LIU's Victor Nelson Jr. makes 3 interceptions in loss to Villanova

Victor Nelson Jr. plans on becoming a doctor one day. These days, he’s a redshirt sophomore free safety for LIU. And he kept the Sharks in the same Brookville neighborhood early on with vaunted Villanova.

His second red-zone interception in the first 17 minutes allowed them to still be looking up from just a field goal behind. He also grabbed a third INT in the fourth quarter.

“It was spectacular, to say the least,” Nelson said. “I surprised myself.”

The prospective doctor in the house had his moments Saturday. Several of his teammates did, too.

In the end, though, LIU fell, 38-21.

This was a team in its fourth season in the D-I football business, a team coming off a two-win run, going against a power that won 10 games and went to the FCS playoffs last year. 

DeeWil Barlee ran for 177 yards and a touchdown for the No. 5 Wildcats (2-0), who rolled up 365 yards on the ground and 561 overall. Connor Watkins, who was picked off four times by LIU, fired for 196 yards and two TDs, and he ran for one.

But the Sharks (0-2) showed some reasons for optimism this season.

“The guys kept fighting,” said Ron Cooper, their new head coach. “This is the fifth-ranked team at our level. Last year, they lost in the [quarterfinals] of the national championship on our level.

“So to think that we’re that far away, I just know that we’re not that far away. We’ve just got to continue to get better.”

They opened with a 37-0 loss at FBS Toledo and play at FBS Kent State next Saturday. But quarterback Derek Green and the offense did take a step forward in the middle of this treacherous stretch.

“It’s like everybody’s pretty upbeat,” said Green, who threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions. “We should have confidence going into the rest of the season on offense and defense.” 

Nelson, who has four interceptions after his first two career starts, picked off his first pass at the LIU 3 early in the first quarter and the next one at the 7 early in the second. But Villanova extended its lead to 10-0 on its next drive. Watkins ran the ball in from the 11. 

Watkins then connected with Dez Boykin for a 60-yard score. It was a 17-point cushion.

It was 17-7 at the intermission. Green helped give the Sharks their first points of the season with not much time to spare — nine-tenths of a second left — throwing a 5-yard strike to Zach Rhodes.

“Kind of got that boulder off our back, and then obviously from that point on, we moved it pretty well despite the turnovers,” Green said.

A fumble on the first offensive play of the third quarter led to a 5-yard scoring run by Barlee.

The lead eventually swelled to 31-7 before Green found Davon Wells for a 22-yard TD. Shemar Paul had a late 4-yard TD run for LIU.

“What I said to coach Cooper after the game was what I saw from them on film last week … was that they play fast and physical,” Wildcats coach Mark Ferrante said. “And I saw that in person today.”