Villanova Wildcats survive a thrilling 26-21 upset over #4 Tarleton State Texans to advance to the FCS Semifinals for the first time since 2010

The third round of the FCS playoffs have come and gone and we are left with the final four teams now. Those four teams still standing are Montana State (Big Sky), Montana (Big Sky), Illinois State (Missouri Valley Conference) and the one and only Villanova (CAA). The Wildcats season of wonder continues after they took down the number 4 ranked Tarleton State Texans 26-21.

This was a match-up between the team with the most forced turnovers in the FCS (38) by the Texans going against the team with the fewest turnovers given away (5) by Villanova. Those stats would become very important in this game that came down to the wire.

When going over how this game played out you have to start with the first the first drive as that is where the action got started. 

Villanova started this game with the ball up near their own 40-yard-line from a short kickoff by Tarleton. The Wildcats would take advantage of this by driving down to the Texans 7-yard-line. That is when the first big play was made. The Texans would force pressure and make the quarterback scramble out to the right. While on the run he saw a man open and tried to do a shovel pass into the endzone. But the throw wasn’t strong enough as the defenders converged on the slow throw and intercepted it in the endzone. Leaving the score still at 0-0 with 11:43 left in the first. Tarleton State would waste absolutely no time on scoring from the turnover either as it took them only one play to go 80-yards and up on the scoreboard.

That one play was a pass that was caught just after the 5-yard-line in Villanova territory that turned into a footrace that was won by the Texans giving them an early 7-0 lead. Villanova would not get to start their second drive in such good field position this time starting at their own 23-yard-line. On their second play of the drive disaster nearly struck again when a leaping defender in the middle of the field almost got the team's second interception of the game. Things did not get better though on the next two plays as they were sacked on third down, and then on fourth down went to do the punt and had it blocked. This blocked punt set Tarleton up in fantastic field position as they were at Villanova’s 12-yard-line. This touchdown would not come so easy though as the Wildcats actually managed to get the Texans to a fourth down play, but they could not stop the inside run as Tarleton then did pick up the first down, and on the next play got into the endzone. Making the score 14-0 after both teams had two possessions of the ball with 7:30 still on the clock in the first quarter.

Villanova would start their third possession of the game at their 29-yard-line already down multiple scores so they knew they needed to do something on this drive if they wanted to stay in the game. That's exactly what they would do as they went on a 16 play drive that had a fourth down conversion in it, leading to a field goal. That drive did not put up a ton of points on the board but it did give them three, and also saw them chew up over 9:30 minutes worth of clock. That gave the defense ample time to rest and come up with adjustments for how to stop the Texans. It only took one play for that rested defense to give a response, as an overthrown ball was picked off at midfield and returned to Tarleton’s 45-yard-line. Just like Tarleton wasted no time scoring off of an interception, so did Villanova as it took them only three plays to get into the endzone. The third play was also one that came out of the bag of tricks as the Wildcats handed the ball off to their wide receiver Braden Reed who rolled out right and squared up to throw. What he saw was a wide open Lucas Kopecky who hauled in the 27-yard pass for a touchdown. The Texans would block the extra point and while they would try to return it for a score they could not do so leading to a 14-9 lead for the Texans with 11:20 left until halftime.

Now with only a five point lead the Texans would start with the ball on their 25-yard-line. After they crossed into enemy territory the drive would take a turn for the worst for them as Villanova would get a huge sack on second down making it 3rd and 13. Tarleton would pick up seven yards on the third down play and decided to go for it on 4th and 6 as it was too far for a field goal, but too close to punt. The fourth down play was one that ended with an incompletion as the pass was wide to the open running back who was down in the flat. If the ball was caught the first down was not guaranteed as a defender was flying down the field to try and make an open field tackle. This gave the Wildcats the ball starting at their own 39-yard-line. With good starting field position the Wildcats decided to take a shot as Pat McQuaide the lefty quarterback threw the ball down the right side with the ball bouncing out of the hands of a stretching wide receiver. This made McQuaide 7/11 with 74 passing yards so far in the game, with an interception as well. The next two plays didn’t result in anything leading to a three-and-out. This next punt went much better for the Wildcats as it was not blocked and put Tarleton State at their own 26-yard line with 6:54 left until the half. Tarleton would not do anything on this drive as they also went three-and-out even with a free play mixed in there. This led to a punt and Villanova starting with the ball on their 34-yard-line. The drive would get really interesting when the seventh play of the drive saw what appeared to be a 26-yard touchdown pass. But a quick replay showed that the ball was bobbled without ever being possessed before it eventually rolled out onto the ground behind the tangled up receiver and defender. The next play after this nearly saw an interception when a tipped ball turned into an oh no moment for the Wildcats but the ball managed to bounce just far enough away from the defender leading to fourth down and a field goal attempt for Villanova. The Wildcats would squeak in the 42-yard attempt with 1:40 left until the half making the game 14-12.

Tarleton wouldn’t do anything with the possession after this as they went three-and-out and gave up a sack, this led to Villanova receiving the ball with still 1:11 left on the clock and the ball on their 48-yard-line. They also could not do anything with the ball as they would punt it away for a touchback giving Tarleton the ball on their 20-yard-line with 43 seconds until the half. Two more runs from the Texans would run out the clock with this one at the half in a close one as it was 14-12 in favor of the Texans.

The second half would see the Texans start with the ball on their 32-yard-line after a solid return. This drive would see the Texans put up their final points of the game when they went on a 68-yard touchdown drive. That drive saw them pass the ball extremely well as quarterback Victory Gabalis went 3/3 and had 62 passing yards with the score. Compare that drive to his entire first half which saw him go 3/7 with 98 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. 

Tarleton would cap that scoring drive off with a 15-yard touchdown pass. Tarleton State would then do a squib kickoff that gave Villanova starting field position at their 32-yard-line. The next two plays would be ones of beauty as the Wildcats would have a 21-yard run, and then a homerun ball play as they went 47-yards right up the middle for a rushing touchdown with Ja’briel Mace never being touched for the score.

This made it a one score game again with it now 21-19 in favor of the Texans with 11:46 left in the third quarter. The next few drives in the game would be uneventful as Tarleton went three-and-out and punted it away, then Villanova would punt the ball back after moving the ball across midfield. This punt would put the Texans at their own 11-yard-line with 8:31 left in the third. This flip was one that Tarleton would have to get out of so that the Wildcats could not score easily. The Texans would move the ball up to their 35-yard-line before the drive sputtered out. So they would punt the ball to Villanova who took over at their own 22-yard line with 4:57 left in the third quarter. What happened next was a drive for the history books. Villanova would go on a 12 play 78-yard drive that ended in a touchdown and a made extra point making it 26-21. This drive also saw them take seven minutes and eight seconds off the clock setting us up for a grand fourth quarter of play.

Tarleton would answer back with an immediate touchdown as they busted off a 75-yard touchdown run, “but there is a flag” said by commentator Lowell Galindo, and Galindo was right there was a flag and it was on the offense. A holding call negated the huge swing play. A flag on the very next play on the defense for holding put Tarleton back on the 25-yard-line with a first down like neither play had ever happened. They would drive into the Wildcats territory as they were at the 42-yard-line before giving up an 11-yard sack pushing the Texans back into their own territory. They couldn’t do anything on the next two plays after this, so they would punt the ball away setting up Villanova at their own 16-yard line with 9:52 left in the game. The Wildcats on their third play of the drive hit a huge 34-yard pass putting them on Tarleton’s 38-yard-line. This set up what most certainly seemed like a put away drive to go up multiple scores, but they could not move the ball any further than this as they then decided to play it safe and try to pin the Texans deep in their own territory. The punt would work as Tarleton would start at their own 13-yard-line. After a penalty pushed them back five more yards the Texans now had 92 yards with just 7:51 on the clock. The Texans would do what many expected them to do all game, and that was go right down the field.

 With 2:34 left in the game they found themselves at Villanova's 15-yard-line with a first down. Here they would take a shot for the endzone that was brought in by the receiver but out of bounds as the Texans could not score there. Second down also saw an incompletion so they did a run play that set them up with a 4th and 6 and the game on the line. Villanova would bring a five man rush on the play, which forced quick pressure. Then Gabalis the quarterback found himself with a wide open field to his left and plenty of room to make an attempt at the first down, possibly even a touchdown by running the ball. Instead he passed the ball into the back of the endzone for a crowd erupting touchdown. But replay review would take a look at this one and it was seen that the first foot that came down when the receiver had possession was out of bounds. Meaning instead it was a turnover on downs. This gave the Wildcats the ball with 1:52 on the clock, but Tarleton had two timeouts still in their pocket.

The Wildcats would try and run the ball on the first play with it going backwards for a loss of three. So on the next play they dug into that back of trick again as they faked a handoff and then hit a shuffle pass out to the left that saw a for sure first down. Instead wide receiver Reed played it safe and did an early slide making it now third down. So what happens next is a thing of redemption as Tarleton State now had no timeouts so they went all in on the run. Yet again Villanova faked the handoff and did a short pass to Reed who picked up the first down and then dove forward this time making sure he had the first down. This first down sealed the game for the Wildcats as they picked up a hard fought victory. This win puts Villanova into the FCS Semifinals for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2010. Villanova will now host a final four game against Illinois State who upset UC Davis. This puts the Wildcats just one game away from playing in the FCS Championship which they last won in 2009 over the University of Montana. 

The final stats in this one saw Villanova put up 426 total yards, with 207 passing yards and 219 rushing yards. They did give the ball away one time from a thrown interception but also took the ball away once from an interception of their own. On third down the Wildcats went 7-15, with fourth down seeing them go 1-1. Villanova also won time of possession as they had the ball for 33:33 compared to their opponents 26:27.