125 Years of Football

Football started at William & Mary in 1893 through the efforts of two students: Charles L. Hepburn, who established an athletic association on campus and organized the team, of which he was the quarterback and coach; and Harry Gass Humphreys, who captained the team. Three games were played, none against other universities.

The first football field, which was used through 1907, ran on campus-owned land alongside Richmond Road in the area where Monroe Hall stands. At that time the first Cary Field, primarily a baseball field with old bleachers seating 500, was used for football and situated where Blow Gym was later constructed. In the late 1920s Cary Field moved to where Bryan Hall now stands and, finally, in 1935, the present site for Cary Field opened. W&M played many of its home games in Richmond and Norfolk in the years prior to 1935.

One interesting side note: on September 24, 1927, lights were installed at Cary Field for the first college football night game on the East Coast. A 12-0 loss to Catholic University, the game attracted a then-record crowd of 6,000 fans. Night games continued until the opening of the new Cary Field in 1935.

W&M's first game against a college team was in 1894, a 28-0 loss to Hampden-Sydney. Its first intercollegiate win came in 1898, a 5-0 victory over Randolph-Macon.

Ramsey, W&M's original First-Team Associated Press All-American, is in the College Football Hall of Fame and is considered by some as one of the greatest guards ever in Tribe football history. He teamed with his co-lineman, the formidable Marvin Bass, also a Phi Beta Kappa, to anchor one of the finest W&M defenses.

The pair sparked the Tribe's exciting 1940 Homecoming win over an undefeated University of Virginia squad. UVA was led by its all-time All-American running back, Bill Dudley. Ramsey and Bass were credited with creating havoc in the UVA backfield all afternoon and held Dudley to minimal rushing yardage to spark the signature 13-6 win.

Voyles' 1942 powerhouse team won 10 games, tied one (a 7-7 game at Harvard) and lost one (14-0 to North Carolina Pre-Flight, an NFL-loaded military all-star team). W&M won the Southern Conference Championship, the school's first, and recorded wins over Oklahoma (14-7), Navy (3-0), Virginia Tech (21-7), Dartmouth (35-7) and Richmond (10-0) and ended up the season ranked 10th in the nation.

In his four seasons, Voyles never lost to a major in-state opponent, winning nine and tying one. He left in 1943 when William & Mary did not field a football team due to World War II.

McCray continued to recruit outstanding talent to Williamsburg when he assumed the head coaching position in 1944. He brought in no less than a dozen eventual William & Mary Hall of Fame players (Fullback/DB "Flyin" Jack Cloud, end Bob Steckroth, center/lb Tommy Thompson, HB Tommy "The Kid" Korczowski, halfback "Jumping" Jack Bruce, ends Vito Ragazzo and Lou Hoitsma, guard George Hughes, tackle Lou Creekmur, QB/P Buddy Lex, halfback/DB Tom Mikula and guard Knox Ramsey).

Cloud was the team's poster boy. He rose to national prominence and his photo appeared on the front cover of Street & Smith's annual Football Magazine. Cloud was a relentless, powerful fullback. Mikula, his blocking back, once told me Cloud would "literally run right over me if I was in the way." Cloud was part Cherokee, which was natural publicity for a team called the Tribe. He scored 45 touchdowns for W&M in what amounted to his three seasons (he was injured most of his final year in 1949).

In 1949, Lex connected with Ragazzo for what was at the time an incredible 15 TD passes. The figured established an NCAA Division I record for many years and, remarkably, STILL stands as the school's single-season mark.

Eight players from the 1946-49 teams played in the NFL with Creekmur, eventually earning pro football's highest honor: election to the NFL's Hall of Fame.

The 1989 season resulted in the second of the two exceptional teams of the decade, an 8-3-1 squad that defeated teams including Colgate, VMI, Boston University, JMU and Richmond.

Shelton and Green, with combined career rushing totals of more than 6,000 yards (Green - 3,543 and Shelton - 2,534), ran over and through opponents and formed one of the most imposing 1-2 running duos in school history. Argo had his best season, and receiver Alan Williams, along with Green, gave opponents fits with their playmaking abilities. Christie set Tribe field goal records, defensive end Alan Garlic and the great offensive guard Reggie White made many All-Conference and All-American teams.

The Delaware game again provided a thrilling highlight, another come-from-behind effort, with Christie's 53-yard field goal in the final quarter providing the winning points. Christie again provided a big win, with three field goals to help defeat JMU 24-21.

The team defeated Richmond in the final regular season game, winning 22-10 at Cary, as the defense smothered the Spiders' nationally ranked offense. This team garnered W&M's second I-AA playoff invitation and earned a trip to play at the defending National Champions, Furman. Once again, the team was defeated, this time 24-10.

But, playoff loss aside, it was a wonderful season for the Tribe. Many predicted that the wealth of talent Laycock was bringing in promised even better days ahead. This proved an accurate prediction as W&M Football continued to soar in the 1990s.

2000-2017

Any coverage of the period 2000-2017 has to revolve around five of Head Coach Jimmye Laycock’s finest teams that highlight this time span: 2001, 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2015. Four of these squads won or shared conference championships and the fifth, which did not, may arguably have been the best of them all.

The ’01 and ’04 teams won Atlantic 10 titles while the ’10 and ’15 squads won CAA Championships. All teams, including the 2009 team, which didn’t win the title, competed in the NCAA Playoffs.

2001-2008

The 2001 team finished 8-4 overall and 7-2 in the A-10. It featured a host of memorable players, 10 of which were named to the all-conference squad, including three future W&M Athletics Hall of Famers: QB David Corley, WR Rich Musinski and OT Dwight Beard.

This team faced some mid-season adversity, losing three of four games in one stretch, before rallying to win five-straight games to end the regular season. Huge wins were recorded at Delaware 21-17, No. 18 Maine 42-18, JMU 17-10 and at Richmond 23-20. This set up one of the more unique and exciting games in Laycock’s tenure.

Due to the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, W&M's home game vs. Villanova the following weekend was postponed. This set up a dramatic winner-takes-all game in Zable with the 15th-ranked Wildcats to end the season. Villanova’s offense featured one of the most electric players ever to compete at the FCS level. Consensus All-American (and future NFL standout) Brian Westbrook faced off against a Corley-powered Tribe attack. Fireworks ensued and the home crowd was treated to one of the more entertaining wins of the venerable structure, as W&M prevailed 47-44. The two teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of offense, with Westbrook rushing for 233 yards and Corley throwing for 301.

Ironically, in a game that was dominated by offense, Tribe defensive back Marques Bobo sealed the win with an interception with just 15 seconds remaining.

The win propelled William & Mary to the conference title and earned it a bid in the NCAA postseason. Unfortunately, the Tribe’s season ended the next Saturday when the Tribe dropped a 40-27 game at No. 3 Appalachian State.

Corley cemented his place in Tribe annals, piling up 9,805 career-passing yards in 31 games. Corley combined uncanny elusiveness with an accurate arm and was always looking to ‘make a play’ downfield. Few pairings in Tribe history were a better match than Corley with Musinski. Musinski’s long arms, sure hands and open field speed made him a perfect compliment to Corley’s gunslinger mentality. Musinski eventually went on to become W&M’s all-time record holder in career receptions (223), receiving yards (4,168 yards) and TD receptions (31). His 2001 season was transcendent, as he collected 1,393 yards on ‘just’ 59 receptions, averaging better than 23.0 yards per catch.

Supporting Corley in the backfield was steady and sturdy tailback Jonathan Smith. He was a workhorse who used a punishing running style to collected 2,546 career rushing yards and 39 TDs in his career. The 2001 season saw him collect 13 TDs in 12 games and lead the team with 712 rushing yards.

One of the great themes that transcended all 39 years of Laycock’s tenure with the Tribe was that of attracting walk-ons to the program who emerged as contributors. In the 2004 season, William & Mary struck it big when a former walk-on quarterback emerged as not only the team’s starter and captain, but quite literally as the best player on the FCS level. Riding the do-everything talents of Lang Campbell, the Tribe fielded the most explosive offensive in its 125-year history. Not surprisingly, this explosive attack also produced one of the most successful campaigns, as the Campbell-powered Tribe fashioned an 11-3 record (7-1 in the A10) and a league title.

Campbell had a season perhaps like no other at W&M — brilliant enough to win the Walter Payton Award as the Outstanding Player in the FCS level.

Campbell’s record setting 30 TD passes, 3,988 yards passing and 298 completions (out of 455 attempts for a 65 percent completion average) are all W&M single-season records. He also ran for an additional 317 yards and eight more scores.

But it was not a one-man show, not nearly. He had great receivers in the remarkable Dominique Thompson and stellar freshman Joe Nicholas. By nearly every standard, Thompson had what can only be described as the best single season ever for a Tribe wide out, as he amassed 1,585 receiving yards on 79 catches for 13 TDs. All of this was accomplished and he didn’t even become a starter until an injury at wide out moved him into a starring role by the season’s third game.

Jon Smith, now a senior, was his usual steady self and scored 15 touchdowns as running back.

The team also could rely on the deadly accurate services of placekicker Greg Kuehn, second only to the great Steve Christie in W&M history in this writer’s opinion. Kuehn scored 114 points for the season (343 for his career) and his key field goals proved the difference in close games. At one point he kicked 99 consecutive extra points and, for his career, had a record 59 field goals.

Adam O’Connor, a 6'7", 240-pound defensive end, made All-American along with Thompson, Kuehn and Campbell. O’Connor was a relentless pass rusher and used his strength and length to disrupt plays at and along the line of scrimmage. He had lots of help on the defense, too: LB Chris Ndubueze and DB Stephen Cason all made all-conference teams, as did an accurate punter, Mike Mesi.

There were some all-time great Tribe victories in 2004:

• The 9-7 win at No. 10 New Hampshire, played entirely in a driving rainstorm, with Kuehn kicking three field goals through the heavy downpour and a 65-yard drive to set up the winning kick
• An overtime 38-35 come-from-behind victory at Zable over Northeastern, won on a Kuehn 40-yard field goal — an early season big win where Campbell’s 378 yards passing showed a new star had arrived
• Two remarkable NCAA playoff wins, both at Zable
• Perhaps the most memorable of all: the 27-24 win at James Madison where, with W&M trailing 24-21 and less than 100 seconds to play, a five-play, 43-yard drive culminated on the game’s final play when, after a final JMU timeout to “freeze” Greg Kuehn, Kuehn calmly booted a game-winning 46-yard field goal. Kuehn said after the game that the wind, which was blowing straight at him before the timeout, actually lay down immediately after the time out was called.

In the first the Tribe stopped Hampton, 42-35, as Thompson caught two long touchdown passes and returned a Pirate kickoff 92 yards to spark a late-game W&M surge, which finally put the game out of the reach of the inspired Hampton side.

The second victory, a heart-pounding 44-38 double overtime win over Delaware, remains one of the three or four greatest Tribe wins this writer has seen. Trailing 31-10 after three quarters and looking futile (Laycock told the team at halftime Delaware might score 100 points with the way it was playing), the team came back with a 34-point scoring binge over the final 15 minutes and two overtime periods. The tying points came courtesy of a remarkable over-the-shoulder touchdown catch by Nicholas, who brought down a perfectly delivered pass by Campbell in the corner of the end zone near the end of regulation. Nicholas equaled his heroics in the first overtime, as he made a similar catch in the opposite corner of the same end zone, matching a UD score to send the game to a second overtime period. The Tribe took the ball first and Jon Smith burst seven yards for score, putting the Tribe ahead. Kuehn brought gasps from the frenetic home crowd when he missed the extra point (breaking his 99 consecutive streak) … this meant the Blue Hens could win with a touchdown and extra point. 

On fourth down inside the Tribe 20, O’Connor’s strong rush caused Delaware to throw the ball harmlessly into the end zone as Tribe students poured on to the field. It is the only time I’ve ever seen our students flood the grid.

The next week, the National Semi-Final playoff against JMU at Zable was nationally telecast by ESPN, who installed lights for a night game telecast to millions. W&M students camped out at the ticket office by the hundreds for a night to get tickets. The next morning Laycock witnessed the ‘tent city’ of students for himself, proclaiming, “It’s a sight I’ve never seen at William & Mary.” The ESPN lights led to permanent lights being installed at Zable the next season.

In one of the most anticipated games in the history of the venerable structure, the two state rivals played on a sloppy, rain-soaked surface. Once again, the Tribe fought its way back from a big first-half hole, rallying from a 21-0 first quarter deficit to eventually close within 21-20 at the halftime buzzer. But W&M eventually fell to the Dukes, 48-34, mainly the result of two second-half fumbles by W&M that closed what still remains the most unexpected, amazing season in Tribe football history — one that led to program-altering transformations in facilities over the ensuing decade.

2009-2010: Two of W&M's Best

After all the excitement of the marvelous 2004 season it wouldn’t be long until another Laycock powerhouse arrived on Richmond Road. The intervening four years building up to the marvelous 2009 and 2010 seasons saw the Tribe go 19-25, although the development of a 7-4 team in 2008 laid the foundation for the success ahead.

Some great players arrived to spearhead those teams, which went 11-3 in 2009 and 8-4 in 2010 (including a 12-4 record in CAA play), went to the NCAA semifinals in ’09 and won the conference championship in ’10.

During this era, running back and kickoff returner Jon Grimes, a three-time All-American, established himself as one of W&M’s greatest players, scoring 34 touchdowns and piling up a school record 7,955 total yards for his four-year career from 2008-11. He piled up 17 100-yard rushing games. Grimes, a sturdy 5'11", 205 pounds with speed and power, could do it all. He was truly solid in every phase of the game, whether running the ball, catching passes or returning kicks. He was a threat that needed to be accounted for by the opposition.

The 2009 team was blessed defensively with two big, quick and light-footed All-American defensive lineman in Adrian Tracy (DE) and Sean Lissemore (DT). Both were devastating pass rushers and tacklers whose agility and speed made them difficult to contain. Tracy holds the school record for 12 sacks in ’09 and 31 for his career, while Lissemore parlayed his talents into a 10-year NFL career.

Those three — Grimes, Tracy and Lissemore — are, in the writer’s eyes, on a short list of all-time Tribe greats. But there were others on the 2009 crew who made up what may have been the best William & Mary team since the fabled teams of the 1940s. They include an All-American punter, David Miller, whose soaring punts kept the opposition constantly deep in their own territory. Add in a host of All-CAA players in safety David Caldwell, WR DJ McAulay, LB Jake Trantin, placekicker Brian Pate, and a flamboyant true freshman defensive back, B.W. Webb, and the Tribe was a force on a national scale.

Quarterbacking this team was senior RJ Archer who passed for 2,778 yards with 261 completions and ran for more than 200 yards, proving himself a very capable field general who ran the offense with efficiency.

The season got off to an appropriate start with the team stunning heavily favored Virginia 26-14. The game was no fluky victory, as W&M outplayed UVA in every category including holding the Cavs to just four first downs in the second half. B.W. Webb, playing his first collegiate game, was a big factor with three interceptions, including the win-sealing 43-yard INT and touchdown run with some three minutes remaining. It earned Webb the National Defensive Player of the Week Award for all classifications.

Miller’s booming punts kept UVA pinned down deep for much of the game and the Tribe defense forced four Virginia turnovers. Pate’s four field goals set the offense.

There were some key wins during the record-tying 11-win season:

• A big home win against No. 7 New Hampshire 20-17 was spiced by a Lissemore interception that led to a short-field touchdown for the Tribe
• The biggest CAA victory, in another memorable Tribe win, was a 24-3 thrashing of James Madison highlighted by a Grimes halfback pass to DJ McCauley for a touchdown that broke open a close battle. In this game, six W&M sacks stymied JMU’s high-scoring offense.
• Two big NCAA Playoff wins propelled the Tribe into the national semi-final. The first, at Zable, saw Archer toss two TD passes and Grimes run for two as the team pummeled visiting No. 15 Weber State 38-0. But it was the next week’s game at No. 1 Southern Illinois that captured national attention … a 24-3 pounding of a high-scoring Suliki team. The offense was led by Jon Grimes’ three touchdowns, but it was the Tribe’s defense that set the tone for the afternoon, as it stifled what had been a prolific SIU attack into complete submission, with W&M outgaining the home team 373 to just 187.

The following week, in the national semi-finals at Villanova, William & Mary battled the Wildcats in a tension-filled four-quarter battle. Played in the bitter cold, the Tribe was edged out in a heartbreaking 14-13 loss. In a game that featured a school-record 98-yard TD reception (from Archer to senior WR Cam Dohse), the Tribe offense was mostly contained by a swarming VU defense. The Tribe defense was perhaps even just a bit more dominating on the evening for the majority of the night. That is except for one decisive play, where the Wildcats’ eventual national player of the year, running back Matt Szcur, found a sliver of daylight along the line of scrimmage and dashed 62 yards to score in the third quarter. That play kept VU in the contest just enough for them to squeeze out a 13-play, 48-yard 4th quarter scoring drive that provided the decisive points.

The following week, the Wildcats essentially routed Montana to win the national championships, leaving the Tribe faithful dreaming about just what ‘might have been.’

With many top players returning from 2009, a good season was forecast for W&M in 2010, but with the losses of its quarterback and some significant star power on the defensive line and backfield, some trepidation remained.

However, yet another walk-on made good. Mike Callahan answered the called at QB, while some returning stars from the ’09 squad meshed with a mixture of new talent to propel William & Mary to the CAA title.

Several of the ’09 players had great seasons: Grimes, Miller, Pate and Webb, plus blossoming players like MLB Dante Cook, TE Alex Gottfried, FB Jimmy Hobson, OL Keith Hill, TB Courtland Marriner, receiver Tre McBride and DE Mike Reilly all stepped up. Grimes, Gottlieb and Miller made All-American, while Hill, Hobson, Webb and Cook made All-CAA mentions.

The excellence of the team showed in a 21-17 loss to North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In a tough back-and-forth battle, the Tribe led until less than six minutes remained in the game, when a long UNC touchdown run rescued the Tarheels.

The team had some memorable wins:

• After close road victories at Old Dominion 21-17, in which Grimes rushed for 230 yards, and at Maine, 24-21... on a last-second touchdown pass by relief QB Mike Paulus, the team recorded a huge home win over No. 1 in the nation Villanova 31-24, sparked by three Grimes’ touchdowns.
• On October 23, the team traveled to rival Delaware in a major matchup. After W&M trailed 13-3 at halftime, the team rallied for a 17-16 win on a surprise Grimes halfback pass to end Chase Hill.
• After defeating New Hampshire 13-3 and losing at JMU 30-24, the team needed to defeat old rival and No. 18 Richmond at Zable for a piece of the CAA title. As excited Tribe fans watched, the team rolled over the Spiders 41-3, piling up 616 total yards behind Callahan, who had his finest day at the helm, completing 22 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns.

A loss the following week in the NCAA playoffs at home to Georgia Southern could not dampen the enthusiasm for this surprise CAA crown.

2015: The Tribe Nabs Second CAA Title

After a couple of so-so seasons, winning records of 7-5 in 2013 and 2014 led to much anticipation in Williamsburg for the 2015 season as the team returned a host of outstanding players.

Laycock and his team did not disappoint as they racked up a 9-4 season, winning six of eight CAA battles for a share of the championship and also winning a first-round NCAA Playoff game at home.

The team was led by junior quarterback Steve Cluley, who was starting to come into his own at the controls of the Tribe attack. Cluley ended his career with 39 TD tosses. Helped greatly by some elusive receivers including the versatile DeVonte Dedmon and a 6'5", 240-pound tight end, Andrew Caskin. Two running backs, Kendell Anderson and Mikal Abdul-Saboor, not only piled up the yardage, but were able blockers in the backfield for Cluley.

Between them, the pair scored a combined 60 career touchdowns (Anderson with 34 and Abdul-Saboor with 26).

On the defense, All-American safety DeAndre Houston-Carson had one of the most spectacular seasons in Tribe history, leading the team in tackles, blocked kicks, interceptions and pass stops. He also scored two points on the return of a blocked opponent extra point in a huge win over JMU. Linebacker Luke Rhodes cemented the middle of the defense. The Tribe benefited from two exceptional kickers: punter Hunter Windmuller, with a 43.8 punting average, led the CAA, and placekicker Nick Dorka made several All-American teams.

After big CAA wins over Stony Brook 21-0, at Villanova 38-16 on Cluley’s clutch passing, and Delaware 17-16 on a Dorka 41-yard field goal, the biggest game of the season was set in Williamsburg on October 21 with powerhouse JMU.

The game remains one of the most thrilling Tribe victories of the Laycock era, a wild 44-41 win that wasn’t decided until the game’s final snaps. W&M trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half and held the lead for less than three total minutes for the entire game.

Trailing 41-37 with just over five minutes remaining, the Tribe methodically ate up the clock and moved down the field in an 12-play drive, using a mixture of short passes and a punishing running game.

With just 41 seconds remaining and W&M on the JMU two-yard line, Anderson took a handoff and burst into the end zone for the winning score as the crowd roared.

In a game that saw both offenses flourish, the Tribe faithful remained on the edge of its collective seats as the James Madison offense took possession with what seemed like an eternity remaining on the clock (:41). But the tension was quickly released as the JMU center’s snap went past the JMU quarterback’s head and DE Peyton Gryder recovered the fumble to seal the victory.

Cluley had one of his best games, completing 23 of 36 tosses for 235 yards. The two-headed tailback tandem of Anderson and Abdul-Saboor rushed for a combined 204 yards and 6 touchdowns on the evening, while Houston-Carson cemented his All-American status with 16 tackles, an interception, a sack and his 2 point xpt. Also, in a feat that may never be duplicated, stellar Tribe defensive tackle Tyler Claytor blocked THREE extra points (all in the first quarter). The first of his blocks was returned by Houston-Carson for the defensive extra point, as was his second — but this was nullified by a penalty during the return.

With a home playoff game as its reward, the 2015 Tribe again treated the home crowd to an incredible offensive onslaught, as it defeated Duquesne 52-49. Anderson, who carried the ball 24 times for 137 yards, scored two touchdowns. Cluley hit the versatile Dedmon with three touchdown passes. Anderson cinched the win with an eight-yard run with 3:17 remaining.

The team, banged up and with several starters out, lost the following week at Richmond in a second round NCAA playoff match-up, ending another championship season for the Tribe.