- Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript support is required to use the media player.
- Related News
Following their heartbreaking 13-10 loss at Richmond on Saturday, about 400 Tribe football players, coaches, parents and community members gathered at Miller Hall on Sunday to watch the release of the FCS playoff bracket.
But they would have to wait a while for the news that the College received a first-round home game and a matchup against no. 15 Weber State (7-4) from the NCAA selection committee.
The contest will be at 1:00 pm at Zable Stadium Saturday, and is not currently scheduled to be televised.
The supporters watched the bracket revealed live on ESPNews, and the room erupted in cheers when ESPN reported that William and Mary (9-2) would play Eastern Illinois (7-4), and were awarded the rights to host the contest.
It seemed like as good a situation as Laycock and the rest of the room could have wanted. Little did they know, ESPN had mistakenly shown an incorrect bracket. The Tribe’s actual opponent will be the Wildcats, who finished tied for second in the Big Sky behind top-seeded Montana (11-0).
William and Mary certainly looks to be the favorite on paper against a Weber State team that posted the worst record (7-4) of any team that made it into the tournament. The Wildcats are coming off a victory against Cal Poly (4-7), and their best quality win was over Eastern Washington (8-3). The Tribe will have home field advantage, although many students figure to be home on Thanksgiving break.
“It’s nice to get a home game and play in front of our home fans,” senior quarterback R.J. Archer said.
With a win Saturday, the Tribe would play third-seeded Southern Illinois (10-1) in the second round a week later in Carbondale, Ill. If the College were to win that game, they could end up with a rematch with second-seeded Villanova (10-1) in the national semifinals. They would not meet fourth-seeded rival Richmond (10-1), the defending champions, until the championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“It’s a new season,” Archer said. “We’re playing four new games.”
The Tribe will need to have a short memory after their tough loss to Richmond. The Tribe would have liked to come away with a win, but the result is tempered by their playoff bid.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be our last game,” Head Coach Jimmye Laycock said.
RSS Feeds
3 Comments
I am a huge Weber State fan
I am a huge Weber State fan and although I think WM will most likely win, be very careful. Weber State’s four losses… 7 points at an improving Wyoming team, by one at Colorado State where Weber fumbled at CSU’s 11 yard line with 42 seconds left, by 5 to a Montana State team who had a winning record (Weber’s only inexcusable loss) and at Montana (never an easy game). You are right that Weber’s best win was AT Eastern Washington (31-13). They have an excellent, mobile quarterback, good fleet receivers and an experienced (all-time best) running back. I hope it is a great game. Good Luck!!! (but I’ll be cheering for the ‘Cats)
Weber State cannot be
Weber State cannot be underestimated. They seem like a very good team, with a gunslinger-type quarterback; good RBs; and a dynamic WR/kick returner. Their defense seems like it’s pretty good as well (but vulnerable to W&M’s good ground game, let’s hope—just grind it out on the ground until they show that they can stop it). Big Sky teams can run up lots of points in a hurry, and tend to play a style of football that CAA teams in general are not particulary accustomed to seeing. Anything can happen against a team like this, and Eastern Illinois sounded like a more favorable matchup for W&M. But it is what it is, and the coaches know all this, of course. Still optimistic, of course, and totally proud of this awesome W&M team, but let there be no doubt: Weber State means business.
How does the QB think
How does the QB think they’re playing 4 new games? WSU barely made it to the playoffs, and WM should walk all over them since they had such a great season. At 9-2, WM is surely one of the powerhouse teams to deal with; luckily Montana will have to deal with them later.
WSU with 4 losses crawls into the playoffs…oh wait, they lost to 2 BCS teams by a combined point total of 8 points? Then they soundly beat EWU, the other entry in the playoffs…...nothing to worry about, WM is the dominant team…........on paper.