Here are the University provided post game quotes and notes from Villanova's 44-21 victory over Rhode Island on Saturday.
Notes
- Villanova has won five straight games for the first time since a nine-game winning streak to close the 2009 national championship season.
- The Wildcats are outscoring their opponents by a 225-85 margin and are averaging 519.6 yards of total offense in the last five games.
- Villanova has surpassed 40 points in five straight games for the first time in school history.
- Junior quarterback John Robertson threw four touchdown passes for the fourth straight game and the fifth time in his career.
- Senior wide receiver Poppy Livers tallied his 100th career reception on his first catch of today's game. He is the 24th Villanova player to reach 100 career receptions and the first to reach the century mark since Norman White and Dorian Wells each did so during the 2012 season.
Quotes
Villanova head coach Andy Talley...
- Opening statement: This is one of those games that really was a one half game for us. The second half was very sloppy for us. We tried to play a lot of young players and it became a game that quickly went downhill when we took John Robertson out of the game. We came in favored and played well until the second half when we put the younger players in. This is not really the type game you want to see in the heart of your schedule. A lot of young players were able to get some experience tonight and that was a good thing.
- On Poppy Livers: An inspirational leader. The little engine that could. He is someone that responds when needed and has become our go-to receiver. He has made big plays for us this season and his motivational leadership is great for the team.
- On the team's approach for a game against a weaker opponent: They prepared themselves for this situation. [Rhode Island] probably came out a little slow from their trip and we were ready to pounce on them. However, our penalty situation does not reflect how good we are as a football team right now.
- On John Robertson: He is the complete package. I hate to see that he is still nursing that hand but he is the eraser. He erases a mistake that someone made along the way and gets that first down. I would have rather seen him run the ball a little less today but just have to let him go. You can't reproduce what he is able to do. He is a defensive coordinator's worst nightmare. Defenders constantly have to play catch-up with him, but he probably could have played better today. As a team we had some very sloppy moments today.
Junior quarterback John Robertson...
- On the Wildcat offense: Our receivers are doing a good job at getting open for me and the offensive line has been great this year. They are helping me out a lot and making my job easy. There has been a lot of chemistry building in this group and I feel confident in the men in front of me.
- On Poppy Livers: Poppy is awesome on and off the field. The best thing about Poppy is that he is trying to take it all the way every single time. He plays with his heart and it shows on the field.
- On the 2014 season compared to last year: I think that our offensive line is giving me a lot of good protection. Teams aren't just staking the box on us they are forced to respect the pass. I think most importantly it is the confidence in our receivers that has made us really successful this year.
- On the Villanova defense: The defense has been fantastic because they get us the ball back so quickly. We always joke with them to just get us the ball back and we can do the rest.