Yahoo Autos Monmouth football stuns No. 9 Villanova, 49-42, getting first CAA win in dramatic fashion
Monmouth officially announced its arrival into the Colonial Athletic Association in dramatic fashion Saturday with a stunning road upset of one of the league’s heavyweights.
The newcomers shook off the doubters and emerged from Villanova Stadium with a thrilling 49-42 victory over the nationally-ranked, defending league champion Wildcats.
Despite 482 yards of offense, Monmouth’s first-ever CAA victory, and arguably the program's biggest win ever, was not assured until Mike Reid made an interception in the end zone on a Hail Mary pass as time expired, after Jaden Shirden scored the winning points on a 16-yard touchdown run with 48 seconds to play.
“One of the things I talked to the players about was that no matter what happened, they had to just keep playing, keep going, and they obviously did that,” Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan said. “The game went back and forth and in the end it was a great win for us."
Monmouth (2-2, 1-1), picked to finish 10th, is now knee-deep in the battle for both a CAA title and a spot in the FCS Playoffs. Villanova (2-2, 0-1), ranked ninth nationally and the preseason pick to defend its title, finished with 539 yards of offense, coming back six times to tie the game in what was a wild afternoon in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
The Hawks, who won Big South titles in 2019 and the spring of 2021, are now 40-13 against FCS foes since 2017.
Leading the way was Shirden, as the speedy sophomore who entered the game as the nation’s leading rusher added 211 yards to that total, scoring a pair of touchdowns.
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Villanova quarterback Connor Watkins scored on a five-yard TD run, his second of the game, with 2:42 to play, as the Wildcats continued to battle back. But Monmouth answered as quarterback Tony Muskett found Assanti Kearney for 19 yards into Villanova territory, setting up Shirden's heroics in the red zone.
Muskett finished with 161 passing yards and three TDs, to go with 78 yards on the ground. Kearney caught a pair of touchdown passes, while Owen Wright ran for a pair of touchdowns, including a fourth-down plunge with 6:21 to play that gave Monmouth a 42-35 lead.
Monmouth, which never trailed in the game, had 321 yards on the ground.
While both defenses gave up a lot of yardage, Monmouth was able to make the most important play of all, as cornerback Davis Smith intercepted a pass and returned it to the 10-yard-line, setting up Wright's fourth-down scoring run.
“When it came down late in the game, the defense got a huge pick, and that says a lot about out kids and how much winning this game meant to them," said Callahan.
Monmouth built a 21-14 halftime lead, but the game was tied at 28-all heading into the final quarter.
Fast start
Monmouth opened the game with a 75-yard touchdown drive in less than two minutes. It began with Dymere Miller, who missed the last two games with a shoulder injury, taking a jet sweep and racing 43 yards, and ended with Muskett finding Kearney in the end zone from 19 yards out.
The Wildcats answered right back, with Jalen Jackson doing most of the damage, rushing for 64 yards on six carries, taking it the final nine yards to even the score at 7-7. The Wildcats committed to running the ball to see if the Hawks could stop it. The Hawks made on a stop on Jackson on a fourth-and-2 at the Monmouth 14 in the final minute of the first quarter, as the score remained tied.
Muskett and Co. took full advantage of it, driving 87 yards, including a 30-yard burst by Shirden, with Wright scoring from three yards out to give the Hawks a 14-7 lead with 10:06 to play in the first half. Watkins then found Jaaron Hayek deep for 51 yards, splitting Monmouth defenders with Wright making the tackle at the 16. Four plays later it was Watkins sneaking it in from a yard out to tie the game with 2:04 on the clock.
But that was enough time, as Muskett found Ugo Obasi on an 11-yard hookup early in the drive, and then for 22-yards on a fourth-and three from the Villanova 36. Muskett closed the drive out with a six-yard TD pass to Miller in the front of the end zone, giving Monmouth a 21-14 halftime lead.
Jackson scored to even matters on the Wildcats’ opening possession of the second half, capping a 68-yard drive.
