Villanova rallies late to beat Penn

Midway through the second quarter, Villanova's do-everything all-American, Matt Szczur, took his shoulder pads off, his night over. Szczur had suffered a sprained left ankle on his first touch of the game.

While Szczur was ruled out for the evening, the Wildcats were not. The action was just heating up for both Villanova and Penn on Saturday night. The top-ranked team in the Football Championship Series division needed a series of big plays and two touchdowns in the last 41/2 minutes to prevail over the Quakers, 22-10.

Villanova didn't take the lead for good until 4:29 remained in the game. Before that, a methodical 14-play Quakers drive and a field goal with a little more than nine minutes left in the game had put Penn ahead by 10-9.

But Villanova answered with its own drive and didn't have to settle for three points. Quarterback Chris Whitney stood in the pocket and delivered a 21-yard scoring strike to Norman White on a third-and-6 play.

With 2:59 left, Wildcats cornerback James Pitts provided the cushion with an interception and a 56-yard return for a touchdown.

After Penn scored first - on another one of those methodical drives, already a 2010 Quakers trademark - the first-half momentum turned back 'Nova's way.

Angelo Babbaro, a fifth-year senior and backup running back who often goes under the radar, impressively ran a kick back into Penn territory, caught a couple of passes, then scored Villanova's first touchdown, taking a direct Wildcat snap and running in untouched. So he ably filled Szczur's usual role.

Saturday night featured a little bit of everything, including a punt play in which there were both roughing-the-punter and roughing-the-punt-returner penalties. (That's advantage punt team. Villanova retained the ball with an automatic first down after its punter was roughed, then was penalized for roughing the returner.)

There also was a Villanova fumble by Aaron Ball when the ball was punched out from behind by Penn's Josh Powers at the end of a 51-yard rushing play. Penn took advantage, going on a 14-play drive that resulted in a 19-yard field goal that gave the Quakers that 10-9 lead with 9:10 left in the game. Penn hadn't scored in the second half against Villanova since 2005.

While the Wildcats missed Szczur, the Quakers didn't make it to halftime injury-free, either. Starting running back Lyle Marsh went out with an upper-body injury. Quarterback Keiffer Garton was sitting out his second straight game after off-season knee surgery. He is expected back for Ivy League play.

This was another in a series of wild back-and-forth local games. To sum up: Temple beat visiting Villanova on the final play of the season opener, and led Penn State deep into the third quarter Saturday in State College, and 'Nova trailed visiting Penn in the last five minutes. That combined set of circumstances was unprecedented.