GAME EIGHT, LEHIGH AT VILLANOVA – Like Adonis Creed, Mountain Hawks and Wildcats Look to Rewrite Their Stories in FCS Playoff Rematch

“In the history of boxing, there have been 77 heavyweight champions. You know that? But how many do you think they know? Four? Five? The belt ain’t enough. You need a narrative. Something that sticks to the ribs. Your dad, he knew that.”

— Buddy Marcelle to Adonis Creed, Creed II

BETHLEHEM, PA. — In the movie Creed II, the first fight between Adonis Creed and Viktor Drago takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, a venue used for real, high-profile boxing events. Within the movie’s plot, it was the kind of big stage that boxing promoter Buddy Marcelle wanted for a fight built around the Creed and Drago legacies.

Although the outcome of the fight in the movie ended in a disqualification, it left plenty of questions unanswered. The judges’ scorecards favored Drago before the illegal blow that ended the bout, adding to the sense that the family rivalry was far from settled. In the movie, the heavily hyped rematch wouldn’t come for another ten months — ten months for anticipation to build, narratives to take shape, and both fighters to prepare for a second showdown.

The circumstances invovling Lehigh’s hard-fought 14–7 defeat to Villanova in the second round of the FCS playoffs last December were similar. The final score favored the Wildcats, who went on to make a deep postseason run in the FCS Playoffs, beating Tarleton State in the quarterfinals before falling to Illinois State in the semis. But even in the post game locker room, then-head coach Kevin Cahill of Lehigh offered a glimpse of how much the Mountain Hawks’ place in the FCS landscape had changed.

“The expectations have changed around here, for the good or the bad. We just played a league number today. Next year, that’s a league game for us.”

Ten months later, here we are.

When the 2026 Patriot League schedule was announced, one of the first things Lehigh fans did was look for Villanova’s place on the schedule. When the league announced its preseason rankings, those same fans wanted to know which program would be picked first: Villanova or Lehigh. The Wildcats got the nod at No. 1; the Mountain Hawks were ranked No. 2.

Since then, Villanova’s and Lehigh’s 2026 seasons have taken some twists and turns. But none of them has diminished the anticipation for this bout.

This weekend’s game on the Main Line — let’s just call it The Rematch — gives both Villanova (3–4, 2–2 Patriot) and Lehigh (6–1, 4–0 Patriot) an opportunity to shape the story of their seasons. For the Wildcats, it’s a chance to show that their Lambert Cup championship and deep playoff run last year weren’t merely products of a season now in the rearview mirror. Though the path woudn’t be easy, they’re still in the hunt for this year’s Patriot League title, and any hope of that would come with a win on Saturday. For Lehigh, it’s an opportunity to demonstrate that last week’s startling 48–38 loss to Cornell was a setback rather than a reversal of fortune — and to challenge the team that ended its playoff run a year ago.

The preseason established the expectations. The intervening months gave both teams new stories to tell. On Saturday, they’ll get to write the next chapter on the field.

Villanova Turnaround

For all the anticipation surrounding Villanova’s arrival in the Patriot League, the Wildcats’ 2026 season began with a reminder that no team is immune to Patriot League craziness.

Picked first in the league’s preseason poll and ranked No. 7 nationally, Villanova opened against William & Mary in its first-ever game as a Patriot League member with a chance to establish itself as one of the country’s premier FCS programs in a new conference. Instead, the Wildcats suffered a stunning 35–32 defeat, surrendering a 10-point lead in the final minute of the game.

The circumstances surrounding quarterback Pat McQuaide’s eligibility added extra drama to the season and conference opener. After weeks of dispute with the Patriot League, McQuaide was cleared to play just hours before kickoff, and Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante decided to start his veteran quarterback. McQuaide threw for 270 yards and a touchdown, but three interceptions helped turn a game that seemed all but won into a season-opening loss. As Ferrante put it afterward, “We made a lot more mistakes than they did. We took the L, but the L stands for ‘learn.’”

The Wildcats then struggled to put away teams they were favored to beat. They came from behind to narrowly defeat Bucknell, 17–16, and LIU, 20–16. A loss to FBS opponent Louisville 59–13 was an expected outcome, but Villanova’s next game against Colgate offered another chance to get its season on track, especially in Patriot League play. Instead, the Wildcats’ rally fell short in a 28–21 setback.

Turnovers, penalties and inconsistent execution repeatedly threatened to undermine the promise of a preseason favorite. Villanova could still move the ball, particularly with a potent running game led by Ja’Briel Mace and Isaiah Ragland, but the Wildcats struggled to turn their talent into consistent results. “I think they’re starting to realize that they’re not last year’s team,” Ferrante said after their disappointing loss to Colgate.

The low point came before Villanova’s bye week, when Morgan State handed the Wildcats a 38–35 loss despite five combined rushing touchdowns from Mace and Ragland. The fourth quarter featured four lead changes before Morgan State QB Cameron Edge crossed the goal line with 36 seconds remaining to give the Bears a 38–35 lead. Just as it had against Colgate, Villanova’s last-ditch effort to force overtime or win fell short, this time on a missed 47-yard field goal.

The defeat left Villanova at 2–4, a long way from the national contender many had expected to see. Ferrante, though, urged his team to look beyond the weekly result and focus on the process. “It’s not about each week’s result,” he said. “It’s what we’re doing during the process just to get better.”

After the bye week, Villanova seemed to find the reset it desperately needed. Ferrante described the Wildcats as “their own biggest enemy” during the first half of the season, and he used the week off to refocus the team on correcting its mistakes. “The message to the guys is let’s reset, refresh, relax, recommit, rededicate ourselves to what it is we want to try to put on the field,” Ferrante said before the Wildcats’ trip to Fordham.

Whatever was said and done during that week off seemed to work.

Villanova delivered its most complete performance of the season in the Bronx, racing to a 28–10 halftime lead before pulling away for a 38–17 victory. The Wildcats piled up 481 total yards, committed no turnovers, and scored on six of their first eight possessions. After spending the season struggling to close out tight games, Villanova never trailed after taking its first-quarter lead.

McQuaide looked much more like the experienced leader Villanova needed and expected, completing 18 of 24 passes for 235 yards and two passing touchdowns while adding a four-yard rushing score just before halftime. The running game remained a strength, with Ragland rushing for 94 yards and a touchdown and Mace adding 79 yards and another score. Together, the pair combined for 173 yards from scrimmage on the ground, helping Villanova finish with 246 rushing yards.

Just as important, the defense finally delivered a performance to match the offense. Fordham managed only 60 passing yards, while the Wildcats recorded five sacks and an interception by linebacker Garrett Rogan. Villanova held the Rams scoreless in the third quarter, turning a 28–10 halftime advantage into a 38–10 lead before Fordham added a late touchdown.

After weeks of mistakes and narrow defeats, the Wildcats had finally put together a game in which both sides of the ball contributed to a convincing win.

The victory brought Villanova back to 2–2 in Patriot League play and offered a reason to believe that its season was not yet defined by its disappointing start. The Wildcats had spent six games searching for a way to finish; against Fordham, they finally looked like a team capable of dictating how a game would unfold.

Now, with Lehigh coming to the Main Line, Villanova has an opportunity to show that the Fordham performance was not a one-week reprieve, but the beginning of a new chapter. The narrative of their 2026 season has not yet been written.

Lehigh Trips

Lehigh’s journey from that December afternoon would take a number of narrative turns few could have anticipated.

Cahill, the highly successful coach who had overseen Lehigh’s rise over the previous three seasons, would leave the program to return to Yale, taking over for his ailing former mentor, Tony Reno. In three seasons, Cahill transformed the Mountain Hawks from a 2–9 team into a Patriot League champion and, eventually, a national powerhouse. His departure left Rich Nagy, the longtime defensive coordinator, with the challenge of sustaining that success while putting his own stamp on the program.

But the seeds of Lehigh’s rise had been planted long before the playoff rematch.

Back in 2023, when the Mountain Hawks were searching for their identity, Cahill and Nagy looked to Villanova as an example of what they wanted Lehigh to become. The Wildcats had long been one of the East’s most formidable FCS programs, and their physicality, consistency and ability to win offered a template for the kind of program Lehigh hoped to build.

The first game of Cahill’s tenure back in 2023 provided a sobering illustration of the distance between the two programs. Villanova opened the season that year at Murray Goodman Stadium and came away with a 38–10 victory, using a dominant rushing attack to control the game. RB Jalen Jackson rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns, while RB Rayjuon Pringle added 102 yards and two scores of his own. It was abundantly clear that Lehigh had a long way to go.

Three seasons later, the Mountain Hawks entered its December 2025 playoff meeting with Villanova unbeaten, ranked among the nation’s best and playing on its home field. They didn’t enter that game as an overmatched home team – they were much closer to the kind of team they once looked to Villanova to emulate. Though Villanova still won, 14–7, ending Lehigh’s season — but the gap between the programs had narrowed dramatically.

It took nearly 58 minutes for Villanova to take its first lead in that thrilling FCS Playoff game. With the game tied 7–7 late in the fourth quarter, McQuaide found WR Braden Reed for the go-ahead touchdown. Villanova’s defense then forced a crucial turnover, allowing the Wildcats to run out the clock and secure the victory.

“Both teams are pretty disciplined,” Ferrante said after the game. “Both teams run the ball well; both teams defend the run well; both teams are going to make a lot of good plays. It was going to be whoever makes the fewest mistakes will probably come out on top. The biggest difference today – other than the effort and execution that these guys have played with all year – it came down to two turnovers versus zero.”

The loss was painful, yet it also set the stage for a new chapter: Lehigh would enter 2026 not as a team chasing Villanova’s standard, but as a program with championship expectations – national championship expectations – of its own.

That’s not to say that it was a smooth straight line from that game to today. Lehigh entered 2026 facing its own uncertainty, with Nagy taking over after Cahill’s departure. Yet while Villanova struggled to find its footing in the first half of the season, the Mountain Hawks hit the ground running.

With the coaching staff otherise basically intact, Lehigh opened with a string of convincing victories, beating Holy Cross 35–10, Georgetown 45–14, and William & Mary 44–20. The Tribe, the team that had orchestrated the miracle comeback against Villanova, never had a similar opportunity against Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks led 30–7 at halftime, putting the game out of reach before the teams headed to the locker room.

The Mountain Hawks kept winning even after QB Hayden Johnson went down with an injury, and they survived a late scare against Dartmouth. QB Derek Morgan hasn’t missed a beat in relief of Johnson, winning three straight games as a starter, while CB D.J. Brown‘s highlight-reel interception against Dartmouth preserved Lehigh’s regular-season winning streak.

For nearly two months, it seemed as though nothing could knock Lehigh off course. Then came the bye week and the trip to Cornell, where the Mountain Hawks discovered just how quickly a season’s narrative can change.

Cornell had quietly been a thorn in Lehigh’s side over the years, particularly at Schoellkopf Field. Going into the game, the Mountain Hawks had won there only twice, and neither victory came easily. Unfortunately for Lehigh, history repeated itself.

Entering the game with the No. 1 rushing defense in all of FCS, the Mountain Hawks were gashed for 600 yards of total offense by the Big Red, which jumped out to a big lead before withstanding a Lehigh comeback. Though Morgan and the offense battled, the 48–38 defeat was more than humbling. It felt like it changed the Lehigh story overnight.

Despite the defeat, Nagy saw something in his team worth holding onto. “They never quit,” he said, pointing to the Mountain Hawks’ matching scores in the second half, keeping it a one score game. “There was never was a moment where you felt like you weren’t in the game, until the very end, and that’s a tribute to them and how hard they work.”

But he was also clear-eyed about what went wrong, acknowledging that Lehigh had mistakes to correct and needed to get back to doing the things that had made it successful. “Obviously we had some mistakes that came back onto us today that we have to fix. Our tackling wasn’t very good defensively, and that led to some problems. We got to get back to what we do and be better at it. We are all in this together, and the players and coaches know it. And we got to get back to work tomorrow, find the things we need to fix, and we’ve got to get ready to move on and turn the page.”

For Lehigh, that next page arrives on the Main Line, against the team that ended its season last December. Villanova has spent the first half of 2026 trying to rewrite its own story. Now, after Cornell brought Lehigh’s remarkable regular-season winning streak to an end, the Mountain Hawks face a question of their own: will one bad afternoon redefine their season, or will they write a different story this Saturday?

It’s a regular-season game, a Patriot League game, but it feels like much more than that. It’s two football families with different stories, intertwined in a rivalry full of narrative twists and turns—the kind of matchup Buddy Marcelle would love to sell. This weekend isn’t just another game. It’s The Rematch.

LEHIGH MOUNTAIN HAWKS (6-1. 4-0 Patriot) AT VILLANOVA WILDCATS (3-4, 2-2 Patriot)
WHERE: Villanova Stadium, Villanova, PA, Saturday, October 24th, 3:30 PM
STREAMING: ESPN+
TV CREW: PxP – Sam Kuperman; Analyst – Steve Pinone
RADIO: BROADCAST (Fox Sports Lehigh Valley 94.7 FM/1230 AM; LVFoxSports.com):
RADIO CREW: PxP – Matt Kerr; Analysts – Mike Yadush, Connor Brown