College Football Notes: ‘Nova facing Delaware

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The Villanova and Penn football teams may be out of contention for any kind of championship.

But with each squad heading into their final games of the 2011 season Saturday, that doesnt mean they dont have anything to play for.

Lets start with Villanova.

Not only do the Wildcats have a chance to spoil the FCS playoff hopes of rival Delaware, they also get the opportunity to play the first-ever (American) football game at PPL Park, the home of Major League Soccers Philadelphia Union.

The rivalry game, dubbed the Battle of the Blue, kicks off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised live on the Comcast Network.

The place looks great, said Villanova coach Andy Talley of the sparking stadium on Chesters waterfront. Its all doctored up. The field is striped, the goal posts are up, and the people at the park couldnt be better to work with.

Were really hoping were going to have a big splash down there.

By just about all accounts, the season has been a disappointing one for Talley and the Wildcats, who own a 2-8 record and will miss the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2007.

But at this point of the season, they would love nothing more than to make sure Delawares season wont extend beyond the regular season, either. The Blue Hens are currently 6-4 and Talley said that Delaware coach K.C. Keeler believes Delaware will earn a playoff berth with a win in Saturdays regular-season finale.

A Nova win would also give Talleys team two straight victories to close out an otherwise disappointing season.

For us, its a tremendous opportunity to finish on a high note against our rivaland a team that is respected by everybody, Talley said. It would help greatly to keep our momentum going into next year if we can upset them. And they have a very good team as usual.

The Blue Hens may be very good but Villanova has certainly had their number of late. While the overall series between the two rivals is nearly deadlocked, Villanova has come out victorious in the last five meetings.

To what does Talley credit that recent string of success?

I think its just been about timing, the Villanova head coach said. I dont think theres any magic to it.

And then theres Penn, whose magic finally ran out this season.

Two weeks after losing their 18-game Ivy League win streak, the Quakers were officially dethroned as conference champions to Harvard, who clinched the outright title with a 37-20 win over Penn last weekend.

But even though the Quakers (4-2 Ivy League, 5-4 overall) will not win their third straight Ivy League championship, they still hope to put on a good show in Saturdays regular-season finale vs. Cornell at Franklin Field at 1 p.m.

One of the oldest rivalries in college football, Penn and Cornell always play on the last game of the season, and since 1995 the winner of the annual matchup has been awarded the Trustees Cup.

Hopefully we put our seniors out the door in good shape and get a little momentum for the offseason program and for recruiting, Penn head coach Al Bagnoli said. And if were able to win on Saturday, our seniors will have gone 24-4 in the league over the last four years. Obviously theyve done a pretty good job.

While Cornell (2-4, 4-5) is not one of the leagues top teams, the Big Red certainly come into Franklin Field flying high.

In last weeks 62-41 win over Columbia, Cornell sophomore quarterback Jeff Matthews threw for an astounding 521 yards on 40 completions and five touchdowns. All were school records.

It should be a fun game to be a part of, Bagnoli said. If youre a fan of throwing the football, it will probably be a fun game to watch.

Penn will also officially unveil a statue of former Quaker and Philadelphia Eagle great Chuck Bednarik at halftime of Saturdays game. Former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil will introduce Bednarik, and many of his other ex-teammates are expected to be in attendance.

How to stop Army

Temple head coach Steve Addazio has been preparing all week for Armys vaunted triple-option offense.

But thats not something thats easy to do in one week.

Army, despite coming into Saturdays matchup with Temple at Lincoln Financial Field (1 p.m., ESPN3.com) with just a 3-7 overall record, boasts a rushing offense that few teams have been able to slow down. In fact, statistically, its the best rushing offense in the nation.

I dont like preparing against it, said Temple coach Steve Addazio. Ive run this offense in my history. I ran it as a head high school coach. I ran it at Western Connecticut with Coach Paul Pasqualoni 100 years ago. So I have a fairly good grasp of it. And I know how hard it is to defend and how hard it is to prepare for it.

Since the Owls run the option themselves, Temples defense has been getting a good look in practice of what Army might bring Saturdaywhich Addazio called a little bit of an advantage.
But its still difficult to mimic exactly what Army does. The Black Knights average 352 yards per game on the ground and have scored 31 rushing touchdowns this season.

Were got our work cut out for us in trying to stop that ground attack, Addazio said.
Saturdays game marks the second of three straight home games to close out the regular season for Temple (6-4 overall, 4-3 MAC) and the last against a non-conference opponent.

The Owls are coming off a hard-fought 24-21 win over Miami (Ohio) last Wednesday in a game in which the defense forced three turnovers and had seven sacks. Their final regular-season game is next Friday against Kent State.

When youre down in the homestretch, youve got to find a way to win, Addazio said. Thats whats happening throughout the country right now.

CSNPhilly.com contributor Dave Zeitlin writes a weekly college football notebook focusing on Temple, Villanova and Penn. Email him at dzeitlin@gmail.com.

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