Season Preview: For Villanova, it's more than just John Robertson

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VILLANOVA, Pa. -- By now, everyone knows about John Robertson.

The Villanova quarterback is a superstar in the FCS. He puts up video game numbers. He's a legitimate NFL prospect. And if there’s anyone that can carry Villanova to its first national championship since 2009, it’s Robertson.

But of course, Andy Talley knows it doesn’t exactly work that way. And after losing some key players from the team that stormed to the FCS quarterfinals last year, the veteran head coach has some natural trepidation about the pieces surrounding Robertson for the 2015 season, which begins Thursday night with a tough road test against the University of Connecticut.

“You have a skilled technician who’s been through it all and really understands the pressure of the position,” Talley, who’s entering his 31st season at the Wildcats’ helm, said. “I’m more concerned about the people we put around him — giving him the protection we need to throw the ball, giving him receivers to catch the ball and making sure our running backs our solid.”

The Wildcats certainly don’t have as much experience at running back after graduating Kevin Monangai, who led the team with 1,138 rushing yards and 12 rushing TDs last year and spent some time in Eagles training camp before being cut this week.

But his absence — along with longtime running back Austin Medley’s — opens a door for senior Gary Underwood, who is ready to take the reins after missing a good chunk of the 2014 season with a knee injury.

“Everyone’s counting on me to be the guy,” Underwood said. “I’m ready to take that role.”

Underwood was thrown right into the fire at Villanova, playing in all but one game during his freshman and sophomore seasons. He then slid up to the depth chart at running back while also featuring as a kick returner last season, before getting knocked out with an injury.

Now, heading into his senior season, he insists the game has “slowed down” for him and he doesn’t feel any pressure to take hold of that No. 1 running back spot — or deal with some lofty expectations.

“He’s been terrific,” Talley said. “He had a great preseason. He looks really good. I think he’ll be a 1,000-yard rusher this year.”

To do so, Underwood will have to find holes behind an offensive line that graduated two all-conference performers in Ross Hall and Vince Kowalski, who’s in training camp with the Green Bay Packers. But the Wildcats will have a strong anchor on a revamped line in Kyle Wallace, who’s moving from guard to center to replace Hall.

Meanwhile, the receiving corps should be in good hands with senior Kevin Gulyas returning to headline the group after catching nine touchdowns and amassing 677 receiving yards last season.

And, of course, it’s nice that the reigning Walter Payton Award winner who completed 65 percent of his passes and threw for 35 touchdowns last season will be the one tossing them passes.

“It’s very helpful to have a guy like him, no doubt,” Gulyas said of Robertson. “But it’s good to see he trusts us as receivers to get open. A lot of times he’ll just throw the ball and trust us that we’ll get to an open spot and catch it. We know what he’s thinking when he drops back. He’s a quarterback that keeps plays alive. We’ve come to learn that a lot of our catches will come off scrambles and not to give up on a play.”

While Robertson is a bona fine star on one side of the ball, the Wildcats are fortunate to have another one on the other side: All-American senior linebacker Don Cherry.

Last season, Cherry had a whopping 134 tackles (the fifth best single-season total in school history), including 21.5 tackles for a loss, as well as 10 sacks and five forced fumbles en route to finishing second for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented to the top defensive player in the FCS.

He’s once again a Buck Buchanan Award candidate for the 2015 season, his last at ’Nova.

“Donnie is a great leader,” Talley said. “He’ll be hard-pressed to have the kind of season he had last year. He’s all over the field — a great diagnosis guy and a team leader. He’s a legitimate pro prospect. He’s amongst the very best linebackers in the country, really.”

Talley added that NFL scouts had been to practice throughout August to watch both Robertson and Cherry. And he thinks they should also be paying attention to 6-foot-7, 275-pound defensive lineman Tanoh Kpassagnon, who’s expected to be one of the ’Cats top defensive players in his junior year.

Throw in defensive back Jason Ceneus, the CAA leader in interceptions last season, and some of the other returning starters and you’re looking at a deep and inexperienced defense that makes the Wildcats one of the favorites to win the Colonial Athletic Association and advance to the NCAA playoffs for the seventh time in nine years.

And if the Wildcats hope to live up to their No. 4 preseason ranking and advance to the national semifinals or beyond, they know they’ll need to count on more than just Robertson.

“Every year, you ratchet your goals up a little bit,” Talley said. “So [Robertson's] got team goals. And it can’t just be him. We need to improve as a team to go further.”

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