Villanova is still trying to determine whether Pat McQuaide will be eligible before Friday night’s opener against William and Mary, and Coach Ferrante said the answer remains unsettled as the season begins to arrive. If McQuaide is cleared, Ferrante said he would start. If he is not, Villanova will turn to Robby Russo or Nolan DiLucia.
That is why this matters now. Villanova opens Friday night, and the team is still building its quarterback plan around a decision that has not come through. Ferrante said the program is still figuring out what is happening with McQuaide’s situation and is trying to see whether there is any chance he gets any type of eligibility before kickoff.
The issue centers on McQuaide’s 2022 season at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Villanova argued in its waiver request to the NCAA that the COVID-19 pandemic directly pushed McQuaide into that junior college stop, saying the move was a necessary bridge rather than a choice to add another season. McQuaide has said the pandemic stalled his development in high school, and his path wound from Kent State, where he arrived as a walk-on and redshirted for one year, to Mississippi Gulf Coast and then on to two seasons at Nicholls State.
The problem for Villanova is that JUCO programs are not under the NCAA’s authority, even though seasons spent at that level have historically counted toward eligibility. That leaves the school asking for one season not to count, while relying on the argument that the stop was forced by the pandemic rather than freely chosen. It is a narrow distinction, but it is the one that could decide who takes the first snap.
For now, Ferrante’s words leave the picture plain: McQuaide is the preferred answer if he is eligible, and Russo and DiLucia are the alternatives if he is not. With Friday night closing in, Villanova is not just waiting on paperwork. It is waiting on the identity of its quarterback.
