Villanova Readies For Visit By William and Mary
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS – Villanova looks to be hitting its stride with one month of the season in the books.
After an 0-2 start, the Wildcats have won two straight by identical scores of 35-6. Last weekend, they took care of the two-time defending Ivy League champions Penn.
"(Quarterback) John Robertson had a great game," Villanova head coach Andy Talley tells KYW Newsradio. "He rushed for over 100 yards (132), threw for (266) yards. All in all, we kept our mistakes to a minimum. (There were) some very costly turnovers for Penn, (we) blocked a field goal, ran it back for a touchdown. So those things add up. But it was a really good day for Villanova."
For his efforts, Robertson was named the Colonial Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Week. Talley is quite happy to have him as the trigger man of the offense.
Andy Talley Interview
"He was a little gun shy in the beginning of the year, I think because we tried to hold him back from running the ball," Talley says. "He finally sat down with us and said, 'Look I want to run the ball more. I get comfortable when I run the ball and my passing improves when I do that.' Sure enough, that's what we started to do. You hold your breath a little bit when he's running, but he is such a force. He's very fast, he's 215 pounds and he can sling the football. So he's been able to do both and we have one of those quarterbacks that you hate to play against, because he can run and throw."
William and Mary went just 2-9 last season. But they have bounced back here in 2013 and will bring a 3-1 record to the Main Line.
"Their only loss is to West Virginia," Talley says. "And they were 17-17 going into the fourth quarter with West Virginia. So they are a much improved football team. They've always been one of the real good teams in our league. We've had battles with them over the years. (They are) very well coached, Jimmye Laycock's a great coach down there, been there for (34) years. They run the football. They're very good, very talented."
These teams last played in 2011, William and Mary winning 20-16.
Saturday's game at Villanova Stadium will kick-off at 1:00pm.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
