Villanova Football’s Playoff Path: Another Weekend of Favorable Breaks

Villanova Football picked up a crucial win on Saturday, Oct. 24, knocking off Lehigh — previously undefeated in Patriot League play — 24-18 at home. The Wildcats (4-4, 3-2 Patriot League) started their season with a 2-4 run but are winners of two in a row… and as the rest of the conference holds each other down, they have a distinct chance of making it back to the FCS playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

As of Sunday, Oct. 25, Villanova holds the No. 4 spot in the Patriot League. They have an identical 3-2 record to Colgate, but the Bears beat the Wildcats on the Main Line back in September. Lehigh (6-2, 4-1 Patriot League) and Richmond (6-2, 4-1 Patriot League) lead the way, but the Wildcats’ head-to-head win over the Mountain Hawks means another Lehigh loss would push them in front. Villanova will host Richmond on Nov. 7, a chance for them to spring past the Spiders.

Who Can Help?

From there, the Wildcats would need a Colgate loss to William & Mary (Oct. 31), Lehigh (Nov. 7), Lafayette (Nov. 14) or Bucknell (Nov. 21) in order to pass them in the standings. Lehigh is the most likely of those teams to beat Colgate, who fell 13-6 to Richmond on the road over the weekend… but then Villanova would need one of Bucknell (Oct. 31), Richmond (Nov. 14) or Lafayette (Nov. 21) to knock off the Mountain Hawks.

Lehigh starting quarterback Hayden Johnson hasn’t played since September with a knee injury and, although backup Derek Morgan and All-American running back candidate Luke Yoder have performed admirably in keeping the Mountain Hawks on track, they aren’t quite the team they were with Johnson under center. All of these scenarios assume that Villanova wins out: any further losses would require an extra loss in turn from each of the three teams ahead of them in the standings, a tall order with four games left in the regular season.