William &Mary 27, Norfolk State 15

Late rally not enough for upset-minded NSU

They kept playing. They did some nice things in the downfield passing game for the first time in this young season. They allowed just six points after halftime. Anyone looking for positives from Norfolk State's 27-15 loss to William and Mary on Saturday night could take some comfort from those developments. As a building block, the game could have some value, as the Spartans head into the MEAC portion of their schedule. As a straight-up match-up, however, the game showed that NSU still has much ground to make up to compete with one of the top teams in the Football Championship Subdivision.

On a night when they were going to need to play error-free ball - or close to it - to have a chance at the upset, the Spartans (1-2) again made too many mistakes, especially early, falling behind 14-0 before some of the crowd of 10,005 had settled into their seats. It was 21-0 at the half, and 27-0 at the start of the fourth quarter. NSU ran just four plays in the entire third quarter, as No. 5 William and Mary (3-0) strung together a pair of long drives.



In W&M game, NSU shows needs to play consistently

Not that anybody thought suspense was in the forecast Saturday evening when William and Mary met Norfolk State at Dick Price Stadium. This one was your basic mismatches. The final score - 27-15 - doesn't do justice to the visitor's domination. One of Jimmye Laycock's best teams in his long career, William and Mary isn't overly dependent on the pass, as previous Tribe editions have been, and features a defense that is stronger than any from Williamsburg in years. Just ask U.Va. It was too much for Norfolk State, which, after its loss to North Carolina A&T last week, came into the game a work in progress. One thing Norfolk State couldn't afford to do was fall behind W&M early. But that's exactly what happened.

Archer leads William and Mary past Norfolk State

NORFOLK - If this is how R.J. Archer plays injured, watch out. Archer, William and Mary's senior quarterback who played with a brace on his injured left knee, directed two early touchdown drives that put the Tribe ahead to stay in a 27-15 victory at Norfolk State on Saturday night on his way to 153 passing yards and three touchdowns. Archer, who took a seat after the Tribe's initial possession of the fourth quarter, finished 15-of-20 after completing his first five passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns as William and Mary, ranked No. 5 in the country, opened the season 3-0 for the first time since 1998.

Tribe defense brings Spartans to near halt

The Tribe outgained Norfolk State 137 yards to 7 in the first quarter, running 21 plays to the Spartans' eight and not allowing Norfolk State to complete a pass while taking a 14-0 lead on a pair of touchdown passes from R.J. Archer. The Tribe also intercepted a first-quarter pass, amassed eight first downs to the Spartans' one and had the ball for nearly six minutes longer.

Rolling the dice
Jimmye Laycock probably hasn't been called a riverboat gambler often in his 30 years at William and Mary, but he went for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 23. Punter David Miller took the snap and rolled to his right for a rugby-style kick, but finding no defender within 15 yards of him, kept going, picking up 10 yards and keeping alive a touchdown drive. Laycock said Miller usually has the option to do that, but as he watched the play unfold, the coach had just one thought: "He better make it. And that was probably what went through his head, too."

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