Villanova Football's FCS Playoff Hopes End In Eastern Washington

The Villanova Wildcats quest to repeat as FCS champions fell short tonight with a 41-31 loss to Eastern Washington. Villanova had traveled upwards of 12,000 miles over the past three weeks of playoffs with trips to Steven F Austin in Texans, Appalachian St in North Carolina, and tonight to Eastern Washington. Players were literally taking final exams last night in their hotel. So it was a brutally tough road for the defending champs and one that ultimately fell just a game short of the FCS title game.

Matt Szczur was not the dominating presence he was last week, recording only 36 yards rushing, 25 yards receiving and one TD. Against Appalachian St he accounted for 5 of the Wildcats 6 TDs. Villanova struggled at times to find offense elsewhere. QB Chris Whitney did run two TDs in himself, but also threw two picks and managed just 95 yards through the air.

The Villanova defense that was so good at frustrating Appalachian last week, was lit up this week by Eastern Washington QB Bo Levi Mitchell, who threw for 292 yards and 4 TDs including one 76 yard TD to WR Brandon Kaufman.

Eastern Washington plays the winner of the Georgia Southern vs Delaware game tomorrow afternoon. For Villanova, their next decision is to decide whether they even want to stay in the FCS. They’ve currently got an offer on the table to join the Big East for football, which would move them up from 1-AA to the top tier of college football. The university is still evaluating whether to make the move or not.

Villanova Football Rolls Over Appalachian State Into FCS Semifinals

Matt Szczur has a contract with the Chicago Cubs, an invite to the Senior Bowl, and he’s got his Viilanova Wildcats in the semifinals of the FCS playoffs. When it’s all said and done he may have himself two national titles and a choice between the NFL and MLB.

Just to take a look at what he did today. Villanova scored six TDs on the day, Szczur accounted for five of those. His first was a two yard run near the goal line, then he threw a 54 yard TD pass to Norman White, caught a 30 yard TD of his own, ran for another from 24 yards out, and capped off his day with an impressive goal line run where he was stopped at least a yard and a half shy of the goal line, but stretched out his arm to just put the nose of the ball across on the line for his fifth TD of the day.

The only Wildcat TD Szczur was not a part of was QB Chris Whitney’s 5 yard TD run, which was Villanova’s final score of the afternoon. It was a dominating day for Villanova football and specifically a dominating day for one of the best players in the school’s history, Matt Szczur.

FCS Playoffs: Matt Szczur Leads Villanova Over Top Ranked Appalachian St 42-24

Matt Szczur threw for a TD, ran for three, and caught another as the Villanova Wildcats advanced to the semi-finals of the FCS championship with a dominating 42-24 road victory over Appalachian State. The Appalachian St. Mountaineers had been the top ranked team in the FCS coming into this game, but they ran into an absolute buzzsaw in Matt Szczur and the Villanova offense.

The Wildcats set the tone early as Matt Szczur, lined up in the wildcat, dropped back to throw and hit Norman White, who pulled the ball on one-handed for a 54 yard TD. That put the Wildcats up 14-10, a lead they would not surrender. It was an afternoon to remember for Szczur who accounted for five of Villanova's six touchdowns on the day.

Nova has now gone on the road and blown out the #1 and #5 ranked team in the FCS. They look like a team on a mission to defend their National Title and with Matt Szczur back they certainly look like the favorite to do so.

The Wildcats will next take on the the winner of the Eastern Washington vs North Dakota State game on December 17th or 18th.