By Nicholas Thomas
Rejoice! Your William & Mary Tribe has won a football game for the first time since the home opener at Zable.
This past Saturday, the Tribe headed down to O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham, NC, to face the North Carolina Central Eagles in their final non-conference matchup. The result was a low-scoring 17-14 triumph with William & Mary playing spoiler in NC Central’s homecoming game.
Heading into this game, you could draw some similarities between the teams. Both were 2-4 heading into Saturday. Both were enduring a multi-game losing streak. Both offenses used run-heavy schemes, rushing at least 40 times in this contest. Therefore, it was no surprise when this game came down to a possible game-winning drive for NC Central which was ultimately shut down by the W&M defense.
Stopping the Eagles
It’s been no secret that William & Mary has been struggling to adjust to the Patriot League and its various talented RBs. Opponents are rushing for an average of 271 yards per game. In the two wins prior, the Tribe defense had let up fewer than 200 rushing yards per game.
The MEAC’s NC Central was still able to rip off a couple of long runs to go above that mark, but there were many instances where a 1st and 10 play got blown up, putting NCCU’s QBs Joshua Jones and Cobey Thompkins behind schedule and forcing them to throw. Jones and Thompkins combined to go 17-of-39 for 157 yards passing and no touchdowns, so the Tribe was comfortable with letting them sling the rock.
And sling it they did. Many deep balls were attempted by the Eagles, but all were either inaccurate or covered well by a disciplined W&M secondary.
Defense & Special Teams Prove Significant
Offense never tells the entire story. Winston Watkins’ 16-yard touchdown pass to Alfred Honesty was the only offensive touchdown the Tribe scored all game. In fact, I’d argue that defense and special teams had much larger roles in the result of this game.
If we look at the first drive of the game, Ryan Vail blocked an early punt and Jack Reuter, who was just named Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week, recovered it before rumbling 10 yards for a touchdown.
Later in the half, both teams missed crucial field goals in a one-score game. Both teams attempted trick plays in the red zone, only for the defenses to snuff them out. A punt in the late 3rd quarter by W&M’s Carter Boyd was downed at the opponent’s 1-yard line. NC Central had a less fruitful punt that drifted out of bounds at their own 28-yard line, which ultimately set up the game-winning field goal for Max Lipinski.
Meanwhile, the Eagles will look back on their own kicking struggles, sailing both of their field goal attempts wide of the uprights. Despite being known as the “third phase” by many, this was a game where the special teamers took center stage in deciding Saturday’s outcome.
Individual Standouts
Lastly, I’d like to highlight a player on both teams, starting with NC Central. The Eagles trotted out two QBs, but I was most impressed by Cobey Thompkins. He showcased speed on his 69-yard touchdown rush that is rare to find in a quarterback.
For William & Mary, I’d like to give a shoutout to freshman WR Jacob Mullins for making the catch of the afternoon. He had his first college catch for a touchdown a couple of weeks ago vs Fordham and had his 2nd reception of the season in the 2nd quarter of this game.
It was a fade route towards the sideline with a perfectly placed Winston Watkins deep ball that Mullins brought down under duress for a 31-yard gain. He is certainly making the most of his limited action so far in the season.
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The Tribe will take this week off before hosting the currently 1-4 Georgetown Hoyas the following Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET for Homecoming.
See you at Zable for Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 24. LET’S GO TRIBE!
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