After Villanova Loss, FCS Title Still Very Much Within Fordham's Reach

What a difference a year makes.

Last season, Fordham beat Villanova—which was ranked in the top 10 at the time—27-24 at Jack Coffey Field in the second game of the season. The Rams ran for 173 yards and forced five fumbles.

Last Saturday, Fordham was routed at Villanova 50-6. The Rams ran for 18 yards and turned the ball over twice.

Fordham and Villanova entered Saturday's game ranked in the top 15 of both The Sports Network FCS Top 25 and the FCS Coaches Poll. This was an early-season matchup between two teams with championship aspirations.

Villanova struck first, and it struck often. And, after lightning struck, the Wildcats really poured it on.

With the Rams trailing 7-3 early in the second quarter, the game was delayed more than an hour due to inclement weather. When play resumed, Villanova scored touchdowns on three consecutive offensive drives and returned an interception for a touchdown, resulting in the Wildcats taking a 33-3 lead into halftime.

Villanova rushed for 300 yards and passed for 214 more. The Rams had 219 yards of total offense. Villanova picked up 28 first downs to Fordham's 14. The Wildcats converted 10 times on third down while the Rams were 4-of-14 on third down.

Nothing went right for Fordham. But guess what? Games like that happen.

They happen to teams that don't win a single game all season. They happen to .500 teams that look good one week and bad the next. And they happen to championship teams. No one said you had to win them all.

Conclusion: No matter how badly Villanova outplayed the Rams Saturday, and no matter how down you might be after a clunker like that, Fordham is still very much in this thing. The goals are still attainable: win the Patriot League title, get into the FCS playoffs and bring home a championship.

There might not be a better coach in the FCS to lead a team out of a game like last Saturday and into a new week with a new opponent than Fordham's Joe Moorhead. In the best of times, he preaches preparation, effort and execution. In the worst of times, he preaches preparation, effort and execution.

Moorhead has shown an incredible ability to rally and lead the troops.

Since he took over as head coach prior to the 2012 season, Fordham is 5-0 after a loss (not counting games that ended a season). That bodes well for a team with a resiliency that has yet to be tested.

Also working in the Rams' favor is the fact that this is a veteran team that's been focused since day one on winning an FCS championship. No one embodies that philosophy and belief more than quarterback Mike Nebrich, one of the top players in the FCS.

Nebrich spent most of Saturday afternoon getting to know the field turf before he was given the rest of the afternoon off after being removed from the game late in the third quarter with his team trailing 40-3.

He finished 14-of-28 for 182 yards and two interceptions. In the opener, he was 11-of-26 for 188 yards and three touchdowns. This is a quarterback who threw for 4,380 yards and 35 touchdowns a year ago, leading his team to a 12-win season.

He's a winner, and he'll respond. My guess is that he has a huge game this Saturday at home against Rhode Island.

Just like you shouldn't have crowned them national champions after their blowout win over St. Francis in the opener, no one should consider the Rams done after a few bad hours of football at Villanova.

On Saturday, they'll have a chance to get back on the right track. Knowing Moorhead, that process started in the Villanova Stadium locker room with his team believing, before it even got on the bus, that an FCS championship is still very much within reach.

Statistics and game information courtesy of FordhamSports.com.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Follow him on Twitter @CFCostello.