Category: Villanova

On Aug. 2, Katie LeGrand, Villanova’s senior associate athletic director for compliance, penned a letter to the Patriot League Policy Committee, urging the conference to grant quarterback Pat McQuaide eligibility for the upcoming season.

LeGrand wrote that “Pat has fought hard to stay positive throughout his collegiate experience. He is the epitome of the word resilience, something that many youth may lack in today’s society.”

McQuaide’s resilience would continue to be tested over the coming weeks, as the Patriot League maintained that McQuaide would not be eligible.

Still, there was a chance McQuaide, who continued to practice with the team, could suit up for Villanova’s opener against league rival William & Mary. That chance became a reality hours before kickoff on Friday.

On Friday, Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court judge Timothy P. McCormick granted an emergency preliminary injunction that named the Patriot League as a defendant, clearing McQuaide to be eligible for league contests. Despite the quick turnaround, Wildcats coach Mark Ferrante opted to start McQuaide against the visiting Tribe.

“Yeah, we found out [Friday],” Ferrante said. “And once we found out, there really was no hesitation. I mean, if it was 6 o’clock and a 6:03 kickoff, he probably would have rolled out there. If it was two hours before, if it was yesterday, [McQuaide would start]. The plan was, get the other guys reps. But if it happens, we’ll roll Pat out there. And he’s had a lot of practice under his belt.”

Villanova lost, 35-32, to William & Mary after squandering a 10-point lead in the game’s final minute. McQuaide passed for 270 yards and a touchdown but threw three interceptions, including a pick with 9 seconds remaining that set up the Tribe’s game-winning field goal.

“We made a lot more mistakes than they did,” Ferrante said. “Turnovers, penalties. Never comes down to one play, but unfortunately, it came down to one play.”

Although he struggled, McQuaide’s return was welcomed by his teammates. Last season, after being named the starter days before the season opener, McQuaide emerged as a team leader. During his first year on the Main Line, the Ohio native led Villanova to an FCS semifinal — the team’s best finish since 2010. If McQuaide had not been able to play Friday, senior Robert Russo or freshman Nolan DiLucia was expected to receive the starting nod. Neither has completed a pass in college.

“It’s kind of just second nature, having a guy like Pat back in the locker room,” junior running back Ja’briel Mace said. “Especially back in the offense, really helpful. … Finally get back to the flow of things.”

For the foreseeable future, McQuaide is expected to stay on the field for Villanova. It remains to be seen if the Patriot League will appeal Friday’s preliminary injunction or if the conference will take additional steps to bar his participation.

The league previously denied McQuaide’s eligibility on Aug. 4, despite a preliminary injunction by McCormick, and then rejected Villanova’s appeal on Aug. 22. The NCAA supported the conference’s barring of McQuaide, contending that as the Patriot League was not “served process and is not a defendant” in the original lawsuit, the initial preliminary injunction could not be applied to the conference.

Patriot League commissioner Jennifer Heppel, the liaison for the Patriot League Council of Presidents executive committee that denied the appeal on Aug. 22, attended Friday’s game.

The question around McQuaide’s eligibility pertains to his season at Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2022. Villanova, which submitted the waiver request to the NCAA on behalf of McQuaide, argued that the COVID-19 pandemic led to McQuaide’s single season at the junior college. McQuaide contends the pandemic stunted his development in high school, which led to him walking on at Kent State. After one year redshirting with the Golden Flashes, he transferred to Mississippi Gulf Coast.

In its original eligibility waiver, the school described the move as a “necessary bridge rather than a choice to ‘use’ an additional season.” Additionally, juco programs are not under the purview of the NCAA, but seasons spent at that level have counted toward student-athletes’ eligibility in past decisions.

After one season at Mississippi Gulf Coast, McQuaide played two seasons at Nicholls State before transferring to Villanova.

This year will mark McQuaide’s sixth in college. He earned his undergraduate degree from Nicholls State and a master’s in higher education and leadership from Villanova. In court documents, McQuaide contended that he is aiming to complete a certification in public administration at Villanova this year, with the goal of becoming an NFL general manager.

The battle between Villanova and the Patriot League over McQuaide’s eligibility comes during the program’s first year in the conference. The Wildcats announced last summer that they would leave their football conference of 18 seasons, the Coastal Athletic Association, to join the Patriot League. Unlike the Patriot League, the CAA supported McQuaide’s eligibility for this season, according to McQuaide’s attorney, Richard Hamilton Jr.

“[McQuaide] had a letter of support from the conference, the old CAA,” Hamilton said. “He had a letter of support from the president of the university and from the athletic department, all supporting the waivers.”

Seemingly everything that could have gone wrong for Villanova in the final minutes of its season opener did Friday night against William & Mary.

With less than a minute to play, the Wildcats led by 10 points and were staring down a win in their season opener, but a series of late-game mistakes paved the way for a collapse in the final seconds.

The result was a messy 35-32 conference loss to begin Villanova’s inaugural Patriot League season after the Tribe’s Max Lipinski hit a game-winning 45-yard field goal as time expired.

“We made a lot more mistakes than they did,” Villanova coach Mark Ferrante said. “Turnovers, penalties. Never comes down to one play, but unfortunately, it came down to one play. And [William & Mary] played a cleaner game than we did, so they deserve the victory.”

Self-inflicted wounds

The Wildcats were plagued by penalties and mistakes against the Tribe.

“We gave them free yardage,” Ferrante said. “We set ourselves backward a few times. And then turnovers. I don’t care who you’re playing, if you lose the turnover battle four to one, you’re probably going to lose the game, especially when you have a team that’s the caliber of William & Mary.”

The Wildcats racked up 15 penalties for 107 yards, while William & Mary was penalized just three times for 22 yards.

“No matter what you do, no matter how good your scout team performs during the week, they never are able to execute the opponent’s schemes as fast as the opponent is able to execute their schemes,” Ferrante said. “So we do the best we can in our preparation. And I don’t know, they had three big plays over the top. Eliminate those three big plays, it’s probably a whole different ballgame. But, again, it doesn’t come down to just those three big plays.”

Ferrante also noted that his coaching decisions changed the outcome of the game.

“Maybe I should have gone for the field goal instead of the first down when we were down two. Maybe we got to recover an onside kick. So it’s a lot of things that build into it. We’ll grow off of this, that’s for sure. But there’s going to be a lot of correctables.”

Villanova ranked 108th in the FCS last season in penalty yards.

In addition to the penalties and four turnovers, Villanova failed to recover a crucial onside kick that would have iced the game. After William & Mary tied the game following the onside kick, Villanova quarterback Pat McQuaide was picked off with 9 seconds left to set up the Tribe’s walk-off field goal.

McQuaide eligible

After a summer-long battle over his eligibility, McQuaide started for Villanova.

Hours before kickoff, a Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court judge granted a preliminary injunction that named the Patriot League as a defendant, clearing McQuaide to be eligible for league contests.

“Yeah, we found out [Friday],” Ferrante said when asked about the court decision. “And once we found out, there really was no hesitation. I mean, if it was 6 o’clock and a 6:03 kickoff, he probably would have rolled out there. If it was two hours before, if it was yesterday, yeah. The plan was, get the other guys reps. But if it happens, we’ll roll Pat out there. And he’s had a lot of practice under his belt.”

The injunction came weeks after the Patriot League informed Villanova that it was deeming McQuaide ineligible for conference games.

McQuaide led Villanova to an FCS semifinal playoff appearance last season and threw for 3,123 yards and 25 touchdowns.

On Friday, McQuaide threw for 270 yards and one touchdown, and had three interceptions. McQuaide threw just four interceptions all season in 2025.

Up next

Villanova will prepare for back-to-back road games, beginning with a Patriot League contest against Bucknell on Sept. 5 (6 p.m., ESPN+). The Wildcats then will travel to Kentucky for an FBS matchup against Louisville on Sept. 11.

After a summer of uncertainty around Villanova quarterback Pat McQuaide’s eligibility, he was granted a preliminary injunction that allowed him to start the Wildcats’ season opener on Friday night.

On Friday, Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court judge Timothy McCormick granted a preliminary injunction that named the Patriot League as a defendant, clearing McQuaide to be eligible for league contests, McQuaide’s attorney, Richard Hamilton Jr., confirmed to The Inquirer.

McQuaide started for Villanova in its season opener against William & Mary on Friday hours after the injunction was granted. He initially was deemed ineligible by the Patriot League, despite having an injunction granting him another year of eligibility on Aug. 4. The conference then rejected an eligibility appeal from Villanova on behalf of McQuaide on Aug. 22.

Friday’s preliminary injunction is the result of a separate legal battle between McQuaide and the Patriot League.

Without Friday’s ruling, Villanova would have been forced to forfeit any game McQuaide played in, according to Hamilton.

The question around McQuaide’s eligibility pertains to his season at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in 2022. In the original waiver request to the NCAA, Villanova argued that the COVID-19 pandemic directly led to the quarterback’s season with the junior college. Villanova described the move to a JUCO as a “necessary bridge rather than a choice to ‘use’ an additional season.” McQuaide contends that the pandemic stunted his development in high school, after which he walked on at Kent State. After one year redshirting with the Golden Flashes, he transferred to Mississippi Gulf Coast before two seasons at Nicholls State.

Historically, JUCO seasons have been counted against players’ eligibility.

McQuaide threw for 3,123 yards and 25 touchdowns last season to guide Villanova to an FCS semifinal appearance.

It’s a new football season and a new football league for Villanova, and it all starts Friday.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 7 in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) preseason coaches poll, will host William & Mary, also new this season to the Patriot League, at Villanova Stadium (6 p.m., ESPN+). Villanova won last year’s game, 31-24.

The Wildcats reached the FCS semifinals last season before falling to Illinois State, their best finish since 2010.

“We think the offseason training went well when we came back in January, February,” Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante said. “Then that follows up with spring practice and spring practice went pretty well from our perspective. So our guys were here, the whole team [was] here for the month of July. The bulk of our upperclassmen are here for June and July, so they get the opportunity to train together. And then the freshmen come in July and it gives the upperclassmen and freshmen almost a month to learn to get to know each other a little bit.”

However, Villanova is facing questions at quarterback as the eligibility of Pat McQuaide, its hopeful starter, is tied up in an Ohio court after the Patriot League informed the program he was ineligible.

Here are five things to know as Villanova prepares to kick off its 2026 campaign:

A new conference

Villanova officially joined the Patriot League on July 1 after spending 19 seasons in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).

Outside of Villanova and William & Mary, the conference includes Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Lehigh, as well as fellow associate football members Fordham, Georgetown, and Richmond.

Richmond joined last season after departing the CAA. Four programs have now left the CAA within the last two seasons, the fourth being Delaware, which transitioned to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

The largest impact this has on Villanova is travel. A trip for the Wildcats will cover an average of 175 miles, which lowers costs for the program, especially on air travel.

Before its debut in the Patriot League, Villanova was voted to finish first by the league’s preseason coaches poll, receiving seven first-place votes. Lehigh, which fell to the Wildcats in last year’s FCS playoffs, got three.

Who starts at quarterback?

McQuaide, last year’s starting QB, led the team to a 12-3 record. The Ohio native passed for 3,123 yards and 25 touchdowns. It marked what was expected to be his final year of eligibility.

However, this summer, Villanova submitted a request to the NCAA asking to grant McQuaide an extra year of eligibility. The NCAA denied the request, forcing Villanova and McQuaide to take it to court.

On Aug. 1, an Ohio judge ruled that the NCAA cannot enforce its eligibility rules against McQuaide, granting him an extra year of eligibility.

However, the Patriot League notified Villanova on Aug. 4 that it was deeming McQuaide ineligible by its own bylaws. An appeal by Villanova to the Patriot League’s Council of Presidents Executive Committee was also denied on Aug. 21.

McQuaide’s attorney, Richard Hamilton Jr., is still fighting the ruling in the Ohio court system, and an update could come as early as Thursday.

If McQuaide is not able to play for Villanova, two Wildcats will battle for the starting gig — senior Robert Russo and freshman Nolan DiLucia. The two have been getting the bulk of the starter reps through spring and summer practices, according to Ferrante.

“Taking a majority of the reps were, obviously, we had Dylan Mills, we had Robbie Russo, going into his senior year, Dylan going into his junior year, and then Nolan DiLucia, the incoming freshman,” Ferrante said. “Those are the guys that were kind of rotating through, seeing who wants to take it over, who wants to take the lead there. … It’s an ongoing process. We’re going to continue to evaluate everybody.”

Outside of McQuaide, Villanova’s quarterbacks have only attempted just one pass.

Key games

In the Patriot League, Villanova will play all its conference opponents during the regular season, as opposed to the larger CAA where tiebreakers often helped determine automatic playoff qualifiers.

The biggest game on Villanova’s regular-season calendar is most likely its home game against Lehigh on Oct. 24 (3 p.m., ESPN+). The two programs have a long-running rivalry. Villanova leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1903, 14-5.

Until last year’s playoff game, Lehigh was 12-0 and was the Patriot League champion.

Former CAA opponent Richmond, which will visit Villanova on Nov. 7 (1 p.m., ESPN+), tied for third with William & Mary in the coaches preseason poll.

Mace returns

Villanova’s biggest win this offseason was retaining breakout running back and returner Ja’briel Mace. He entered the transfer portal but decided to return to Villanova. Mace was named the 2025 CAA Special Teams Player of the Year.

Mace broke Brian Westbrook’s single-game rushing record with 28 carries for 291 yards and four touchdowns against Towson on Nov. 8. He tallied three 100-yard-plus rushing games, and totaled 946 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 128 attempts for the season.

Mace was named to the Walter Payton Award 2026 preseason watchlist, the Patriot League’s preseason all-conference first-team and the 2027 East-West Shrine Bowl 1000, which highlights the top 1,000 NFL draft prospects ahead of the 2026 college football season.

New faces and key returners

The Wildcats were not very active in the transfer portal, with a majority of the new names on their roster coming from the high school recruiting class. Most of the new faces starting on both sides of the ball come from within the program.

Junior offensive lineman Chris McCullers, who started 14 games for Villanova last season, will fill one of the holes that opened with the departures of Stephane Voltaire, Temi Ajirotutu, and Jake Picard. Senior defensive lineman Capri Martin also withdrew his name from the transfer portal to stay at Villanova.

“Yeah, we’re excited to have Ja’briel [Mace] and Capri [Martin] back,” Ferrante said. “A couple guys did go into the portal briefly, but then they decided to stay after talking with their families and their coaches, and, obviously, our staff here. We’re excited to have those guys back. We have a good nucleus back on both sides of the ball.”

Fifth-year offensive lineman Quin Whalen, who will be a key part of the offense, started the last nine games last season at center.

Returning wide receivers will include sophomore Braden Reed, who had a breakout freshman year on special teams and at wide receiver during the postseason. Sophomore Brandon Binkowski could see more snaps. Junior Chris Colby will also have an elevated role.

Two starting Wildcat defensive backs, Zahmir Dawud (Rutgers) and Anthony Hawkins (Iowa), departed Villanova for FBS programs. Junior defensive backs ​​Josh Oluremi and Newton Essiem are returning. Fifth-year Garret Rogan is set to return and will see playing time at safety. Junior Jayvont Williams is in contention for the starting safety spot.

“And the secondary, unfortunately, that’s kind of where we got to hit the hardest with the transfer portal,” Ferrante said. “So you’re going to see some new faces back there again. Last year, we had five new defensive backs from the year before, and everyone did not know how we would do defensively with five new faces, and we ended up doing pretty well.”

The Patriot League Council of Presidents executive committee has denied Villanova’s eligibility appeal for quarterback Pat McQuaide, Richard Hamilton Jr., the attorney representing McQuaide, confirmed to The Inquirer.

McQuaide and Villanova looked to file an appeal after the Patriot League denied his eligibility for the 2026 season, despite the potential starting quarterback being granted a preliminary injunction to play this year.

The committee is composed of Lafayette president Dr. Nicole Hurd (chair), Loyola (Md.) president Terrence M. Sawyer (chair-elect), and Holy Cross president Vincent D. Rougeau. Patriot League commissioner Jennifer Heppel is the council’s liaison.

A request for comment was left with Villanova Athletics. The Patriot League said it doesn’t “comment on individual eligibility issues.”

On Aug. 4, the Patriot League sent a letter to Villanova stating that it had denied McQuaide’s eligibility waiver request based on the four seasons of competition rule. This decision conflicted with a preliminary injunction granted on Aug. 1 by Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy P. McCormick. McQuaide, who’s from Cuyahoga County, sued the NCAA after the governing body denied his waiver request to play in 2026.

“The Patriot League is now asserting [the four seasons of competition rule] as its basis to prohibit [McQuaide] from playing in any Patriot League games,” Hamilton, who represented McQuaide in Cuyahoga County, previously told The Inquirer. “My understanding is that Villanova has been informed that if he plays in any games, then they’ll be forfeited.”

According to Page 7, Section 3 of the Patriot League bylaws, the school must submit “a written appeal, along with supporting documentation, to the Patriot League Commissioner no later than fourteen (14) days after receipt of the decision” on a student-athlete’s behalf.

McQuaide threw for 3,123 yards with 25 touchdowns last year and still could play for the Wildcats this season. However, with the Patriot League denying his eligibility, the case will need to be settled in court.

On Aug. 11, Hamilton, on behalf of McQuaide, filed a motion for clarification to the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Hamilton is looking for the court to clarify whether the Patriot League is legally required to obey the court’s preliminary injunction. If so, the conference must allow McQuaide to play.

On Friday, two days after Hamilton filed a notice of supplemental authority to prompt an expedited ruling, the NCAA filed a brief in opposition. The governing body contends that the Patriot League is a “separate entity from the NCAA.” As the conference was not “served process and is not a defendant,” the NCAA is contending the motion for clarification does not apply to the Patriot League.

The question of McQuaide’s eligibility pertains to his 2022 season at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. In the original waiver request to the NCAA, Villanova argued that the COVID-19 pandemic directly led to the quarterback’s single season with the junior college. McQuaide contends that the pandemic stunted his development in high school, and he landed at Kent State as a walk-on. After one year redshirting with the Golden Flashes, he transferred to Mississippi Gulf Coast before two seasons at Nicholls State. Villanova described the move to a JUCO as a “necessary bridge rather than a choice to ‘use’ an additional season.”

JUCO programs are not under the purview of the NCAA, but seasons spent at that level historically counted toward student-athletes’ eligibility. However, Villanova had requested that the season should not count as one of McQuaide’s allotted seasons of eligibility.

Villanova’s season opener is Friday at 6 p.m. against conference opponent William & Mary. With just six days to go before the opener and McQuaide’s situation unresolved, the Wildcats might have to look at another option at quarterback. Throughout spring and summer camps, senior Robert Russo and freshman Nolan DiLucia have been getting a majority of the starter reps.