Villanova, Montana to meet for FCS title
December 17, 2009
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP)—Villanova coach Andy Talley sometimes wears hisnational championship ring while on recruiting trips—his basketball nationalchampionship ring, that is.
The ring was a gift from the school’s basketball team when he was hired in1985 to rebuild the football program. Twenty-five seasons later, Talley and theWildcats finally have their first shot at winning the school’s first FootballChampionship Subdivision title when they face Montana on Friday night inChattanooga.
The second-ranked Wildcats (13-1) couldn’t have picked a more dominantopponent.
“I think they’ve won something like 3,000 conference championships in arow,” Talley joked about Montana on Thursday. “They are the only show in townin Montana, and people rally around it much like people do in Pennsylvania withPenn State. We suffer from being in the suburbs in Philadelphia. I think thiscould have a bigger impact on the Villanova nation.”
Actually, the Grizzlies (14-0) have won just 12 Big Sky Conference titles ina row, but they’re undefeated for the second time in three seasons after losinglast year’s title game to Richmond.
They’re making their fifth appearance in the national championship game thisdecade and seventh overall. Despite the regular appearances, Montana has onlywon the title twice and hasn’t won since 2001, two seasons before coach BobbyHauck took over.
“You can’t try to win it any harder than we have in the past,” Hauck said.“We’re 14-0, we’re undefeated, we’re No. 1 in the nation, and we’d like to capthat with our 15th win (Friday) night, but we can’t work any harder. We can’tturn over any more rocks than we have in the past.”
Hauck acknowledged that his team made a number of errors in last year’s 24-7loss to the Spiders. After a missed field goal and a few other stalled drives,the Grizzlies were down 21-0 by halftime.
Montana wide receiver and return specialist Marc Mariani said thatexperience last season is helping him and his fellow teammates remain collectedthis year.
“We’ve been here before,” he said. “Like coach said, we made a lot ofmistakes last year pregame and during the game, and we’re trying to make surethose don’t happen again this year.”
Talley’s not convinced Montana has an edge because of its FCS championshipexperience.
The Wildcats have their own experience with high-pressure games. They facedFootball Bowl Subdivision’s West Virginia last season, made a 2008 NCAA playoffsappearance and won the 2009 title in the Colonial Athletic Association, arguablythe toughest FCS conference.
“The best you can hope for is to come in having been battle tested andready to play a topflight team,” he said. “Every game in the tournament is aone-and done situation, so there really is no pressure at this point.”
Villanova rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit in last week’s 14-13 winover William & Mary. A third-and-7 pass ruled incomplete was overturned byreplay, giving Villanova first-and-goal at the 6, and quarterback Chris Whitneyscored from a yard out on fourth down with 10:57 left to take the lead.
Montana had its own dramatic semifinals win over Appalachian State at homein the snow. Andrew Selle threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jabin Sambrano with1:31 left in the game to give the Grizzlies their 24-17 win.
Hauck says the game will come down to which team’s quarterback plays better.Selle, a junior, is averaging 192.3 yards passing per game and has thrown 25touchdowns this season. He also played in one series in last year’s FCSchampionship, experience Hauck hopes will help him.
Villanova’s Chris Whitney is averaging 136 yards passing per game and 36.2yards on the ground. He’s thrown only three touchdowns in the Wildcats’ offense,which favors the run.
Talley says he has a hard time finding weaknesses while reviewing the gamesMontana has played this season. Hauck says the feeling is mutual.
“You don’t get here without being pretty dang good,” he said. “You don’tget to this point 15 games in without being a complete football team. They are acomplete football team as I hope we are. I hope Andy was right and not pullingyour leg.”
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