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Keeping Robertson healthy a Villanova priority

BALTIMORE - The conundrum that exists for Villanova coach Andy Talley this season is attempting to build on the Wildcats' success of 2014 while keeping all-American quarterback John Robertson in one piece.

BALTIMORE - The conundrum that exists for Villanova coach Andy Talley this season is attempting to build on the Wildcats' success of 2014 while keeping all-American quarterback John Robertson in one piece.

Robertson won the Walter Payton Award last season as the nation's top player in the Football Championship Subdivision after averaging 301.8 yards of total offense and accounting for 46 touchdowns, 35 through the air. But he missed the Cats' second-round playoff game because of a concussion suffered the week before, and his team lost to Sam Houston State to finish the season 11-3.

Speaking Tuesday during Colonial Athletic Association media day at M&T Bank Stadium, Talley admitted he may have stuck with Robertson a little too long in games last season. He said plans being discussed to keep him healthy this season are to lighten his running load and remove him from games earlier whenever possible.

However, there is this little matter of winning.

"The coaching staff thinks, 'We really can't run him as much as we've been running him,' " said Talley, entering his 31st season as head man on the Main Line. "So then the question is: Can you still win without that? I don't think we're good enough to win without him doing what he does. So we'll wait and see.

"It's not like we're loaded [on offense]. We're definitely good on defense, we have a lot of starters back. But offensively, John is the man. There's no walkovers in our league. In our first three games, we play two [FCS] playoff teams in Delaware and Fordham and we play a I-A team in Connecticut. That's right from the get-go. So we've got to come out and play."

CAA coaches and media directors named Villanova the No. 1 team in the preseason.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Robertson, a fifth-year senior who was named the CAA's preseason offensive player of the year, understands the need to take fewer hits and "to be a little bit smarter when you do run," he said.

And he's on board with coming out of games a bit earlier when possible, although sometimes, he joked, "I felt like I was getting taken out at the half.

"I never think of it that way," he said. "It's get in there, get the work done. At the end of the day, when we do well and I'm able to get out, I usually have pretty good stats anyway. My main thing is to do what I need to do to win games, and I think everything else will fall into place."

Robertson's rushing attempts have risen over his three seasons, from 189 as a freshman to 217 as a sophomore to 227 last season. He established career highs last season in the passing game with 197 completions, 301 attempts, 2,846 yards, and 35 touchdowns against only three interceptions.

The Wildcats also have the CAA's preseason defensive player of the year in 6-1, 240-pound senior linebacker Don Cherry, who finished second last year in the balloting for the Buck Buchanan Award given to the nation's best FCS defensive player.

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