Football Falls at Villanova

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Villanova, Pa. (September 6, 2014) - Last year, quarterback Mike Nebrich rushed for more than 100 yards and the defense forced five fumbles in #11/10 Fordham's win over #10/7 Villanova on Jack Coffey Field. This year, the Rams' offense couldn't get on track, rushing for just 18 net yards while committing two turnovers as Villanova ran away with a 50-6 win over Fordham at Villanova Stadium.
 
"We pride ourselves on our physicality'" said Fordham head coach Joe Moorhead. "But it wasn't there today as we couldn't get the run game going and it's hard to move the ball against a good defense if you can't run or pass protect. But all of our goals are still attainable so we have to learn to put this behind us and get ready for next week."
 
After Villanova missed a field goal on its first possession, quarterback John Robertson drove the Wildcats down field on the second where they faced a third and ten at the Fordham 20. Robertson kept it himself on the play and not only picked up the first down but found the end zone to give Villanova a7-0 lead with 3:38 left in the first.
 

The Fordham offense seemed to get going on the ensuing drive with the big play being a 51-yard completion from Nebrich to Sam Ajala that put the ball on the Villanova 13. But the Rams couldn't pick up the first down and Michael Marando came on to boot a 31-yard field goal to make it a 7-3 game with 1:49 remaining in the quarter.
 
A long return on the kickoff gave the Wildcats possession at midfield and Villanova drove to the Fordham 31 where Marlon Crook, Jr. chased Robertson out of the pocket and Robertson threw the ball away but was called for intentional grounding, giving the Rams the ball their own 49.
 
An eleven-yard completion from Nebrich to Ajala moved the ball over midfield but the drive would stall at the Villanova 36 where Marando lined up for a 53-yard field goal attempt. But before he could get it off, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, causing the game to be delayed by over an hour.
 
When play resumed, the Rams decided to go for it on fourth down but Nebrich was sacked back to the 39, turning the ball over to Villanova.
 
Robertson drove the Wildcats to the Fordham 16 where he found Austin Medley in the end zone with a scoring strike and a 13-3 Wildcat lead with 10:542 left in the half.
 
Chase Edmonds appeared to give the Rams a spark on the subsequent kickoff, taking it 100 yards for a score but the play was called back on an illegal block call on Fordham.
 
Villanova scored on its next three possessions of the half to take a 33-3 lead into the break, and then tacked on seven more on the first possession of the second half to build a commanding 40-3 lead.
 
The Rams managed to put three more points up when Marando booted a 39-yard field goal with eleven seconds left in the third but the Wildcats came up with ten unanswered points in the fourth for the 50-6 final.
 
Nebrich completed 14 of 28 passes for 182 yards while Ajala led the Rams with seven catches for 95 yards.
 
Defensively, Jordan Chapman led all tacklers with a career-high 15 tackles, ten solo, including three for loss, while Ian Williams added ten, seven solo, and a pass breakup.
 
The Rams return to action on Saturday, September 13, as they host the University of Rhode Island on Jack Coffey Field at 1:00 PM as part of Homecoming Weekend.
 
Notes
It was the second straight game at Villanova for the Rams that was affected by weather problems (two years ago the start of the game was delayed for two hours due to heavy storms)… The Rams are 5-0 over the past two years coming off a loss under Moorhead (not counting the season-ending loss – but even so, the Rams won both season openers after dropping the last game of the previous year)… The six points were the fewest scored by the Rams under Moorhead and the fewest since a 21-0 shutout to Bucknell in 2011… For the first time in school history, the Rams allowed 50 points one game after scoring 50 points (the 1986 squad is the only other squad to have scored 50 points and allowed 50 points in a season but the games were separated by two other games)… Jordan's previous career-best in tackles was seven, set last year vs. Yale… Junior receiver Ben Johnson made his first collegiate catch in the fourth quarter.