'Nova's Talley realistially looking ahead

A LOSS tomorrow at 13th-ranked Richmond (6-2, 3-1 CAA) obviously wouldn't end No. 4 Villanova's (7-1, 4-0) season. But a win could go a real long way toward enhancing the Wildcats' postseason prospects.

Much of the time in FCS it's about putting yourself into the most conducive position. Because the last thing you want to have to do is take your team on the road in December. Nobody understands that better than coach Andy Talley, who's experienced both sides of that equation. So he knows precisely how much is at stake this week, in terms of long-range perspective. And by this point in his career he's more than secure enough to actually talk about those potential ramifications.

"We hate to look ahead, as all of us do, because we're all so very concerned about making sure that our players are focusing on this game this week, because it's the biggest game," Talley said. "And it is the biggest game of the year for us. But we have a mature team. And I said to them on Sunday night, 'I'll give you coach-speak if you want coach-speak, or I can give you reality therapy. What do you want?'

"They said, 'Well tell us what you think.' I said, 'Well, here's the deal. If you can win this game, I think we stand a good chance of having a nice shot to win the last three games beyond this game, which would make you an 11-1 team.' Now why are you even talking like that? But I mean, I've got to set the table for how important this game is. Because if we're an 11-1 football team, with a close [loss] to Syracuse, we're going to be a top-four seed in the playoffs.

"You don't even want to talk about that stuff, right? Well, hey, that's kind of where we can go. And if you're in the playoffs, you want to be home three times. I don't want to go to North Dakota State, [or] McNeese. I've been to those places. They're not fun. Eastern Washington. You want to play three really good teams at Villanova Stadium, which is what we did in '09 [en route to a national title] when we had to play New Hampshire and William & Mary twice. Now we have the opportunity to do that [again]. So I just put it out there. What are you playing for? Obviously, you're playing for a championship."

In 2010 the Wildcats had to travel three straight times, to play the top-rated team each week, and it finally caught up with them - barely - in the semifinals.

"If I had a younger team I wouldn't even go near that," Talley conceded. "But c'mon. We're after it. And we're going to be in a real dogfight Saturday. So I just hope we can win this one and see where we go."

Maybe even no farther than Lancaster Avenue.

Just in case, the last three games are home against Towson (3-5, 1-3) and No. 23 Albany (6-2, 2-2) and at Delaware (4-4, 2-2).

The Quakers (1-5, 1-2 Ivy League) have only been at home twice. Once was against Villanova. The combined records of the teams they've lost to is 31-5. None of them has more than one loss. Now they get Brown (3-3, 1-2), at Franklin Field, in a game they at least figure to have a shot in for a change.

"We've had so few home games it's scary," said coach Al Bagnoli, who has four games left in his Hall of Fame career. "We've had our hands full. But the kids continue to practice well. They're handling all this as well as you can. But again, it's not an easy thing.

"Honestly, the teams we've lost to - and Jacksonville was maybe 50-50 - obviously have been better teams than we have from top to bottom, whatever you're talking about. As a coach you kind of look at it and go, 'OK, we're catching people at the [wrong time].' It becomes tough . . .

"We're going to get to that point. We have some pretty good young players. We're just not there yet."