Football 11/9/2016 12:00:00 AM

Wildcats Host No. 6 James Madison on Senior Day

Nov. 9, 2016

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SATURDAY'S SENIOR DAY GAME AGAINST JAMES MADISON

VILLANOVA, Pa.--It will be Senior Day at Villanova Stadium this Saturday afternoon when No. 9 Villanova (7-2, 5-1 CAA Football) hosts No. 6 James Madison (8-1, 6-0 CAA Football) in the final home game of the regular season. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m., and a pre-game ceremony to recognize the Wildcats graduating senior class will take place approximately 10 minutes prior to kickoff.

The legacy of success at Villanova has continued with this year's seniors, who are assured of having a winning record this season for the fourth straight year. As a group, the senior class currently has a career record of 30-15 (.667), including going 18-4 (.818) in home games. This season marks the 14th time in the last 16 years and the 25th time overall in the 32-year head coaching tenure of Andy Talley that the Wildcats will post a winning record.

There are plenty of other storylines for Villanova fans to follow going into Saturday's game, as both the Wildcats and James Madison are among the six teams that are within two games of each other in the race for the CAA Football title. Villanova, at 5-1 in league play, is currently tied for second place with New Hampshire. Both teams trail the first-place Dukes (6-0) by a single game and are ahead of Maine, Richmond and Stony Brook at 4-2.

It comes as no surprise that the annual meeting between the Wildcats and James Madison will be one of significance. There have frequently been potential playoff or other title implications on the line during an all-time series which the Dukes lead by a 13-11 margin. Villanova is 8-5 at home in the all-time series, including winning each of the last three meetings on the Main Line in 2010, 2012 and 2014. The two teams first played each other in 1993, and have met in the regular season each year since then. There was also a postseason game in the series when the Wildcats visited James Madison for an FCS quarterfinal game in 2008.

Saturday's game will also be the 19th time that Villanova plays in a clash of teams ranked in the top 10 of the current national polls. It has been six years since the Wildcats had such a game, but they are 11-7 in previous top-10 battles and 37-25 (.597) at home overall against ranked teams during the Talley era.

Villanova is coming off a 26-7 win at Maine last week. In that contest, the Wildcats led 10-0 at halftime and held the Black Bears to going 0-for-5 on scoring opportunities in the red zone. As a result of that performance, Villanova surged into the top spot among all FCS teams in red zone defense. Opposing teams have scored on just 59.3 percent (16-of-27) of their possessions in the red zone against the Wildcats this season, and have scored a touchdown on less than half (13-of-27) of those possessions.

Villanova ranks among the national leaders in several defensive statistics, including being third in both scoring defense (14.9 points per game) and total defense (268.0 yards per game). Both of those figures lead the CAA, as do the Wildcats marks for first downs allowed (137), rushing defense (96.3 yards per game), third down conversion percentage (31.7%) and sacks (22).

Junior safety Rob Rolle (Newburgh, N.Y.) had two of Villanova's season-high four interceptions last week and is tied for the CAA Football lead with five picks on the year. Senior linebacker Austin Calitro (Danbury, Conn.) leads the team with 66 tackles and sophomore Jeff Steeb (Sweetwater, N.J.) has made 60 total stops.

From an offensive standpoint, the Wildcats got a terrific effort from sophomore quarterback Zach Bednarczyk (Wallington, N.J.) in last week's victory. Bednarczyk threw for a career high 326 yards while going 23-of-31 through the air and tying a career high with three touchdown passes. He connected with eight different receivers, with sophomore Jarrett McClenton (Bensalem, Pa.) and junior Taurus Phillips (Beacon, N.Y.) picking up 91 yards and 85 yards, respectively.

In each of the last five meetings between Villanova and James Madison, the winning team scored over 30 points. Last year in Virginia, the Dukes tallied a 38-29 victory. Bednarczyk accumulated 289 yards of total offense in that game, including a career high 157 rushing yards to go along with 132 passing yards.

After playing this week's home game versus James Madison, the Wildcats will prepare for their annual "Battle of the Blue" rivalry game against Delaware on November 19 in Newark, Del.

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