Cinderella Meets Midnight: Villanova Falls to Illinois State in FCS Semifinals

The FCS Championship Semifinals have come and gone and from those games we learned that the CAA would not be moving on, as the Villanova Wildcats magical season came to a crashing end when they fell to Illinois State 30-14. This game was one of the Cinderellas with the Wildcats having upset the last two rounds while Illinois St. has been playing upset from the get go. So one of these runs was bound to end, and it ended up happening to Villanova who made their first semifinals since 2010. Villanova ends their season having gone 12-3. The twelve wins ties for second place in most wins in a single season for the Wildcats, so most definitely not a disappointment of a season it just didn’t end the way they wanted it too. Now a look at how the game played out.

Villanova would start the game with the ball on their own 21-yard-line. Three plays later they found themselves in Redbird territory and on a drive that seemed like it would end in six. But on second down Illinois St. quickly got into the backfield tripping up the runner who could not maintain his balance as he stumbled to the ground for a loss setting up third down. Third down would result in an incomplete pass, so the Wildcats would then punt the ball away pinning the Redbirds deep in their own territory at the 10-yard-line. They would then go on a nine play drive that only resulted in 30 yards of offense but was enough to help them flip the field position as they would punt the ball away setting Villanova up at their own 29-yard-line with 8:36 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats would again quickly find themselves in their opponents territory after back-to-back runs earned them 28 yards. Three plays later the first big blow would occur when a risky pass was thrown into double coverage for the endzone. The pass would be caught but not by the Wildcats, instead it was an interception for the Redbirds that resulted in a touchback and them starting at their 20-yard-line. Illinois State would not let this mistake go unpunished as they went on an eight play 80 yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. The final play of that drive was a pass that resulted in 53 yards, with it being caught at the 20-yard-line and then ran the rest of the way for the score. The scoring play also saw a ton of hand fighting on the play but no flag was thrown against either side. The Redbirds would then make their extra point making it 7-0 with 2:36 left in the first quarter of the game.

Villanova would look for a response after going down and they would do just that. Starting with the ball on their 34-yard-line the Wildcats would then go on a eight play 61 yard drive that resulted in them hitting a 23-yard field goal. The key play of the drive was when they completed a 37-yard pass on a fly route down the right side of the field. This put the Wildcats on the Redbirds 10-yard-line. While they couldn’t punch the ball into the endzone this still gave them a score making it 7-3 with 14:56 left until halftime.

The Redbirds then went on a commanding 13 play, 65-yard touchdown drive. The touchdown drive was capped of with a 1-yard rushing touchdown that extended the lead up to 14-3 after the made extra point.

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This drive not only had lots of plays but also saw a good chunk of time come off the clock with the Redbirds taking 6:13 off the clock leaving 8:43 until the half. This also made the game a two score lead meaning Villanova really needed to score here so that they could keep it close. They would respond yet again with a score as they yet again made a field goal, cutting the lead down to eight with it now 14-6. The scoring drive for the Wildcats had them start at their 35-yard-line before going 47 yards, on a nine play drive that took up nearly four minutes of game time. This was a drive that started out like many others with them moving quickly into Rebirds territory with them stalling out as Illinois State had a good bend but don’t break mentality. Illinois State then got the ball back with 4:46 left until the half and the ball at their 24-yard-line. This drive looking back would be the winning drive as it put them over 14 points which is what the Wildcats finished the night with but that didn’t stop Illinois from adding more points for good measure. On this drive that saw them extend their lead even more it looked like it would only take one play to score as they hit a simple wheel route to the running back who took it from their 24 all the way down to Villanova’s 8-yard-line for a 68-yard passing play. Two plays later a quick slant route is caught and taken into the endzone for a 8-yard passing touchdown. The Redbirds now had a 21-6 lead with 3:49 left until halftime. 

Villanova would not be able to do anything on their next drive as they would punt it away after only five plays that gained 16-yards and took off a 1:46 off the clock. Illinois’s luck wouldn’t be any better, as their drive saw them move the ball a little bit before taking a deep shot with little time remaining. Their receiver ended up falling down giving the defender an easy interception, helping Villanova keep the score at 21-6, as they would then just kneel the ball to make it halftime. 

The second half of the game wouldn’t get any better for the Wildcats. Illinois State would start the second half with the ball on their 26-yard-line. After a slow start to the drive that saw them go 12-yards on three plays then then hit a a 26-yard run that went right up the middle and gave the Redbirds great field position. A 15-yard pass interference call against the Wildcats on the next play put the Redbirds in even better field position. After this though, Villanova stood tall as they then shut down the Redbirds and forced them to kick a field goal which they made from 35-yards out. The score now stood at 24-6 with just over 11 minutes left in the third. Villanova could not do anything though on their next possession as they punted the ball away after just five plays. This punt put Illinois State at their own 32-yard-line with 8:23 left in the third quarter. The Redbirds would then go on a back breaking drive that saw them run 16 plays as they chewed up 8:23 on the clock, bringing an end to the third quarter. This drive saw them convert on a 4th and 1 as well as them taking control of this game by ending the drive with a 29-yard field goal. The score now stood at 27-6 and Villanova was in a big hole. 

Knowing that they were down three scores they knew they needed to score and after completing a 39-yard pass they were set up to do just that. Then they couldn’t do anything as they found themselves in a 4th and 17 and going for it as they wouldn’t find themselves in a better scoring position to get back into the game. The call to go for it didn’t work out for them as they ended up giving up a sack to turn the ball over on downs. This all but put the game away as the Redbirds went into drain clock mode. They would go on another long drive, this one a 13 play drive that had them go 53-yards. It had them take up 7:53 from the clock and hit a 30-yard field goal making the game now 30-6. This was a drive that saw Villanova actually come up with a quick stop but a 5-yard penalty for roughing the kicker gave the Redbirds a fresh set of downs, which allowed for them to take even more time off of the clock. Taking off more time is exactly what they would do as they took off nearly four minutes worth of clock after the penalty occurred, and helped them get another field goal. Even with the game all but out of reach for the Wildcats they still never gave up as they took over with 5:10 left in the game and the ball on their 23-yard-line. After an incompletion on the first play of the drive they would then hit a 40-yard pass quickly moving them down the field.

This now had the Wildcats at the Redbirds 37-yard-line and ready to score. This time they would succeed as they would go for it on fourth down and instead of just looking for the first down they got into the endzone on a beautiful catch by the receiver that saw him haul in the 16-yard pass one handed. Villanova would then go for two and convert it  by catching a tipped ball, making the score 30-14 with 3:27 left in the game. Illinois State would all but end the game after this as they would recover the onside attempt and nearly run out the clock. As they took 2:55 off the clock giving Villanova the ball back with just 22 seconds left in the game. The Wildcats would run a couple more plays before having to watch the Redbirds celebrate on their field as they advanced to the FCS National Championship to take on the Montana State Bobcats. 

For Villanova this final game of the season saw them put up 300 total yards of offense with the passing game having 199 yards, and the run game having 101 yards. It was a game where the offense struggled to convert on third down as they went 1-10 on third down. Fourth down went better but wasn’t perfect as they went 1-2 there. This game also saw both teams commit turnovers as the Wildcats threw an interception as well as getting one of their own, leading to a draw in the turnover battle. The season might not have ended how they wanted it too, but it was still a very fun season indeed as they had an 11-game win streak the second-longest in program history, helping them take second overall in the conference. This season also saw them make an at-large bid for the playoffs, and in those playoffs take down two top 5 teams. This was the first time in 15 years that the Wildcats won back-to-back road games against Top 5 ranked opponents. Definitely a season that they will be able to look back on and smile as they now look ahead to next season which will see them in a new home when they join the Patriot League.