By Ryan McCord
It was the best and worst of times to be one of the 7,233 football faithfuls in attendance on Saturday afternoon’s homecoming celebration, where the most impressive performance on the field just may have occured at halftime, thanks to a dance extravaganza lacking only in wardrobe malfunctions.
While Villanova came to town looking to crash two parties, Hofstra’s punting unit and schizophrenic-at best-offense did all it could to blow out the candles early on head coach Dave Cohen’s 40th birthday weekend, as the Wildcats outlasted the Pride 20-16.
With the loss, the usually late October laden “mathematically still alive” label has been tagged to the Pride faster than you can say “trick or treat,” and Cohen continues to steer far away from any excuses.
“As coaches, we are not bringing out the full potential and promise in these players,” said Cohen, after his Pride team dropped to 1-2 in the Atlantic-10 conference. “We’re capable, but minus Rob Zarrilli, we’re a very inconsistent football team.”
While Zarrilli was business as usual (three field goals in as many attempts), it was the special teams blunders that came back to haunt the Pride.
Thanks to an early injury to junior long-snapper Tom Daddino, wild snaps proved to be too hot to handle for punter Shane Casciano, who not only had one attempt blocked but was also tackled for a 12-yard loss.
“We were obviously very prepared for a very tough game, I thought the game was a tossup,” said Villanova head coach Andy Talley, as he reflected on what he felt won his team the game. “I told my players all week it would come down to the battle of the special teams.”
Pride senior quarterback Anton Clarkson was pummelled throughout the contest (five sacks) by a hard-hitting Villanova defensive unit that forced Hofstra into a downward spiral of continuous third and long attempts, none more vital than a last ditch effort to keep a Pride offense squandering for answers.
After the Hofstra defense managed to keep the team’s light at the end of the tunnel shine through by forcing a Wildcat turnover on downs near the goal line with just under two minutes left in regulation, Villanova’s defensive coverage was able to confuse Clarkson just enough to sack the quarterback twice.
This eventually left Hofstra with a first down marker too far to see with the naked eye, as Clarkson’s fourth-and-20 pass attempt fell short of wide receiver Chris Manno.
Surprisingly, Hofstra couldn’t have asked for a better start. On Villanova’s opening drive, Marvin Burroughs’ pass was deflected and a gift of an interception landed into the hands of junior free safety Stephen Tate.
Only three plays later, Clarkson connected with Shaine Smith on a highlight reel type of pass and catch on third and long to send the crowd into an optimistic uproar, giving the Pride an early 7-0 lead.
However, the Pride could not overcome third and long with that kind of success the rest of the afternoon, leaving fans pondering if any drastic changes need to be made in order for Cohen’s personal homecoming return to Delaware next week to be a successful one.
Burroughs, who is one of the most talented and athletic quarterbacks in the conference, was kept under control by an improving Pride defense, amassing a total of only 210 yards.
“I think Marvin was hurt some by our receivers today…we didn’t do as good a job as we normally do catching the ball,” Talley said. “I think he did what he had to do. It was not a typical Marvin Burroughs game because they took the running game away and made us pass-oriented.”
Cohen and the coaching staff will go back to the drawing board, looking to fix errors such as poor route-running, breakdowns in pass protection and poorly thrown passes that are contributing to the abundance of third and longs.
“It’s not a new system anymore, in any of the three phases,” Cohen said. “We’ve been here since last December and that is not an option of conversation anymore.”
