2023 Villanova Wildcats football team

American college football season

2023 Villanova Wildcats football

CAA co-champion
NCAA Division I Quarterfinal, L 12–23 at South Dakota State
Conference	CAA Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 6
FCS Coaches	No. 9
Record	10–3 (7–1 CAA)
Head coach	Mark Ferrante (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Chris Boden (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Ross Pennypacker (2nd season)
Home stadium	Villanova Stadium
Seasons← 2022 2024 →

2023 Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 5 Albany +^	7	–	1	11	–	4
No. 6 Villanova +^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 15 Richmond +^	7	–	1	9	–	4
No. 10 Delaware ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
Elon	6	–	2	6	–	5
New Hampshire	4	–	4	6	–	5
Rhode Island	4	–	4	6	–	5
William & Mary	4	–	4	6	–	5
Campbell	4	–	4	5	–	6
Towson	4	–	4	5	–	6
Hampton	3	–	5	5	–	6
Monmouth	3	–	5	4	–	7
Maine	1	–	7	2	–	9
North Carolina A&T	0	–	8	1	–	10
Stony Brook	0	–	8	0	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2023 Villanova Wildcats football team represented Villanova University as a member of the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference (CAA) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were led by seventh-year head coach Mark Ferrante and played home games at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pennsylvania.

The CAA, formerly known as the Colonial Athletic Association from 2007 through 2022, changed its name in July 2023 to accommodate future membership expansion outside of the Thirteen Colonies.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	12:00 p.m.	at Lehigh*		Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA	ESPN+	W 38–10	4,360
September 9	6:00 p.m.	Colgate*		Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	W 42–19	5,101
September 16	6:30 p.m.	at UCF*	No. 24	FBC Mortgage Stadium Orlando, FL	ESPN+	L 14–48	44,206
September 23	2:00 p.m.	No. 17 Rhode Island	No. 25	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	W 35–9	5,913
September 30	3:30 p.m.	at Albany	No. 16	Bob Ford Field Albany, NY	FloSports	L 10–31	7,071
October 7	4:00 p.m.	at North Carolina A&T		Truist Stadium Greensboro, NC	FloSports	W 37–14	8,098
October 14	1:00 p.m.	Elon		Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	W 21–0	2,429
October 28	2:00 p.m.	Stony Brook	No. 19	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	W 48–13	5,119
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at New Hampshire	No. 17	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	FloSports	W 45–33	6,633
November 11	1:00 p.m.	Towson	No. 13	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	W 33–10	4,819
November 18	1:00 p.m.	at No. 7 Delaware	No. 10	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE (Battle of the Blue)	FloSports, NBC Sports Philadelphia	W 35–7	17,718
December 2	12:00 p.m.	No. 21 Youngstown State*	No. 6	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	W 45–28	2,015
December 9	12:00 p.m.	at No. 1 South Dakota State*	No. 6	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN	L 12–23	10,216
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

at Lehigh

Colgate

at UCF (FBS)

See also: 2023 UCF Knights football team No. 24 (FCS) Villanova Wildcats at UCF Knights

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 (FCS) Wildcats	0	0	0	14	14
Knights	17	17	7	7	48

at FBC Mortgage Stadium, Orlando, FL

Date: September 16, 2023
Game time: 6:30 pm EDT
Game attendance: 44,206
TV announcers (ESPN+): Drew Fellios and Forrest Conoly
Gamecast

Game information

First Quarter

UCF: Colton Boomer 26-yard field goal, 9:21
UCF: Jordan McDonald 1-yard touchdown run (Colton Boomer kick), 4:51
UCF: Jordan McDonald 1-yard touchdown run (Colton Boomer kick), 1:01

Second Quarter

UCF: R.J. Harvey 5-yard touchdown run (Colton Boomer kick), 7:47
UCF: Javon Baker 25 Yd pass from Timmy McClain (Colton Boomer kick), 5:04
UCF: Colton Boomer 41-yard field goal, 0:25

Third Quarter

UCF: R.J. Harvey 24-yard touchdown run (Colton Boomer kick), 5:12

Fourth Quarter

Villanova: Connor Watkins 3-yard touchdown run (Matthew Mercurio kick), 13:42
UCF: Jaylon Griffin 36-yard touchdown pass from Timmy McClain (Colton Boomer kick), 11:22
Villanova: T.D. Ayo-Durojaiye 11-yard touchdown run (Matthew Mercurio kick), 4:44

Win Probability

UCF 95.9%

Line

Over/Under

Statistics	NOVA	UCF
First downs	11	31
Total yards	228	600
Rushing yards	84	251
Passing yards	144	349
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	27:08	32:52

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Villanova	Passing	Connor Watkins	9-23, 144 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Deewil Barlee	7 carries, 39 yards
	Receiving	Jaylan Sanchez	1 receptions, 45 yards
UCF	Passing	Timmy McClain	20-28, 321 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
	Rushing	R. J. Harvey	14 carries, 85 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Kobe Hudson	6 receptions, 147 yards

References

"2023 Villanova Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
"2023 Football Schedule". Villanova Athletics. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

v t e Villanova Wildcats football
Venues	Shibe Park (1925–1926, 1936–1949, 1951, 1953) Villanova Stadium (1927–present) Philadelphia Municipal Stadium (1930, 1953–1957) Franklin Field (1948–1950, 1952–1953) Subaru Park (alternate; 2011–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Delaware: Battle of the Blue Temple: Mayor's Cup
Culture & lore	Will D. Cat "V for Villanova"
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e CAA Football Conference champions
Richmond & UMass (2007) James Madison (2008) Richmond & Villanova (2009) Delaware & William & Mary (2010) Towson (2011) New Hampshire, Richmond, Villanova, & Towson (2012) Maine (2013) New Hampshire (2014) James Madison, Richmond, & William & Mary (2015) James Madison (2016) James Madison (2017) Maine (2018) James Madison (2019) Delaware (2020) James Madison & Villanova (2021) New Hampshire & William & Mary (2022) Albany, Richmond, & Villanova (2023) Richmond & Rhode Island (2024)
National championships in bold

CAA Football Conference champions

Richmond & UMass (2007)
James Madison (2008)
Richmond & Villanova (2009)
Delaware & William & Mary (2010)
Towson (2011)
New Hampshire, Richmond, Villanova, & Towson (2012)
Maine (2013)
New Hampshire (2014)
James Madison, Richmond, & William & Mary (2015)
James Madison (2016)
James Madison (2017)
Maine (2018)
James Madison (2019)
Delaware (2020)
James Madison & Villanova (2021)
New Hampshire & William & Mary (2022)
Albany, Richmond, & Villanova (2023)
Richmond & Rhode Island (2024)

National championships in bold

v t e 2023 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants
Albany Austin Peay Chattanooga Delaware Drake Duquesne Furman Gardner–Webb Idaho Lafayette Mercer Montana Montana State Nicholls North Carolina Central North Dakota North Dakota State Richmond Sacramento State South Dakota South Dakota State Southern Illinois Villanova Youngstown State
Champion – South Dakota State

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