Game Preview: The Virginia Cavaliers vs. The William and Mary Tribe

The 2009 football season is just three short days away for the Virginia Cavaliers. 

William and Mary boasts plenty of talent and returns 15 starters (seven on offense, eight on defense), but there are reasons to make me believe that the Tribe will not give the Cavaliers too much trouble. 

Say what you will about the Tribe’s ranking in the FCS Coaches Preseason Poll (14^th), and their five College Sporting News Preseason All-Americans, but I just do not see William and Mary keeping this one close. 

Here’s why:

William and Mary’s offense will be very shaky.

Tribe head coach Jimmye Laycock was not impressed with his offense after a recent August scrimmage and had to stretch to find something positive to say. 

“Offensively, we were very spotty this evening. One positive was that we got everyone in and got a lot of reps for different people, but we had too many dropped passes. As the evening wore on, our protection started breaking down. As we move closer to game week, there will be plenty of things we need to focus on improving as we are getting ready for the opener.”

More specifically, there are certain positions that should pose concerns for the Tribe faithful. 

QB R.J. Archer

Archer, who attended nearby Albermarle High School, will have something of a homecoming on Saturday when he arrives in Charlottesville. 

Unfortunately, his visit looks rather ominous. 

Archer has not looked good this off-season. During the team’s spring game, Archer completed a modest six of 11 passes. Matt Poms, a writer for William and Mary’s student newspaper The Flat Hat, said that during the scrimmage Archer “looked erratic, while being frequently harried by opposing defenders, missing several open receivers.”  

After the scrimmage, Archer had the following to say about William and Mary’s defense: “It’s really tough to play against them, and it’s only making us better because I don’t know how many defenses like that we are going to see in our conference. Today was one of the days when they were really playing fast. It’s tough to keep up with them.” 

While he may not see many defenses like that in his conference, I have a hunch that he might see a better one during out of conference play. 

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