Monmouth Returns To Kessler For Home Opener Against No.11 Villanova

WEST LONG BRANCH – After three straight night games on the road to start the season, eighteenth-ranked Monmouth University football is back at Kessler Stadium for some home cooking this Saturday for its first Coastal Athletic Association game of the season against No.11 Villanova.

Monmouth returns home with a 2-1 record, which could’ve conceivably been 3-0 if not for a bittersweet 42-35 loss last Saturday to FBS opponent Charlotte. Neither defense could stop the other's offense in the second half, turning a defensive battle into an offensive shootout with the Hawks coming out on the short end of the stick.

The Hawks held a 14-7 lead at the half, thanks to the defense, which played its best half of football this season, before completely collapsing in the second half. After forcing three turnovers and holding the 49ers to seven points and 202 total yards in the half, Charlotte scored touchdowns on all five of its second-half possessions and put up 361 yards of total offense in the second half.

Granted, Charlotte is an FBS team, and that automatically gives them the upper hand, but Monmouth’s defense proved they could hang with them in a dominant first half. What happened in the second half is inexcusable for a defense that is desperately trying to find its own identity. It just snowballed into a total breakdown in every facet of the game. One second-half stop, and it's more likely than not that Monmouth wins the game.

“They hit a couple of big plays over the top, and any time you coach defense, that’s the type of thing you have to avoid,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan during Monday’s CAA Coaches Zoom call. “We didn’t do a good enough job avoiding that. They had two big plays over the top in the pass game that ended up in touchdowns. They did a really good job on third down, and we’ve got to do a better job of getting off the field on third down. Their conversion percentage was extremely high. They were able to keep the chains moving and maintain possession, and any time you’re going up against the caliber of a team that has superior athletes, you need to be right on in everything you do. You can’t keep giving them additional chances, and we gave them too many additional chances Saturday night. The defense played an excellent first half; they just needed to sustain that once they got into the second half."

As bad as Monmouth’s defense was in the second half, their offense was superb; they just ran out of time.

Derek Robertson and company can play with anyone in the country, and they proved that again last Saturday. The highly-touted quarterback completed 36-of-49 passes for 410 yards and four touchdowns. He went toe-to-toe with Charlotte quarterback Conner Harrel, who was unstoppable in the second half, while keeping the Hawks within striking distance.

The Hawks did get the ball back, down a touchdown, with 1:30 remaining in the game, but turned the ball over on downs after a controversial unsportsmanlike penalty on Charlotte on fourth down was ruled to have happened after the play, turning the ball over to the 49ers. Robertson leads the country in passing yards (1,265), passing touchdowns (14), passing yards per game (421.67), and total yards per game (409.3).

“I can’t say enough about the day Derek Robertson had,” said Callahan. “He had another great day on his part, completing 75 percent of his passes for 410 yards and four touchdowns. He’s a really gutsy performer. He stands in the pocket and delivers the ball on time. He took some pretty good hits just as he was releasing the ball, but he has an awareness about him and toughness about him that makes me glad he’s on our team.”

Monmouth’s receiving corps is super talented and goes five deep. Josh Derry led the team with seven receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns against Charlotte. Derry leads the country in receiving touchdowns (6) and is third in receiving yards (357) and receiving yards per game (119.0). Gavin Nelson, who had five catches for 68 yards against Charlotte, is ninth in the country in receiving yards per game (102.7) and eighth in receiving yards (308). Then there is Tra Neal (5-75), Maxwell James (6-49-1), and T.J. Speight (3-34), who all had their moments against Charlotte.

“The receiver group as a whole all contributed and had big days,” said Callahan. “It’s a very deep group. There are five or six guys that we can play, and they’re all somewhat interchangeable. Technically, Derry and Speight do play the same position, but we can move them around and be on the field at the same time. It’s a very unselfish group. They celebrate each other more than their own personal success. It’s great seeing that position group doing such a great job game after game. Just a great bunch of guys to have on the squad.”

Up next is No. 11 Villanova (1-1), and Monmouth must keep their foot on the gas if it wants to beat the talented Wildcats. You can throw out last week's 52-6 disaster against Penn State, an FBS team ranked second in the country. They can put up those type of numbers against FBS teams in their own conference, let alone an FCS team. A better gauge of the Wildcats' strength is their 24-17 win over Colgate two weeks ago. In that game, Colgate tied the game at 17-17 late in the third quarter, but Villanova scored on its next possession before a scoreless fourth quarter resulted in the Wildcats' win. Monmouth opened the season against Colgate and needed a herculean effort by Robertson to bring them back from a 31-7 third-quarter deficit before winning 42-39, which was Monmouth’s largest comeback victory in program history.

Since joining the Coastal Athletic Association in 2022, the Hawks are 2-0 against the Wildcats, so they’ll be out for a bit of revenge. In 2022, the Hawks scored 21 fourth-quarter points, including the final score with 46 seconds remaining, to beat the ninth-ranked Wildcats 49-42. Then last season, the eighth-ranked Wildcats scored with 6:03 remaining in the game to pull within 40-33, but Monmouth held on to the ball for the final 6:03 to pull out the victory. So, my guess is that Saturday’s game will be another nail-biter.

Villanova boasts a pair of preseason All-Americans in fifth-year offensive center Jake Pickard and senior linebacker Shane Hartzell. Sophomore running back David Avit and fifth-year defensive tackle Obinna Nwabado were 2025 All-CAA Preseason selections. Senior left tackle Stephane Voltaire and sophomore cornerback Zahmir Dawud were CAA Preseason Honorable Mention picks.

Nichols State graduate transfer Pat McQuaide starts at quarterback for the Wildcats. He’s completed 23-of-43 passes for 326 yards with one touchdown and one interception and has run the ball five times for 34 yards and one touchdown. Avid has rushed for 118 yards on 25 attempts for a 4.1 yards per carry average. Graduate wideout Luke Coiella leads the team with six receptions for 127 yards, while Lucas Kopecky has six catches for 105 yards and one touchdown. Hartzell leads the team with 15 tackles, including seven solo stops.

“Villanova is a very familiar opponent,” said Callahan. “We know they’re a nationally ranked team and are coming in at 1-1 with a victory in their season opener against Colgate, which we’re familiar with, also having opened against them. And the Penn State game, which you really have to throw out in terms of the score. They’re very tough and aggressive, and what strikes me about Villanova is that they’re an extremely veteran team. They were able to add a fair number of graduate students to their lineup, including six starters on offense, and combine that with their other seniors and redshirt juniors, and that’s a veteran unit on that side of the ball.

“Then on the defensive side of the ball, they’ve got some impressive talent, including a group of linebackers that are very, very good, led by number 31 (Hartzell), who is their leading tackler. The defensive line is a big, strong group, and they’re athletic in the back end. So, we know we’re going to have to play a great game. We’ve had nothing but knockdown, drag-out games with them over the three times that we’ve played them now.”