I'll admit that at the beginning of last year (and all throughout my 4 years at Villanova) I wasn't the most die-hard football fan out there. Which is kind of odd, because I'm an enormous college football football fan, maybe even more than I am a college basketball fan.
But in all fairness, it is a bit difficult to get into FCS football, and over my first 2-3 years, we weren't exactly beating the brakes off the other CAA schools. So call me a bandwagon fan if you want (I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that I am) but 1 National Championship and loads of FBS-talk later, and I'm fully on-board. Hell, I even bought season tickets this year, and plan to for year's to come.
I've been a bit busy lately though, and didn't have time to put together my own preview, even though I've spent more than enough time researching every nuance of everybody on our schedule. So I'm going to leave you in the capable hands of Brian from VUHoops and the Fact On Villanova Sports crew.
Some select highlights and links to their previews after The Jump.
We'll start off with Brian Ewart's preview Gridiron Greatness, which covers the changes to our offense and defense, as well as gives an overall outlook on the team.
Brian discusses the potential impact of the loss of star WR Brandyn Harvey (now with the Atlanta Falcons), as well as likely changes to the running attack and how much of the load Matt Szczur and Chris Whitney are expected to carry.
For me though, this blurb from Brian sums up exactly how I feel:
The 2010 Villanova Wildcats football team opens the season with high expectations. Confidence skyrocketed with the return of Matt Szczur, the only Division I player (FBS or FCS) to register a touchdown as a receiver, rusher, passer and kick returner last season. With so many starters returning and some great recruiting classes the last few years, this team has the talent to challenge for the CAA title again this season as well as to make another deep playoff run.
Moving on, we've also got a phenomenal multi-post preview from the Fact guys. They break it down into 6 sections, covering different units of the team 1 at a time as they really get in-depth to help 'Nova fans familiarize themselves with this year's team. Each post is linked below. It really is great work so make sure to head on over and check it out.
- Quarterbacks, Running Backs, and Wide Receivers
- Offensive Line
- Defensive Line
- Linebackers
- Defensive Secondary
- Special Teams