Villanova Football Corner Zahmir Dawud Plays ‘Fearless’

Villanova Football endured a rough start to the 2025 season, giving up 50 points in consecutive games against Penn State and Monmouth before reeling off an eight game winning streak to close the year. After losing their entire starting secondary from last season to graduation or the transfer portal, the Wildcats had to thrust a position group full of new faces into the spotlight early, as Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante said after their win over William & Mary, the game that sparked their winning streak.

“It’s gonna take time for the guys to come together. We had an experienced secondary, the same five guys started for pretty much three years in a row,” Ferrante said. “Now we’ve got a bunch of new guys. Some of them have experience, some of them came from other programs with experience, so now they’ve got to just get used to playing together.”

After allowing an average of 274.25 passing yards across their first four games, the Wildcats cut that number down to a miniscule 179 over the last seven.

One key member of the Wildcats’ defensive turnaround is redshirt sophomore cornerback Zahmir Dawud, who has 26 solo tackles, a team high nine pass break-ups and an interception on the season. Dawud, who stands six feet tall and weighs 185 pounds, has shown an ability to rise to the occasion, picking up three third down pass breakups in the fourth quarter and overtime of Villanova’s Nov. 15 win over Stony Brook, keeping the Seawolves to a pair of field goals and saving the game for the Wildcats. 

Living on an Island

After that performance, Ferrante praised his young cornerback for how he handles needing to match up one-on-one against opposing receivers, saying that he thinks Dawud prefers that challenge.

“He is one of the guys who has played some for us, forced to play for us a little earlier in his career, but the opportunity to play early in your career obviously helps him for where he is today, and he’s a good player,” Ferrante said. “We ask our guys to do a lot in man coverage. And we try to get pressure on the quarterback, and that puts those guys on an island a little bit, but I think Zahmir likes playing on the island, to be honest with you.”

Dawud, for his part, said his confidence comes from trust in his teammates and his Christian faith.

“First, I just want to give all glory to God. Having God on my side I just approach games with no fear and I trust the boys up front to do their job,” Dawud said. “So I’m gonna just play my role and do my job. That just leaves me fearless… I’m very grateful that I get to play with these boys and that we’re going to the playoffs. It’s a blessing and I’m just grateful to be here.”

Keeping it Simple

Dawud also said that the Wildcats’ 3-3-5 defensive scheme helps him perform. While other elements of their defensive unit are more complex, such as blitz packages, he just needs to adjust to man or zone coverage depending on the play. The teams he faces, meanwhile, have to worry about what Villanova plans to throw at them, leaving Dawud ready to capitalize on their mistakes.

“It’s easy for the corners, we don’t really have to worry about much. We’re either man or zone, to be honest,” Dawud said. “But I understand why they’re saying that because the pressures are very tricky to pick up. Being a 3-3-5 you can pull a lot of stunts and a lot of pressures in different ways.”

As Ferrante alluded, Dawud played all 14 games last season as he filled in due to injuries or as a reserve, earning a CAA Honorable Mention after picking up 47 total tackles, four tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, two interceptions and a pass break-up. He also played four games as a true freshman, preserving his redshirt year.

While he struggled at times in his earlier seasons at Villanova, Dawud said that he learned from his mistakes and that that helps him succeed when he faces similar scenarios later on.

“I definitely grew a lot, especially with confidence. Just playing more games, it just adds confidence, and going through certain scenarios in the game you just learn to adapt,” Dawud said. “You have to go through certain plays to learn how to play those plays, so I feel like me playing early, I went through plays that I can make now because of me losing them prior.”