Villanova Overrated......

[wideright82]

Well, at least that's what Coach T thinks.........





How good is the Villanova football team that defeated Temple and Lehigh in the first two weeks of the season?
According to the Sports Network, Villanova is a national contender in the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly Division I-AA.
Yesterday, the Wildcats (2-0) moved up one spot, to second, in TSN's top-25 poll.
But Villanova coach Andy Talley said his team was overrated after Saturday's 38-17 victory over Lehigh. He reiterated that at yesterday's weekly coaches' conference of the Colonial Athletic Association.
"I think any coach that's in the top five in the country after two games really feels he's overrated," Talley said. "You really haven't played through the season to find out what you are really made out of.
"And I think if you are going to speak your mind and really tell what you feel, I would feel, 'Sure, we are definitely overrated.' "



http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/20090915_No_2_ranking_fails_to_impress_Talley.html

[JMU DUUUKES LAW]

Tricked ! I was about to defend your school !! haha

[Shellin]

Well...obviously Villanova is overrated, we established last season that Montana would've beaten them by 50...right? :)

[JMU Newbill]

They play football at Villanova?


Kidding.... I like Talley's stance. I've been saying JMU is over-rated since the first poll came out. Until anyone proves anything a few weeks in, its hard to say one way or the other who deserves to be highly ranked.

[ASUG8]

He's sandbagging.....Nova's good. xthumbsupx

[GoDukes86]

Nova is good, Talley was speaking to his own team.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I was there. Only coach Talley could spin a dominating 38-17 win into a "disappointment."

I can't wait until Richmond plays Villanova, No. 1 vs. No. 2. It could become a sandbagging war: Talley will claim that his team couldn't beat St. Francis, while London will one-up him and say that his team is worse than Texas Southern.

[bluehenbillk]

Well Talley does have a point. All they've played are Temple & Lehigh. Could either of those teams even win one game (sans Towson) in the CAA South?

Well, check that, Towson would beat Lehigh.

[EmeryZach]

This is smart. He's making sure his team doesn't start getting complacent.

[ASUG8]

This is smart. He's making sure his team doesn't start getting complacent.

True - there is definitely something to "reading one's own press" xbawlingx

[Wildcat80]

I hope UNH finds out he IS RIGHT on October 10th! Should be a terrific game. GO WILDCATS!!!

[89Hen]

He must have attended the Sandbagging Seminar from Tubby Raymond and Lou Holtz. Both were amazed they ever won a single game. :p

[blukeys]

Experienced Coach who is downplaying expectations and trying to keep his team focused. Or you could call it sandbagging. The Philly media love all things Nova so Talley is doing the right thing here. While my feelings for Nova are not a secret, Talley is a smart coach and is owed much by the Nova crowd.

The 2nd seed in the tournament gets as many home games as the #1. Talley will be happy to stay below the radar.

[Hoyadestroya85]

This is why the media loves Andy Talley. The only problem is that he's sandbagging big time. Not saying it's a bad idea.

[blukeys]

He must have attended the Sandbagging Seminar from Tubby Raymond and Lou Holtz. Both were amazed they ever won a single game. :p

Tubby amd Lou expressed surprise at beating the Little Sisters of the Poor. Obviously, Andy was paying attention.

[BDKJMU]

I was there. Only coach Talley could spin a dominating 38-17 win into a "disappointment."

I can't wait until Richmond plays Villanova, No. 1 vs. No. 2. It could become a sandbagging war: Talley will claim that his team couldn't beat St. Francis, while London will one-up him and say that his team is worse than Texas Southern.

xeyebrowxxeyebrowxxeyebrowx
You're assuming that in successive weeks in Oct Nova beats W&M, wins @ UNH and @ JMU before playing UR Nov 7 AND UR wins @ JMU and beats UMass before playing Nova for it to be a #1 vs a #2.

Thats 5 wins that Nova and UR will have to make against current top 17, 3 on the road, for a #1 vs #2 matchup in Nov. No disrespect to UR and Nova, as I think they BOTH could be seeds, but I'll make a wager with you or anyone else that UR-Nova WON'T be a #1 vs #2 in Nov. One of them will have a loss and it will likely be a #1 vs a #4-5ish in November.

[Ivytalk]

I hope Talley and company sandbag Penn on Saturday!:D And add some concrete, bricks and mortar...xwhistlex

[Go...gate]

He must have attended the Sandbagging Seminar from Tubby Raymond and Lou Holtz. Both were amazed they ever won a single game. :p

You're forgetting about the master, "Crying Frank" Leahy in his years at ND.

[KAUMASS]

Villanova should be 5-0 going into the W&M game. The next two weeks they have Penn & Northeastern. I don't see them losing to either in the next 2 weeks.
Nova will be severly tested the following 3 weeks. W&M is a home game. UNH & JMU on the road the following 2 weeks. 3 consective games in a row, no byes during that stretch.. We will find out what Villanova has during that stretch. We know 'Nova is stacked this year and will contend for the CAA south, but this is the CAA & Any Given Saturday. Coming in 3rd is not a bad spot in the CAA south either, as the last 2 years have proven with that 3rd place team going on to the title game...

[jstclmet]

xeyebrowxxeyebrowxxeyebrowx
You're assuming that in successive weeks in Oct Nova beats W&M, wins @ UNH and @ JMU before playing UR Nov 7 AND UR wins @ JMU and beats UMass before playing Nova for it to be a #1 vs a #2.

Thats 5 wins that Nova and UR will have to make against current top 17, 3 on the road, for a #1 vs #2 matchup in Nov. No disrespect to UR and Nova, as I think they BOTH could be seeds, but I'll make a wager with you or anyone else that UR-Nova WON'T be a #1 vs #2 in Nov. One of them will have a loss and it will likely be a #1 vs a #4-5ish in November.

There's too much football between now and 11/7 to be talking about #1 vs. #2. However, to oblige your thought process, both Nova & UR could lose a game in that stretch and still find themselves #1 vs. #2 come 11/7.

Hofstra with their talented QB might give UR a run for their money and could very easily upset the Spiders. Should that happen, Nova could be a #1, and W&M, could be a near #2 when they play on 10/3.

If Nova is victorious against the Tribe, then they would travel to UNH on 10/10 for another top 5 battle with the Northern Cats.

Just for chuckles, lets assume the Main line Cats win up there, then they march into Harrisonburg on 10/17, for yet another Top 5 matchup.

URI, and their talented QB would next stand in the way of a potential #1 vs #2 matchup in Richmond.

Of course, UR would have to win their way back to the #2 spot, and UNI, & Montana would have to fall somewhere in between.......

What if.....What if.....What if.......

Don't worry about the seedings, just play ball.

[Hoyadestroya85]

I actually like having the difficult games in consecutive weeks. It's a good rehearsal for the playoffs. I like Villanova against W&M, UNH and Richmond but not so sure about JMU (they're an unknown for me)

[Bull Fan]

Hofstra with their talented QB might give UR a run for their money and could very easily upset the Spiders. Should that happen, Nova could be a #1, and W&M, could be a near #2 when they play on 10/3.

What'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis? Right now the jury's out on the ability of the Dutch quarterbacking situation. Christopher is fine with the short passing game, but isn't accurate at this point in getting down field. Compounding that with the terrible offensive game plan, this could be an ugly wake-up call for us Hofstra fans. Wins against Stony Brook and Bryant were close, too close.

[Go...gate]

Does Penn have any chance at all this week? I'm thinking 35-0, 45-7, something like that. This is not the Penn of old.

[GannonFan]

Does Penn have any chance at all this week? I'm thinking 35-0, 45-7, something like that. This is not the Penn of old.

Penn's got no shot whatsoever. As you say, Penn's better years are behind them right now and the difference between the CAA and the Ivy is so skewed in favor of the former right now that this won't even be a contest.

[Hoyadestroya85]

I'd love to see Penn get crapped on, but it has never happened yet. This is their Bowl Game as Andy Talley refers to it. They'll be fresher and have two weeks of tape to work with. Villanova has to work on previous seasons. I want this to be a destruction but history says no.

[GannonFan]

I'd love to see Penn get crapped on, but it has never happened yet. This is their Bowl Game as Andy Talley refers to it. They'll be fresher and have two weeks of tape to work with. Villanova has to work on previous seasons. I want this to be a destruction but history says no.


The thing is, for most of those years, it's not like the nova teams were all that good. nova did go 5 years in between playoff berths and while this may be the year, haven't had consecutive playoff berths since the '96-'97 years. This is clearly the best nova team since those years so we'll see what happens this year.

[ngineer]

Nova is good, Talley was speaking to his own team.

Correct. PLus, note that he said every coach of a top 5 school should say they're overrated.

[JMU Newbill]

I actually like having the difficult games in consecutive weeks. It's a good rehearsal for the playoffs. I like Villanova against W&M, UNH and Richmond but not so sure about JMU (they're an unknown for me)


That game against JMU is going to be a lot of fun! Homecoming at JMU that day... gonna make for a great atmosphere (not that it wouldn't have been anyway).

Depending on what we do the weekend before against Richmond, and how the rest of our games play out up until that game...... you could have some serious implications riding on it for both sides.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I said in the beginning of the year that Villanova was good but at the end of the day was overrated because of their schedule. Given their schedule i thought they'd lose at least 4 games. Getting by with anything less than 3 losses would be a mighty feat imo. They have W&M, @ UNH, @ JMU, @ Richmond and UD home. Going 3-2 against that would be a great accomplishment. However, after beating a solid Temple team they can do better. I was at that game and while Temple was the more talented team Villanova knew how to win. That intangible counts for a lot.

[Hoyadestroya85]

I said in the beginning of the year that Villanova was good but at the end of the day was overrated because of their schedule. Given their schedule i thought they'd lose at least 4 games. Getting by with anything less than 3 losses would be a mighty feat imo. They have W&M, @ UNH, @ JMU, @ Richmond and UD home. Going 3-2 against that would be a great accomplishment. However, after beating a solid Temple team they can do better. I was at that game and while Temple was the more talented team Villanova knew how to win. That intangible counts for a lot.

That's true, good teams win close games. Villanova had close calls against inferior teams last year but still won every single one of them. JMU last year was the same way. This Villanova team seems to have more firepower than they did last year as they're scoring over 30 points a game to this point. The interesting thing to watch is how Chris Whitney does throwing the ball when teams stop the run. He did an admirable job against Temple but I don't know how often to expect that.