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TOWSON, Md. – Seventh-ranked Villanova scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to break open a close game and cruise to a 42-14 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) victory over Towson on Saturday night at Villanova Stadium.

The loss snaps Towson's two-game win streak and drops the Tigers to 4-6 overall and 2-4 in CAA play. Villanova improves to 8-2 on the year and 5-1 in league play.

Despite the loss, sophomore running back Darius Victor reached a pair of major milestones in the game. In the first half, he became the ninth player, and just the third sophomore, in Towson history to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a season. In the second half, Victor moved past David Meggett into 10^th place on Towson's all-time career rushing yardage list.

Towson started the game playing nearly perfect on both sides of the ball. Villanova's opening drive was quickly halted as senior Ryan Delaire recorded his CAA-leading 11^th sack of the season to force a Wildcat punt.

On Towson's first offensive play, Victor broke a 33-yard run down to the Wildcat 23. Junior Connor Frazier then hit tight end Tanner Vallely for a 21 yard gain and Victor capped the three-play, 56-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

The Tiger defense forced another Villanova three-and-out and then drove into Wildcat territory, but failed to score. After registering minus seven yards on its first six plays, the Villanova offense came to life the remainder of the opening half. On their next 32 offensive plays, the Wildcats racked up 241 yards and scored three touchdowns to go into halftime with a 21-7 lead.

Towson took advantage of its first drive of the second half, going 83 yards in 16 plays with Frazier capping the drive by connecting with Vallely for a five-yard touchdown. The TD pass came on fourth down after a Villanova timeout, and cut the Wildcat lead to 21-14. The drive was Towson's longest of the year based on time (8:36) and matched the longest drive by plays.

The Tigers got the ball back trailing by seven late in the third quarter, but after a punt the Wildcats took control of the game. Villanova quarterback John Robertson scored on a one-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter and the Wildcat defense put the game away as Joe Sarnese intercepted a Frazier pass and ran it back 48 yards to seal the win.

Victor rushed 26 times for 165 yards and posted his CAA-leading 10th touchdown of the season. It marked the second best rushing game of his career, only trailing his 194-yard performance in Towson's win over North Carolina Central earlier this year.

Redshirt freshman Alfonso Augustine made a season-high 10 tackles while four different Tigers recorded sacks, all in the first half.
 
The Tigers return home next Saturday to take on No. 24/25 William & Mary at Johnny Unitas® Stadium. The final home game of the regular season is set to air on Comcast SportsNet at 3 p.m.



-TowsonTigers.com-