VILLANOVA, Pa.—In the first start of his collegiate career after being a backup for the past two seasons junior Connor Watkins (Williamsport, Pa.) threw for the most yards ever by a Wildcats quarterback in their first career start to lead No. 6 Villanova (1-0) past Lehigh (0-1) by a final score of 45-17 at Villanova Stadium on Friday evening. Watkins threw for 298 yards and was responsible for four of the Wildcats six touchdowns while finishing the game with 321 yards of total offense.
 
Senior wide receiver Jaaron Hayek (Wayne, N.J.) caught two of the three touchdowns passes Watkins threw and recorded his sixth career game with over 100 yards. Hayek had six receptions for a career-high 141 yards, including touchdown catches of four yards and 68 yards in a second quarter scoring binge. Villanova pulled away from a 3-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter with four touchdowns in the second period to build a 31-14 margin by halftime. Watkins and senior running back DeeWil Barlee (Upper Darby, Pa.) each scored rushing touchdowns in the second half.
 
"I am happy with the first game and happy with the victory for sure," head coach Mark Ferrante said. "It was the first time we opened at home since 2004 so that was pretty cool. The guys came out with great emotion and a lot of big plays which I am excited about. We put points on the board, we held on to the ball and we got two turnovers in our favor without giving them any. It was a pretty clean game but we just have to play more consistent along the way. Obviously there will be some correctable things [from the first game] but the guys played with a lot of emotion and heart."
 
Watkins made a run at becoming the Wildcats first quarterback ever to top 300 passing yards in their first start. He had five completions of 38 yards or longer on the night, including a 42-yard strike to Hayek in the first quarter which set up a 27-yard field goal by graduate transfer Matthew Mercurio (Salinas, Calif.) for the first points of the game with 3:52 left in the opening period. On the first play of the second quarter, Watkins hit fifth-year receiver Dez Boykin (Whitehall, Pa.) with a 66-yard touchdown pass. He later threw the 68-yard pass for a score to Hayek with 3:06 left before halftime to stretch the margin to a 31-7 lead.
 
Fifth-year running back Jalen Jackson (Richmond, Va.) scored on a nine-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and led Villanova with 67 rushing yards on nine carries. Barlee ran 10 times for 50 yards and Watkins rushed five times 23 yards. Three different receivers had at least 78 yards on the night. Junior Rayjuon Pringle (Woodbridge, Va.) had 85 yards on just two catches and Boykin added two receptions totaling 78 yards. Boykin led the Wildcats with 172 all-purpose yards on the night. He returned three kickoffs for 94 yards, including a career-long 68-yard return as time expired before halftime.
 
Villanova won its sixth consecutive season opener to tie the third-longest active streak among FCS programs. The game against Lehigh was the first home season opener in 18 years for the Wildcats, who have squared off against the Mountain Hawks in one of the first two games of the season in each of the last six years (excluding the abbreviated Spring 2021 season).
 
It was a good night for many of the 29 newcomers on the Wildcats roster, including three of the team's graduate transfers from FBS programs. Graduate linebacker Antonio Montero (Eden Prairie, Minn.) had a game-high 10 total tackles along with a forced fumble, graduate linebacker Danny Abraham (Randolph, Mass.) added an interception in the second quarter which set up Jackson's touchdown run three players later and Mercurio chipped in nine points with his first quarter field goal and a 6-of-6 performance on extra points.
 
Sophomore safety Ethan Potter (Chesapeake City, Md.) and sophomore linebacker Brendan Bell (Basking Ridge, N.J.) each had career-high tackle totals, with Potter recording nine total stops and Bell making eight tackles.
 
Lehigh senior wide receiver Jalen Burbage led all players with 208 all-purpose yards on the game and topped the 100-yard mark in both receiving and kick returns. He caught eight passes on 10 targets for 106 yards and a score while returning five kickoffs for a 102 yards. Starting quarterback Dante Perri was 22-of-39 through the air for 227 yards with two scores and one interception.

After playing their first season-opening home game since a 20-14 win over Bucknell in 2005, the Wildcats will head on the road for each of their next two contests. First up in that two-game swing is a trip to LIU next Saturday, September 10 for a 1 p.m. kickoff.