2018 Villanova Wildcats football team

The 2018 Villanova Wildcats football team represented Villanova University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Mark Ferrante and played their home games at Villanova Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 5–6, 2–6 in CAA play to finish in a tie for tenth place.

2018 Villanova Wildcats football
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Record	5–6 (2–6 CAA)
Head coach	Mark Ferrante (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Sam Venuto (20th season)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Trainer (2nd season)
Home stadium	Villanova Stadium
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Colonial Athletic Association football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Maine $^		7	–	1					10	–	4
No. 9 James Madison ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 16 Stony Brook ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 20 Towson ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 24 Delaware ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 19 Elon ^		4	–	3					6	–	5
Rhode Island		4	–	4					6	–	5
William & Mary		3	–	4					4	–	6
New Hampshire		3	–	5					4	–	7
Villanova		2	–	6					5	–	6
Richmond		2	–	6					4	–	7
Albany		1	–	7					3	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

CAA Poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Wildcats were predicted to finish in sixth place.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	James Madison	241 (21)
2	New Hampshire	206 (2)
3	Delaware	182
4	Stony Brook	169
5	Elon	168 (1)
6	Villanova	164
7	Richmond	127
8	Maine	81
9	Albany	78
10	Towson	74
11	William & Mary	55
12	Rhode Island	39

Preseason All-CAA Team

The Wildcats had two players selected to the preseason all-CAA team including quarterback Trevor Knight being selected as offensive player of the year.

Offense Ethan Greenidge – OL Defense Rob Rolle – S

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	12:00 p.m.	at Temple*	No. 19	Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA (Mayor's Cup)	ESPNews	W 19–17	32,357
September 8	12:30 p.m.	at Lehigh*	No. 12	Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA	Stadium	W 31–9	5,104
September 15	3:30 p.m.	Towson	No. 10	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FCS/FSGO	L 35–45	5,719
September 22	6:00 p.m.	Bucknell*	No. 15	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA		W 49–7	9,341
September 29	6:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Stony Brook	No. 13	Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium Stony Brook, NY	FCS/FSGO	L 27–29	7,720
October 6	3:30 p.m.	at No. 25 Maine	No. 19	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FCS	L 10–13	6,894
October 13	1:00 p.m.	No. 6 James Madison		Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FCS/FSGO	L 0–37	5,219
October 27	3:30 p.m.	New Hampshire		Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive	L 0–34	3,919
November 3	3:00 p.m.	at Richmond		E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	NBCS WA	W 45–21	8,117
November 10	1:00 p.m.	William & Mary		Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FCS/FSGO	L 17–24	4,105
November 17	12:00 p.m.	at No. 17 Delaware		Delaware Stadium Newark, DE (Battle of the Blue)	NBCS PHIL/SNY	W 42–21	18,752
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

Game summaries

At Temple

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Wildcats	13	0	0	6	19
Owls	3	7	7	0	17

See also: 2018 Temple Owls football team and Mayor's Cup (Temple-Villanova)

At Lehigh

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Wildcats	7	13	11	0	31
Mountain Hawks	3	0	0	6	9

See also: 2018 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team

Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	21	14	7	3	45
No. 10 Wildcats	14	7	7	7	35

See also: 2018 Towson Tigers football team

Bucknell

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bison	0	7	0	0	7
No. 15 Wildcats	28	14	0	7	49

See also: 2018 Bucknell Bison football team

At Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Wildcats	7	14	0	6	27
No. 18 Seawolves	0	6	17	6	29

See also: 2018 Stony Brook Seawolves football team

At Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Wildcats	3	0	7	0	10
No. 25 Black Bears	0	3	7	3	13

See also: 2018 Maine Black Bears football team

James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Dukes	6	10	14	7	37
Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2018 James Madison Dukes football team

New Hampshire

	1	2	3	4	Total
UNH Wildcats	10	14	7	3	34
Nova Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

At Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	13	18	7	45
Spiders	0	7	7	7	21

See also: 2018 Maine Black Bears football team

William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tribe	0	14	10	0	24
Wildcats	0	7	0	10	17

See also: 2018 William & Mary Tribe football team

At Delaware

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	14	7	7	14	42
No. 17 Fightin' Blue Hens	7	0	14	0	21

See also: 2018 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team and Battle of the Blue

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	19	12	10	15	13–T	19	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	19	11	10	14	14	19	25	RV	—	—	—	—	—

References

1. Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
2. "2018 Villanova Football Schedule". Villanova. Archived from the original on March 19, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2018.