Villanova Hangs 44 on Lafayette Behind Pat McQuaide
Lafayette scored with 1:05 left in the second quarter to make it 24-14. Villanova needed 36 seconds to answer. Pat McQuaide hit Chris Colby from 18 yards with 0:29 left in the half, it was 31-14, and the Leopards never got closer than 13. Villanova won 44-21 and went to 5-3. Lafayette fell to 3-4.
It was close for about as long as it takes to read this. Villanova kicked a field goal first, Lafayette answered with a 31-yard run from Jason Penza to lead 7-3, and then Villanova took the lead for good on McQuaide's 49-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Binkowski with 2:12 left in the first. About a minute and a half later Omari Bursey took an interception back 27 yards for a score, and it was 17-7. Ja'briel Mace added a 1-yard run in the second, and Villanova led 31-14 at the half.
The turnovers tell the rest. Lafayette threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, four giveaways against none for Villanova. Villanova threw for 301 yards as a team and ran for 114 on only 33 carries, 415 total against 264. Lafayette got a pair of Penza touchdown runs, the second of them with 3:37 left in the third to make it 34-21, but Dominic LeBlanc kicked a field goal in the fourth and Isaiah Ragland finished it with a 1-yard run with 5:27 left.
Fantasy-wise, McQuaide gave you 24.2 on 293 yards and two touchdowns, which for him is a normal Saturday. Binkowski is the one worth a look, since he had his best game of the year. Malachi Gamble was the best scorer on the losing side, and he did it while fumbling once.