2019 Villanova Wildcats football team

The 2019 Villanova Wildcats football team represented Villanova University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-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 9–4, 5–3 in CAA play to finish in a tie for third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost in the first round to Southeastern Louisiana.

2019 Villanova Wildcats football
FCS Playoffs First Round, L 44–45 vs. Southeastern Louisiana
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 15
FCS Coaches	No. 15
Record	9–4 (5–3 CAA)
Head coach	Mark Ferrante (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Chris Boden (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Ola Adams (1st season)
Home stadium	Villanova Stadium
Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Colonial Athletic Association football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 James Madison $^		8	–	0					14	–	2
No. 18 Albany ^		6	–	2					9	–	5
No. 15 Villanova ^		5	–	3					9	–	4
New Hampshire		5	–	3					6	–	5
Towson		4	–	4					7	–	5
Maine		4	–	4					6	–	6
Elon		4	–	4					5	–	6
Richmond		4	–	4					5	–	7
Delaware		3	–	5					5	–	7
William & Mary		3	–	5					5	–	7
Stony Brook		2	–	6					5	–	7
Rhode Island		0	–	8					2	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

CAA poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 23, 2019, the Wildcats were predicted to finish in ninth place.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	James Madison	238 (20)
2	Towson	217 (3)
3	Maine	201 (1)
4	Elon	164
5	Delaware	162
6	Stony Brook	151
7	New Hampshire	109
8	Rhode Island	104
9	Villanova	84
10	Richmond	62
11	William & Mary	58
12	Albany	34

Preseason All–CAA team

The Wildcats did not have any players selected to the preseason all-CAA team.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 24	12:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Colgate*		Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	CBSSN	W 34–14	4,519
September 7	6:00 p.m.	Lehigh*	No. 24	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	W 38–10	8,319
September 14	6:00 p.m.	at Bucknell*	No. 22	Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	Stadium	W 45–10	3,649
September 21	6:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Towson	No. 18	Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD	FloSports	W 52–45OT	8,811
September 28	3:30 p.m.	No. 12 Maine	No. 8	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	W 33–17	10,071
October 5	3:30 p.m.	at William & Mary	No. 5	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA	FloSports	W 35–28	9,164
October 12	1:30 p.m.	at No. 2 James Madison	No. 5	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	FloSports	L 24–38	25,076
October 26	3:30 p.m.	Stony Brook	No. 5	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	L 35–36	7,720
November 2	1:00 p.m.	at New Hampshire	No. 11	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	FloSports	L 20–28	7,895
November 9	1:00 p.m.	Richmond	No. 18	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	W 35–28	4,151
November 15	7:00 p.m.	LIU*	No. 13	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSport	W 35–7	3,051
November 23	1:00 p.m.	Delaware	No. 10	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA (Battle of the Blue)	FloSports	W 55–33	5,319
November 30	3:00 p.m.	at Southeastern Louisiana*	No. 8	Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	L 44–45	4,173
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

Game summaries

At Colgate

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	27	0	7	34
No. 13 Raiders	0	0	7	7	14

See also: 2019 Colgate Raiders football team

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NOVA COLG 2 14:20 6 62 1:51 NOVA Jalen Jackson 18-yard touchdown reception from Daniel Smith, Drew Kresge kick good 7 0 2 13:16 NOVA Interception returned 27 yards for touchdown by Jaquan Amos, Drew Kresge kick good 14 0 2 2:07 8 91 4:26 NOVA Changa Hodge 45-yard touchdown reception from Daniel Smith, Drew Kresge kick missed 20 0 2 0:12 6 61 0:43 NOVA Andrew Perez 15-yard touchdown reception from Daniel Smith, Drew Kresge kick good 27 0 3 6:27 12 68 5:41 COLG Nick Draught 10-yard touchdown reception from Grant Breneman, Chris Puzzi kick good 27 7 4 13:26 8 77 3:05 COLG Grant Breneman 1-yard touchdown run, Chris Puzzi kick good 27 14 4 8:41 10 78 4:40 NOVA Daniel Smith 9-yard touchdown run, Drew Kresge kick good 34 14 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 34 14

Lehigh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountain Hawks	0	3	7	0	10
No. 24 Wildcats	0	17	14	7	38

See also: 2019 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team

At Bucknell

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Wildcats	14	14	14	3	45
Bison	0	0	3	7	10

See also: 2019 Bucknell Bison football team

At Towson

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 18 Wildcats	14	7	14	10	7	52
No. 5 Tigers	7	21	0	17	0	45

See also: 2019 Towson Tigers football team

Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Black Bears	0	3	7	7	17
No. 8 Wildcats	16	14	0	3	33

See also: 2019 Maine Black Bears football team

At William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Wildcats	14	7	0	14	35
Tribe	7	7	7	7	28

See also: 2019 William & Mary Tribe football team

At James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Wildcats	0	10	14	0	24
No. 2 Dukes	7	10	0	21	38

See also: 2019 James Madison Dukes football team

Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seawolves	7	3	10	16	36
No. 5 Wildcats	7	21	0	7	35

See also: 2019 Stony Brook Seawolves football team

At New Hampshire

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Nova Wildcats	7	13	0	0	20
UNH Wildcats	7	0	14	7	28

See also: 2019 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spiders	14	14	0	0	28
No. 18 Wildcats	14	7	0	14	35

See also: 2019 Richmond Spiders football team

LIU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	0	7	0	0	7
No. 13 Wildcats	14	14	7	0	35

See also: 2019 LIU Sharks football team

Delaware

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fightin' Blue Hens	7	10	0	16	33
No. 10 Wildcats	20	14	14	7	55

See also: 2019 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team and Battle of the Blue

FCS Playoffs

The Wildcats were selected for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Southeastern Louisiana.^[3]

At Southeastern Louisiana–First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Wildcats	10	21	0	13	44
Lions	7	7	17	14	45

See also: 2019 Southeastern Louisiana Lions football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	RV	24	22	18	8	5	5	7	5	11	18	13	10	8	15
Coaches	—	RV	23	18	13	8	7	7	6	11	19	16	14	10	15