Villanova University football coach Andy Talley knew his veteran team had the talent to repeat as Yankee Conference champion and advance to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. He expected it when his squad was picked first in preseason polls back in August.

Talley’s only question heading into this season concerned the Wildcats’ ability to maintain the mental toughness all champions need to repeat.

With 10 regular season games down and one to go Saturday against a surging Maine squad at Villanova, Pa., (1:30 p.m.), Talley said the Wildcats have failed to live up to his expectations in the mental toughness department, even if they are 8-2 and ranked seventh in the country.

“We have not played with the kind of emotion that most teams we’ve faced have played with,” said Talley, noting VU (5-2) can finish no better than second in the conference behind Delaware (7-1). “We’ve had to come from behind in seven of our 10 games, which tells you something. It’s been a real hard season. It’s been like pulling teeth.”

Between a lingering quarterback controversy involving senior Tom Colombo and junior Brad Parpan, and battling injuries at the tailback and outside linebacker positions, the Wildcats never seemed to hit full stride, according to Talley. The low point came with back-to-back losses to Delaware (21-20) and UMass (13-9).

Since then, ‘Nova has bounced back to win three straight. And win or lose against Maine, the ‘Cats appear a lock to gain an at-large berth into the 16-team NCAA field. Just don’t tell Talley that.

“We can’t afford to take anything for granted,” he said.

Unfortunately for Maine (6-4, 4-3 YC), ‘Nova enters the game in its most settled state of the season. Colombo, the 5-foot-7 scrambler, is now solidly the starter at QB, having won the last three games. Colombo has completed 54 percent of his passes and has 11 touchdown strikes to go with 14 interceptions.

Flanker Harold Hart (37 catches, 551 yards, 5 TDs) and tight end Scott Donald (30-374, 3 TDs) have been Colombo’s favorite targets.

But the strength of ‘Nova’s offense has come on the ground. Junior tailback Kevin Mosley is back from an ankle injury. The 6-1, 200-pound speedster has 650 rushing yards and nine TDs. He’s complemented by senior fullback Jeff Johnson, a 6-1, 215-pound bull with 640 yards and two TDs. The duo runs behind a veteran offensive line that averages 6-3, 260 pounds from tackle to tackle.

Junior placekicker Bill Hoffman leads the YC with 11 field goals.

The real strength of the team is ‘Nova’s defense, which ranks second in the conference overall, yielding 281 yards per game, and first in the nation against the rush (78.4 ypg).

Personnel keys start with senior All-American inside linebacker Curtis Eller. The 6-foot, 225-pounder has 111 tackles, six caused fumbles and four quarterback sacks. Senior left tackle Chris Grychowski (6-5, 270) has 11 sacks and 52 tackles and senior nosetackle Tim Matas (6-3, 280) has nine QB sacks among his 48 stops.

The secondary is led by senior cornerback Orin Solomon (3 INTs) and sophomore free safety Devian Logan (68 tackles).