Spring Football Update: Villanova Wildcats
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Villanova Wildcats have a handful of practices left before they close the book on their spring workouts.
The Wildcats are coming off a 2013 season which saw them finish 6-5 and hopes are high they can improve on that in 2014.
"We're having a good spring so far," Villanova head coach Andy Talley tells KYW Newsradio. "We've managed to escape some of the nasty weather, in and out of the raindrops. But its been pretty productive. I like what I see. We have I think a young team, but a talented team. Couple of guys are still injured right now not playing, but they'll be back for the fall. And we have that opener with Syracuse up in the dome, so we need to get going."
On offense, Talley says he has been keeping an eye on how his line is developing.
"We had three guys graduate in the O-line and it is really important to put that together, make sure that we can block and protect the quarterback a little bit," Talley says. "We've got some really nice, young players that just haven't been on the field yet. But also a nice mixture of older guys, too. I think we'll be okay."
As for the other side of the ball, Talley says they have holes to fill, but overall he likes the look of his defense.
"We lost two great players, (defensive linemen) Rakim Cox and Antoine Lewis (to graduation)," Talley says. "You just can't replace guys like that. But I think we'll be as good a defense as we were last year, maybe a little better because I think we have a little more depth and we're also mature."
Villanova's spring practice slate runs through next week. As Talley mentioned, they will open the 2014 season on the road at Syracuse on August 30th.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.