RICHMOND, Va. - It wasn't a miraculous catch, just a magical one.
Villanova wide receiver Brandyn Harvey's one-handed 29-yard touchdown reception with 59 seconds remaining, along with kicker Nick Yako's extra point, gave the Wildcats an enormous 21-20 triumph over Richmond yesterday. The Spiders were ranked No. 1 in the Football Championship Subdivision.
After Harvey's TD, Spiders placekicker Andrew Howard had a chance to win the game but his 35-yard field-goal attempt with five seconds remaining sailed wide left.
The visiting Wildcats - ranked No. 4 in the FCS - improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association. For the defending national champion Spiders (8-1, 6-1), the loss was their first setback in 18 games.
Villanova is 2-6 all-time in games against the nation's top-ranked teams, with both of those victories against Richmond.
This one came courtesy of Harvey, who finished with six receptions for 79 yards, plus the deciding touchdown. All of his catches were in the second half and none was bigger than his fifth TD of the season.
"I should have caught the ball with two hands," said the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder, who turned 22 on Friday. "One worked, so everything is all right."
Harvey's athletic play came when his team needed it most.
Down 20-13, the Wildcats faced fourth and 11 at the Richmond 29-yard line with 1:06 remaining.
Quarterback Chris Whitney (277 passing yards, three TDs) appeared to overthrow Harvey. But the righthanded wideout, with three defenders around him, lunged forward and made a lefthanded catch at the 8-yard line. He then sprinted into the end zone, silencing the UR Stadium homecoming crowd of 11,667.
Yako's conversion gave the Wildcats a one-point lead with just 59 seconds left.
"To me this was pretty big, because I had a down game, kind of," Harvey said of his game-winner. "I didn't do as much as I probably wanted to do. But I made a play at the end of the game. So it kind of made up for it."
Completing 4 of 6 passes on the drive, Whitney made up for a critical interception in the closing seconds of the third quarter.
Leading 14-6 and with the ball at the Spiders' 7-yard line, the Wildcats had an opportunity to break the game wide open. But Whitney's second-down pass over the middle was intercepted by Richmond's Patrick Weldon, and the linebacker returned it 70 yards to the Villanova 25.
Five plays later, Richmond quarterback Eric Ward completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to wideout Tre Gray. Ward's two-point conversion pass to Jordan Mitchell knotted the score at 14.
Richmond went ahead on Kendall Gaskins' 1-yard touchdown run with 2:22 to play, but Howard, who had a tough day, missed the extra point.
Richmond's senior kicker also missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt at the end of the first half. Howard didn't get a chance to kick the first extra-point try, as a bad snap flew over his head. After he recovered the ball, his pass failed.
Contact staff writer Keith Pompey at 610-313-8029 or kpompey@phillynews.com.
