By Brian Bohl
One week after a four-year starter ravaged them for four touchdown passes, the Pride defense will be facing the dichotomy of experienced quarterbacks when they take on a true freshman
New Hampshire’s Ricky Santos torched No. 10 Hofstra by going 19-23 for 262 yards in just a little over a half before being rested in the third quarter during last week’s 40-3 trouncing. Now, the Pride will look to rebound from the first loss of a season against a Villanova team featuring a quarterback who was still in high school a few months ago.
At 6-1 (3-1), Hofstra is tied with Massachusetts for first place in the CAA’s North Division and will look to rebound when they play the Wildcats at Villanova Stadium Saturday afternoon. Coach Dave Cohen hopes the only thing that won’t change from the previous week is the opponent’s nickname, as the UNH Wildcats handed the Pride their worst loss in 15 years.
Coming off an idle weekend, Villanova will be counting on Chris Whitney to accelerate his maturation level after losing starting quarterback Antwon Young two weeks ago. The sophomore suffered a season-ending torn left ACL injury, leaving the 6-3, 220-pound Whitney to face a Pride defense that once was ranked first in the 12-team CAA in total defense.
Hofstra dropped to third in that category after Santos contributed five touchdowns, including a rush for a score. They could atone for that ugly performance by pressuring Whitney, who ran more times than he passed in his first career start in a four-overtime loss to UMASS (6-1, 3-1) two weeks ago.
Wildcats coach Andy Talley only asked Whitney to manage the game, as the Warminster, Pa. native threw for 139 yards on 9-17 passing. He recorded one touchdown but was sacked four times-numbers that could catch the attention of linebackers Gian Villante and Luke Bonus, who are 1-2 in total tackles.
The linebackers will also be needed to spy on quaterback, who rushed 21 times and another score before Villanova lost a close contest to the team tied with Hofstra for first place in the North Division. Matt Dicken should also receive a similar workload to his 35-carry effort, which resulted in 172 yards for an average of 4.9 yards per carry.
Offensively, the Pride will look to find the rhythm that led to a 6-0 start but never materialized against UNH. The statistics belied reality from that contest, as Bryan Savage tossed a career-high 325 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. It was the first time the transfer QB from Wisconsin faced an opponent with a winning record this season, and No. 11 New Hampshire played a soft defensive coverage while nursing a big lead in the second half to aid in the inflated passing numbers for Hofstra
If Savage throws for 50 attempts again, his team could be in trouble. Touchdowns will be needed, as settling for field goals can no longer be considered a reliable strategy.
“Yardage-wise, we did a good job,” coach Dave Cohen said after the loss. “But we have to convert first downs on third down conversions and convert to points. We’ve been inconsistent.”
Preseason All-American kicker Rob Zarrilli continues to be inconsistent, starting the season 10-19 after missing two kicks inside 40-yards. To help Savage, Kareem Huggins also will need to generate a ground game against Villanova’s sixth-ranked rushing defense.
Linebackers Osayi Osunde, Darrel Young and Terrence Thomas have each posted over 40 tackles, making it imperative that the Pride’s young offensive lines continues its good start and creates holes for the senior running back who registered five 100-yard rushing games before UNH held him to 55 yards on just 16 carries.