If Saturday’s college football season opener was any indication, Villanova may be back.

The Wildcats put the country — and, more specifically, the rest of the CAA — on notice, by way of a 34-14 shellacking of 14th-ranked Colgate.

Jalen Jackson scored the first touchdown of the 2019 season at the tail end of an 18-yard pitch-and-catch from ‘Nova quarterback Daniel Smith with 14:20 to play in the second quarter.

On the ensuing possession Jaquan Amos picked off Colgate quarterback Grant Breneman and returned it 29 yards to the crib to put the Wildcats ahead 14-0.

Check out our first half scores:
Jalen Jackson TD reception
Jaquan Amos pick-six
Changa Hodge TD reception
Andrew Perez TD reception #GoNova #TTR pic.twitter.com/LvsKCrdcFm

— Villanova Football (@NovaFootball) August 24, 2019

Smith added a 50-yard touchdown strike to Changa Hodge, followed by a 15-yard scoring toss to Andrew Perez—his first career catch—to push the advantage to 27 at the break.

From there, ‘Nova coasted to a dominant road win, effectively announcing to the country that its ninth place selection in the preseason CAA Coaches’ Poll was a mistake — and if you don’t think the Wildcats were feeling slighted, you weren’t paying attention.

lmao i saw little to no nova in this video, we ain’t worried tho ??‍♂️ https://t.co/D2SBSp18j1

— TD Ayo-Durojaiye (@tsizzle34) August 23, 2019

Ayo-Durojaiye, for his part, carried the ball twice for eight yards in the win. Justin Covington set a new career mark with 134 rushing yards on 19 carries. Villanova piled up 444 yards of total offense.

“We probably made a few mental mistakes, but at least our guys played hard,” said Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante. “We want to play physical, we want to get a hat on a hat and make sure we finish blocks. I saw some guys making some blocks down field and we’re excited about that.”

The ‘Cats are back in action in two weeks, with Lehigh visiting Villanova Stadium on Sept. 7 at 6 PM ET. Watch it LIVE on FloFootball.