, rallying from a 14-0 deficit to blister the Monarchs 38-14 and improve to 5-2.
Villanova head coach Andy Talley says a lot of credit for that big win has to go to his redshirt freshman quarterback John Roberston.
"John was fantastic in the game," Talley tells KYW Newsradio. "He really played awesome. He ran for three touchdowns, threw a touchdown pass, had 190 yards rushing and was the national rookie of the week in the country. He was the difference. He actually played better than (Old Dominion quarterback) Taylor Heinicke, and Heinicke is probably an All-American quarterback. But John has really come along each week and I think we really have a guy that understands what we are trying to do."
LISTEN: Matt Leon interviews Andy Talley
It has been a struggle for Georgia State here in 2012, but Talley says this will be a tough trip to face the Bill Curry (former Alabama and Georgia Tech head coach) led squad.
"They have a lot of talent," Talley says. "They are going to a 1-A league next year. Their record right now is 1-6, but they just recently beat Rhode Island and they have a tremendous amount of talent. Their tailback is the leading rusher in the league and we are very, very concerned about him. Donald Russell looks to be the best running back in the league, so we have to stop the running game."
Russell has been brilliant for Georgia State, rushing for 743 yards in seven games.
After such a huge win against Old Dominion, and looking at the fact that Georgia State has just the one victory, a main concern for the Wildcats this weekend will be avoiding a let down against the Panthers.
"We've talked about it all week, but you know talking about it and exercising it are two different things," Talley says. "And I am concerned about that. We exerted a lot of energy and effort to beat Old Dominion on the road. And now we've got to go down to Atlanta and play against a team that's only won one game, but has a lot of talent and is growing and coming together toward the end of the year. So we need to step it up. We'll find out if our team has the maturity and leadership that we need. Because we have a chance to be a really good team this year, but they're going to have to show that they can go on the road and play everybody like they're your arch rival."
This will be the first ever meeting on gridiron between Villanova and Georgia State.
Kick-off at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday is set for 3:30pm.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
