Talley hoping to avoid a 'trap' game in matchup against Morgan State

VILLANOVA, ranked fifth in FCS, is coming off a huge, last-minute comeback win at then-No. 15 William & Mary. Next week, the Wildcats (6-1) face another pivotal road game at No. 16 Richmond. First, they must make sure they take care of business tomorrow afternoon at home against Morgan State (4-3).

Good thing that coach Andy Talley believes he has a mature enough group to handle it.

"I guess you could say this is one of those 'trap' games," he said. "I think our team knows the situation. We expended a lot of energy in Williamsburg. But c'mon. This is another important step in where we want to go as a team. They all are . . . All you have to do is look in the pros and see how many players there are from the MEAC."

This one wasn't even supposed to be on the schedule. But for the first time ever, the Wildcats are playing 12 games this season, in part so they could have a better Homecoming situation instead of a second bye. We'll see how it works out.

They might have gotten lucky last week, when they had to survive back-to-back Hail Marys. And when you have John Robertson, you always have a chance. He's as consistently good as you'll find, and he's clutch. Which helps explain why he's emerged as the favorite to win the Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player at his level. But there's still another month left in the regular season. And as far as playoff positioning goes, there's really little margin for missteps.

"You need a little luck, especially on the road," said Talley, who lost an important home game in 2008 to James Madison on a Hail Mary. "The best thing you can say is you won and nobody got hurt. But it was a war. We held on by a finger.

"I was thinking, 'I'm too old for this to happen again.' I just wanted to get out of Dodge."

In a season of lasts for retiring coach Al Bagnoli, the Connecticut native's final trip to New Haven is next up.

"It's my old stomping grounds," he said. "But that means ticket requests are through the roof. I don't think I even know half the people who are asking for them."

The Quakers (1-4, 1-1 Ivy League) beat winless Columbia at home last week. This is their fourth road game. It's the fifth time Yale (4-1, 1-1) hasn't had to get on a bus.

"We needed something good to happen, to validate that the things we're doing still work," Bagnoli said. "I hope it will allow us to build a little momentum, confidence and continuity moving forward."

Both teams lost to Dartmouth. Penn lost up there (31-13) and the Bulldogs went down at their place (38-31). It's Penn's only game on grass.

Bagnoli wants his young quarterback, Alek Torgersen, to learn when and how to show some more discretion when the situation warrants it.

"He's taking way too many hits, head-on," he said. "He has to be smarter when he runs. It doesn't make sense to me. Get out of bounds, or slide . . .

"Medically, we're a mess. It seems like we get one back and lose three others. But we all have to deal with it."

Morgan State at Villanova

3:30 p.m. Saturday

Villanova Stadium

TV: None. Radio: CBS Sports (610-AM)

Records: Morgan State 4-3, Villanova 6-1

History: First meeting

About Morgan State: Bears first-year coach Lee Hull was an assistant at Oregon State and Maryland. In the 1980s, he played against Villanova while at Holy Cross ... Losses were at Eastern Michigan (31-28) and Holy Cross (29-26) to start the season and at Norfolk State (15-14) on Sept. 27 ... Herb Walker Jr., a Walter Payton Award candidate, has rushed for 982 yards and nine TDs out of the option ... QB Robert Council has thrown for seven scores and run for six.

About Villanova: Wildcats, ranked fifth in FCS, rallied to win at William & Mary in final minute, 35-31 ... John Robertson, who might be the Payton front-runner, was the CAA Offensive Player of the Week for the fifth time this season and 14th overall, a record. He accounts for four TDs just about every week ... LB Don Cherry was added to the Buck Buchanan Watch list for the national Defensive Player of the Year ... Next week they're at No. 16 Richmond.

Penn at Yale

1:30 p.m Saturday

Yale Bowl, New Haven, Conn.

TV: NBC Sports Network. Radio: WNTP (990-AM)

Records: Penn 1-4, 1-1 Ivy League; Yale 4-1, 1-1

History: Yale leads, 46-34-1. Penn has won five of last six, including last year at home (28-17)

About Penn: Quakers beat winless Columbia at home, 31-7, to end eight-game losing streak and five-game Ivy losing streak ... Haven't lost 2 in a row at Yale since 1999-2000 ... All losses were to teams ranked or receiving votes in the FCS Top 25 ... They have a lot of injuries, particularly at RB, where Kyle Wilcox (concussion) might be back ... Haven't forced a turnover in two Ivy games, after getting at least one in 12 straight before that ... Jimmy Gammill has made 9 of 10 field goals ... Next week they host Brown.

About Yale: Bulldogs, who've had only one road game, have scored at least 45 in each win ... Loss was at home to Dartmouth (38-31) ... Tyler Varga has rushed for 525 yards and eight TDs ... Deon Randall has 44 catches ... They give up 34 pts. per ... Kyle Cazzetta is 5-for-7 on FGs