2014 Villanova Wildcats football team

The 2014 Villanova Wildcats football team represented Villanova University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 30th-year head coach Andy Talley and played their home games at Villanova Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 11–3, 7–1 in CAA play to finish in second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Liberty in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to Sam Houston State.

2014 Villanova Wildcats football
FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals vs. Sam Houston State, L 31–34
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 5
FCS Coaches	No. 5
2014 record	11–3 (7–1 CAA)
Head coach	Andy Talley (30th season)
Offensive coordinator	Sam Venuto (16th season)
Defensive coordinator	Billy Crocker (3rd season)
Home stadium	Villanova Stadium (Capacity: 12,000)

2014 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 New Hampshire $^		8	–	0					12	–	2
No. 7 Villanova ^		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 18 James Madison ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 16 Richmond ^		5	–	3					9	–	5
William & Mary		4	–	4					7	–	5
Delaware		4	–	4					6	–	6
Maine		4	–	4					5	–	6
Stony Brook		4	–	4					5	–	7
Albany		3	–	5					7	–	5
Towson		2	–	6					4	–	8
Rhode Island		1	–	7					1	–	11
Elon		0	–	8					1	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	7:30 PM	at Syracuse*	No. 12	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ESPN3	L 26–27 ^2OT	41,189
September 6	3:30 PM	No. 11 Fordham*	No. 10	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	ASN	W 50–6	6,151
September 20	12:30 PM	James Madison	No. 8	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	CSN	W 49–31	10,781
September 27	3:00 PM	at Penn*	No. 6	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA		W 41–7	12,353
October 4	12:30 PM	at Maine	No. 6	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME		W 41–20	5,173
October 11	1:00 PM	Rhode Island	No. 6	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	NNAA	W 44–21	3,611
October 18	3:30 PM	at No. 15 William & Mary	No. 5	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA		W 35–31	10,764
October 25	3:30 PM	Morgan State*	No. 5	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	NNAA	W 48–28	7,821
November 1	12:30 PM	at No. 13 Richmond	No. 4	Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	CSN	L 9–10	7,902
November 8	7:00 PM	Towson	No. 7	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA		W 42–14	4,529
November 15	7:00 PM	Albany	No. 6	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	ASN	W 48–31	4,541
November 22	12:00 PM	at Delaware	No. 6	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE (Battle of the Blue)		W 35–28	17,056
December 6	4:30 PM	No. 20 Liberty*	No. 5	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 29–22	3,113
December 13	1:00 PM	No. 19 Sam Houston State*	No. 5	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinal)	ESPN3	L 31–34	2,333
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

at Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
#12 Wildcats	0	7	7	3	3	6	26
Orange	7	3	7	0	3	7	27

See also: 2014 Syracuse Orange football team

Overall Record	Last Meeting	Result
1–2	1975	L 17–24

Fordham

	1	2	3	4	Total
#11 Rams	3	0	3	0	6
#10 Wildcats	7	26	7	10	50

See also: 2014 Fordham Rams football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
20–5–1	2013	L 24–27

James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dukes	0	21	3	7	31
#8 Wildcats	7	7	14	21	49

See also: 2014 James Madison Dukes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–12	2013	L 21–31

at Penn

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Wildcats	21	20	0	0	41
Quakers	0	7	0	0	7

See also: 2014 Penn Quakers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–5	2013	W 35–6

at Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Wildcats	7	14	13	7	41
Black Bears	7	6	0	7	20

See also: 2014 Maine Black Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–9	2013	L 35–37

Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	0	0	21	21
#6 Wildcats	16	21	0	7	44

See also: 2014 Rhode Island Rams football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–3	2013	W 45–0

at William and Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Wildcats	14	0	14	7	35
Tribe	7	14	3	7	31

See also: 2014 William & Mary Tribe football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
14–16–1	2013	W 20–16

Morgan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	14	0	7	28
#5 Wildcats	14	7	27	0	48

See also: 2014 Morgan State Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First Meeting

at Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
#4 Wildcats	0	3	6	0	9
Spiders	0	0	10	0	10

See also: 2014 Richmond Spiders football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
21–10	2012	L 17–28

Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	0	7	0	14
#7 Wildcats	7	14	0	21	42

See also: 2014 Towson Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–3	2013	W 45–35

Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	7	3	7	14	31
#6 Wildcats	14	14	14	6	48

See also: 2014 Albany Great Danes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First Meeting

at Delaware

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Wildcats	13	7	7	8	35
Blue Hens	0	7	7	14	28

See also: 2014 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team and Battle of the Blue

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
25–21–1	2013	W 35–34

FCS Playoffs

Liberty (FCS Playoffs Second Round)

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Flames	10	9	3	0	22
#5 Wildcats	0	14	0	15	29

See also: 2014 Liberty Flames football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–1	1994	W 16–13

Sam Houston State (FCS Playoff Quarterfinal)

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Bearkats	7	10	7	10	34
#5 Wildcats	13	3	8	7	31

See also: 2014 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First Meeting

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
Sports Network	12	10	8	8	6	6	6	5	5	4	7	6	6	5	5
Coaches	13	7	7	7	5	5	5	4	4	3	7	6	6	5	5

References