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RADNOR — It took being chewed out by All-America defensive end Greg Miller to bring out the all-conference player in Villanova linebacker Terry Thomas.

Thomas remembers that day vividly.

“It was against Northeastern last year,” Thomas said.

He remembers the play, too.

“It was a read-option,” Thomas said as the second-ranked Wildcats (10-1) prepared for Saturday’s showdown with Holy Cross (9-2) in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. Kickoff is at noon. “My job was to fill the B gap and go for the running back. The quarterback kept the ball and I tried to do more and then I saw Greg coming in and I let him make the play.”

Thomas, a sophomore at the time, was happy because he carried out his assignment.

Miller, a senior, was not as thrilled and let Thomas know it.

“He yelled at me,” Thomas said. “He said, ‘You have to start making plays.’”

Miller’s verbal tongue lashing stunned Thomas at first. He could not understand why Miller was upset because Thomas followed the defensive game plan to the letter.

A few weeks later, though, after the all-conference teams were released and his name was not listed on any of the three teams, Thomas understood why Miller was so mad.

If Thomas wanted to be considered one of the elite linebackers in the toughest conference in the FCS, he had to do more than play assignment football. He had to become a playmaker.

From that moment, the 6-0, 230-pound junior from Lawrenceville, N.J. was determined to change how he was perceived around the league.

Thomas set a goal to become the most dominant linebacker in the league and then went out and backed it up on the field. Thomas leads the second-ranked Wildcats (10-1) in total tackles (88), solo stops (50) and quarterback hurries (two). He also is tied with Tim Kukucka for the team lead in sacks (seven), and is even with cornerback Fred Maldonado, linebacker Marquis Kirkland and safety John Dempsey (Cardinal O’Hara) for second in tackles for loss (8½).

The coaches in the CAA noticed. When the all-conference team was released Monday, Thomas was one of the four linebackers listed on the first team.

“It feels great,” Thomas said of the all-conference honor. “Last year, I though I did enough to get some recognition, but I wanted more. I wanted to be a great player and it took a lot of hard work all winter and summer to get where I am this year.”

One area where Thomas did not need to improve was game preparation. Thomas spends so much time watching game film that he could probably receive a second degree in film study.

“I’ve always watched a lot of film,” Thomas said. “That goes back to high school. We played our games on Saturdays and I always watched film of the team we were going to play that week so that their tendencies were fresh in my mind.”

In college, Thomas has taken film study to a different level. He watches at least four game films of the upcoming opponent on top of the regularly scheduled film sessions with the defense. Thomas estimates that he watches five additional hours of film a week, sometimes more.

“I make sure to watch the four most recent games,” Thomas said. “I’m looking at the one- and two-back sets, anything that will give me an advantage. It takes a little over an hour to go through one game.”

Thomas said that his extensive film study does not interfere with his pursuit of a degree in communications.

“I was lucky,” Thomas said. “I have a real good schedule. I have no classes Wednesday or Friday. I only have one class on Monday and I take a night class on Wednesday. My bad days are Tuesday and Thursday. I took six credits over the summer so I only have to take four classes this semester. That gives me more free time to focus on football, but also get my schoolwork done.”