After a rough homestand, Villanova will hit the road for the first time in more than a month to try to get its season back on track. Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
No. 25 Villanova Wildcats (2-3, 1-1 CAA) at Albany Great Danes (2-4, 1-2 CAA)
Bob Ford Field, Albany, New York
Saturday, 3:30 p.m., The Comcast Network
Scouting Villanova
Since their stirring come-from-behind win over Delaware on Sept. 19, the Wildcats have fallen on hard times without injured star John Robertson, losing to Penn for the first time in a century before getting crushed by William & Mary last week. In Robertson’s place, redshirt freshman Zach Bednarczyk completed just 13 of 31 passes for 164 yards and two interceptions vs. the Tribe, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Despite giving up some big plays in the 38-16 loss though, Villanova still leads the CAA in total defense.
Scouting Albany
The Great Danes have struggled this season, especially recently as they dropped their last two games — to Holy Cross and Maine — by a combined 69 points. Albany ranks near the bottom of most of the league’s main statistical categories and is 10th out of 12 teams in both total offense and total defense. Penn State transfer D.J. Crook has completed 55 percent of his passes for an average of 164 yards per game, and last week found a good target in freshman Zee Roberson, who hauled in a career-high nine receptions for 102 receiving yards and a TD.
History
Villanova has played Albany only once, beating them 48-31 last season behind a 106-yard, two-touchdown game from receiver Kevin Gulyas. This will be the Wildcats’ first-ever trip to Albany, a recent addition to the CAA.
Storyline to watch
We know Bednarczyk has some talent because he showed it off by rallying his team to beat Delaware when he first had to fill in for Robertson. But in his last two games, his inexperience outweighed that as mistakes really hurt the Villanova offense. But now that the redshirt freshman has a couple of starts under his belt and faces a struggling defense, will he be able to turn in his first complete performance?
What’s at stake?
The season is quickly getting away from Villanova, which desperately needs a win this weekend to keep it from going off the rails completely.