The College of William and Mary has notched its first big win of the 2008 football season.
Senior quarterback Jake Phillips hit junior wide receiver D.J. McAulay with a 17-yard touchdown pass with 22 seconds remaining to lift the Tribe to a 38-34 upset victory over the University of New Hampshire Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.H.
Down 34-31 after a New Hampshire touchdown with 4:40 left in the game, Phillips engineered an 11-play, 72-yard game-winning TD drive that featured three third down conversions, the first of which involved a New Hampshire penalty that nullified a Phillips interception that would have cost the Tribe the game.
Phillips took advantage of his second chance, scrambling free of the blitz to hit freshman running back Jonathan Grimes for a first down on 3rd and 9, then threw off his back foot to hit a tightly-covered senior receiver Elliott Mack for another first down on a 3rd and 12 play.
Then came the most clutch play of the drive, on 3rd and 4 from the 17-yard line, as Phillips avoided the New Hampshire rush, stepped up in the pocket and lofted a pass to the left corner of the end zone that McAulay snagged for the game winner.
Phillips finished with 310 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions on 30 of 40 passing. Grimes paced the Tribe’s running game with 144 yards on 23 carries, including a 56-yard TD run that tied the game at 28-28 with 12:43 left in the fourth quarter.
New Hampshire took a 21-7 lead into halftime, but the Tribe put together two TD drives to go into the fourth quarter with the score tied at 21-21.
Sophomore wideout Chase Hill had two touchdown catches, with junior tight end Rob Varno adding a TD grab of his own. Junior defensive end Adrian Tracy led the Tribe defense with 14 tackles and two sacks.
The win evens the Tribe’s CAA record at 1-1, and improves them to 3-2 overall. The team is on the road again next weekend, traveling to take on the University of Delaware.